Software Development Director

About the company

Xsolla is a worldwide commerce platform that provides game developers with tools and services to tackle the business challenges of the gaming industry. Supporting studios from indie teams to major publishers, the company helps with funding, distribution, marketing, and monetization. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Xsolla acts as the merchant of record and has supported more than 1,500 game developers in reaching larger audiences and growing their businesses globally.

Role overview

We are seeking a strategic, hands-on Software Development Director to guide a global engineering organization. This role will shape and deliver major technical initiatives while leading several development teams building scalable, secure, and innovative products used by millions of people around the world. The right person will combine strong technical judgment with leadership depth, know how to coach engineering managers, and help create a culture built on ownership, quality, and continuous improvement.

What you will do

• Set the engineering direction and make sure it supports broader business goals, while providing both architectural and organizational guidance for long-term growth.
• Coach, manage, and develop multiple engineering teams, including team leads and senior engineers, with clear goals and meaningful career progression across a distributed global group.
• Drive dependable, on-time delivery of product and platform work by improving delivery processes, development practices, and technical decisions.
• Shape the direction of system architecture to improve scalability, performance, and maintainability, and encourage adoption of modern tools and engineering practices.
• Work closely with Product, QA, DevOps, and senior stakeholders to align priorities, clarify technical needs, and keep a common roadmap on track.
• Spot and reduce risks throughout the development lifecycle, with strong attention to observability, security, testing, and release discipline.
• Build a high-performing engineering culture centered on transparency, continuous improvement, accountability, innovation, and quality.

Required background and skills

• At least 10 years in software development, with 5 or more years in engineering leadership positions.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, cross-functional engineering organizations in fast-moving, complex environments.
• Strong knowledge of modern software architecture, cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure, and microservices-based systems.
• Solid understanding of Agile methods, CI/CD pipelines, and engineering performance metrics.
• Experience managing distributed teams and growing organizations across several geographies.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively with both technical and non-technical leaders.
• Strong judgment and problem-solving ability in high-pressure situations.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Ability and willingness to relocate to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Preferred experience

• Background in gaming, fintech, or platform-as-a-service businesses.
• Exposure to payments infrastructure, developer tools, or customer-facing APIs.
• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Certifications related to cloud platforms, Agile delivery, or technical leadership.

Additional information

The responsibilities and scope of this role may change over time as business needs and individual growth evolve. This posting summarizes the general level and nature of the position and is not an exhaustive list of duties, responsibilities, or qualifications.

Hiring and privacy notice

Submitting an application means you agree to background screening after the final interview stage, where allowed by law. Any checks will follow local regulations, and your information will be treated confidentially.

The company states that it does not sell or share personal data externally during recruitment and is committed to protecting applicant privacy in line with applicable data protection laws.

Application data is processed according to the Xsolla Privacy Notice for Job Applicants. Questions about data privacy may be directed to the provided privacy contact email.

AI-based tools may be used to support parts of the hiring process, including application review, resume analysis, response assessment, and checking for possible inconsistencies or verification signals. These tools support the recruitment team, but final hiring decisions are made by people.