Software Engineering Director

CLA is a top 10 national professional services firm where our purpose is to create opportunities every day, for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services. Even with more than 8,500 people, 130 U.S. locations, and a global reach, we promise to know you and help you.

We are seeking a Software Engineering Director to provide technical leadership in designing, building, and delivering software solutions within our AI & Automation practice. This person will work directly with clients and engineering teams to understand complex business problems, design practical solutions, and guide their implementation from initial concept through production.

The ideal candidate brings deep software engineering expertise, strong architectural judgment, and a natural ability to solve difficult problems. They understand how applications, APIs, data, cloud infrastructure, security, and enterprise systems fit together. They're comfortable getting hands-on when needed, learning unfamiliar technologies, and finding a path forward when the solution isn't obvious.

Equally important is the ability to work with clients. This person needs to ask good questions, understand business needs, explain technical concepts clearly, and build trust with both technical and nontechnical stakeholders. They should be comfortable evaluating custom software, Microsoft platform capabilities, automation, and AI-enabled solutions based on what makes the most sense for the client.

We also want someone who actively embraces AI-assisted software development, including coding agents and modern development tools, while maintaining the engineering fundamentals and judgment necessary to deliver secure, reliable, and maintainable solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the technical architecture and implementation of client solutions involving custom software, cloud applications, APIs, enterprise integrations, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Work directly with clients to understand their business processes, existing systems, technical constraints, and desired outcomes. Translate those conversations into practical solution designs and implementation approaches.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to clients, communicating architectural decisions, tradeoffs, project risks, and technical recommendations in ways that business and technology stakeholders can understand.
• Maintain hands-on involvement in software engineering, including architecture, prototyping, code reviews, complex integrations, troubleshooting, and resolving difficult technical challenges.
• Evaluate solution approaches across custom development, Microsoft Azure, Power Platform, automation tools, existing enterprise platforms, and hybrid architectures. Recommend the simplest effective approach based on business requirements, security, cost, and maintainability.
• Translate business requirements into technical scopes, implementation plans, estimates, dependencies, and acceptance criteria. Identify technical risks early and communicate them clearly.
• Provide technical leadership across engineering engagements, helping developers work through architectural questions, implementation challenges, and complex technical decisions.
• Establish and maintain practical engineering standards for software architecture, coding, testing, security, CI/CD, deployment, documentation, and production support.
• Guide implementation in client-owned environments, accounting for existing infrastructure, security requirements, identity management, data access, deployment processes, and operational constraints.
• Apply AI-assisted development tools, including Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and other coding agents, to accelerate software development, testing, debugging, and documentation while ensuring appropriate technical review and quality control.
• Collaborate with software engineers, Microsoft platform engineers, AI engineers, data scientists, product teams, and client technology teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge, and help strengthen the team's ability to independently design, build, troubleshoot, and support complex solutions.
• Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through reusable architecture patterns, development practices, automation, and lessons learned from client engagements.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• The ideal candidate is an experienced software engineer and solution architect who enjoys solving difficult technical problems and helping others do the same.
• They have a strong understanding of software engineering fundamentals and enough experience across different systems and technologies to make informed technical decisions without being dependent on a particular framework or platform.
• They are resourceful, curious, and comfortable working through ambiguity. When presented with an unfamiliar system or challenging requirement, their instinct is to understand the problem, investigate the options, and figure out a practical way forward.
• They know when to move quickly, when to challenge an approach, and when additional engineering rigor is necessary.
• Strong communication and client relationship skills are essential.
• This person can lead technical discovery conversations, listen carefully to business stakeholders, explain complicated engineering concepts without unnecessary jargon, and navigate difficult conversations about scope, feasibility, cost, or risk.
• They understand that earning client trust is just as important as delivering technically sound software.
• They are also enthusiastic about how AI is changing software development.
• They actively experiment with new tools and approaches but have the experience to recognize flawed implementations, evaluate generated code, and maintain engineering quality.

Required Qualifications Experience

6 years of relevant experience required. 7 years preferred in software engineering, solution architecture, cloud engineering, application development, systems integration, or related technology roles.

Education

Bachelor's degree is required. Combination of relevant experience, education, and training may be accepted in lieu of degree.

Preferred Qualifications

• 3 or more years of experience providing technical leadership across software engineering teams, complex implementations, solution architecture, or software development initiatives.
• Strong hands-on software engineering background with demonstrated experience designing, developing, integrating, deploying, and supporting production applications.
• Deep understanding of software architecture, APIs, databases, integration patterns, cloud infrastructure, identity and access management, and distributed systems.
• Experience with modern programming languages such as C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar languages, with the ability to learn unfamiliar technologies as needed.
• Experience designing and implementing solutions using Microsoft Azure services, such as App Service, Azure Functions, SQL, API Management, Service Bus, Key Vault, storage services, and related cloud capabilities.
• Familiarity with Microsoft platform technologies such as Power Platform, Power Apps, Power Automate, SharePoint, Dataverse, and Copilot Studio, particularly when evaluating low-code versus custom software approaches.
• Experience working with enterprise systems, third-party APIs, data platforms, and integrations that connect applications and data across multiple environments.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues, identify root causes, and solve problems that cross application, infrastructure, integration, and data boundaries.
• Strong client-facing communication skills, including technical discovery, requirements clarification, solution presentations, expectation management, and explaining technical tradeoffs to executive and business audiences.
• Experience developing technical estimates, identifying implementation dependencies, evaluating feasibility, and managing technical delivery risks.
• Working knowledge of Git, CI/CD, DevOps, automated testing, code review, secure development practices, deployment, monitoring, and production support.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools, coding agents, or AI-enabled engineering workflows, coupled with an understanding of how to validate their outputs for correctness, security, and maintainability.
• Ability to guide and mentor engineers, provide constructive technical feedback, and improve engineering practices through shared knowledge and practical standards.
• Experience working in consulting, professional services, or other client-facing environments where technical decisions must account for business outcomes, budgets, timelines, and changing requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across different technology stacks, including unfamiliar or client-managed environments, without relying on a single platform or preferred solution.

Key Skills

• Software engineering and solution architecture
• Hands-on technical problem-solving
• Client communication and technical consulting
• Application development and systems integration
• Cloud architecture and Microsoft Azure
• API design and enterprise integrations
• Custom software and low-code solution evaluation
• Technical estimation and delivery planning
• DevOps, CI/CD, testing, and production readiness
• AI-assisted and agentic software development
• Technical troubleshooting and root cause analysis
• Engineering mentorship and technical leadership
• Security, reliability, and maintainability
• Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management

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