Director of Software Engineering

Role Overview

This position is pivotal in accelerating our AI initiatives by modernizing and optimizing the delivery lifecycle. It focuses on enabling engineering teams to leverage AI practically to boost delivery speed, improve quality, and minimize operational overhead in both development and operations workflows.

As a hands-on technical leader, you will connect strategic planning with execution, collaborating closely with engineering, architecture, security, and delivery teams to design, implement, and scale AI-enabled solutions that enhance software delivery outcomes. Though primarily centered on AI-enhanced software engineering practices, you will also promote AI adoption throughout the organization where it aligns with delivery and operational goals.

Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise in crafting 1- to 3-year IT strategic plans at enterprise and business unit levels.
• Ensure applications align with business unit requirements and expectations.
• Facilitate and oversee application architectural decisions for 1 to 5-year horizons.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across internal IT and business teams to anticipate future initiatives.
• Collaborate with business units to deliver systems that fulfill current and future needs.
• Manage the complete IT delivery lifecycle for business unit projects.
• Ensure timely and budget-compliant delivery of IT project components as per priorities.
• Coordinate with Architecture and Infrastructure teams for deployment and maintenance of solutions.
• Handle approved and prioritized business unit requests effectively.
• Lead research on emerging software tools, languages, standards, including LLMs, agent frameworks, coding assistants, and developer copilots.
• Drive evaluation and selection of AI tools and platforms, including make-or-buy decisions and external provider partnerships.
• Design detailed technical proposals and assess associated risks with mitigation strategies.
• Identify requirements and lead procurement processes for new technologies.
• Advocate company vision, mission, and values both internally and externally.
• Recruit, develop, and coach staff to embody company values and foster a positive culture.
• Set and communicate performance standards, encourage continuous improvement and teamwork.
• Maintain effective communication channels within the business unit.
• Support the establishment and encouragement of a continuous improvement mindset.
• Contribute to defining corporate principles, architectural standards, and approved delivery toolkits incorporating AI-assisted development standards.
• Assist strategic advancement of IT methodologies and selection of delivery tools.
• Define and monitor success metrics for overall IT effectiveness.
• Collaborate on managing budgets for information technology at the business unit level.
• Ensure compliance with standards, procedures, methodologies, and coordinate with auditors.
• Record and report IT-related metrics and budgeting performance.
• Execute signing authority as per company authorization matrix.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Over 10 years of IT experience with more than 5 years in IT leadership roles.
• Experience in developing or integrating coding agents, developer copilots, workflow automation tools, or AI-powered engineering solutions.
• Knowledgeable in large language models (LLMs), AI infrastructure, prompt engineering, agent frameworks, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, model evaluation, and AI governance.
• Strong practical background in modern application development, including APIs, cloud-native architectures, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, secure coding, and production support.
• Capability to define and measure outcomes related to developer productivity and AI adoption, understanding the nuances involved in evaluating engineering impact.
• In-depth understanding of secure software engineering, vulnerability identification, secrets management, data protection, and regulatory compliance.
• Skill in balancing risks, costs, and benefits effectively.
• Adaptability to dynamic, fast-changing environments with competing priorities.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal abilities to interact with all organizational levels.
• Proven problem-solving and conflict resolution competence.
• Superior planning and project management expertise.
• Demonstrated leadership in mentoring and guiding teams.
• Ability to multitask and prioritize effectively across multiple simultaneous projects.
• Meticulous attention to detail with a focus on outcome achievements.
• Experience with cloud-native development practices and design patterns using private or public cloud infrastructure.

Additional Information

• Position Number: req2231
• Employment Status: Permanent Full Time
• Location: Waterloo, Ontario
• Number of Vacancies: 1
• Department: Information Technology
• Internal Job Title: Director, Software Engineering
• Salary Range: 120000 - 140000 CAD per year

Eligibility

Qualified candidates with the required experience and skills who are interested in joining one of Canada’s largest independent mortgage finance companies are encouraged to apply.