Director, Engineering

DLA Piper•Reston, VA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Engineering is responsible for leading the design, development, delivery, modernization, and ongoing support of enterprise technology solutions that enable the firm’s legal and business operations. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for software engineering, application development, and systems integration, and engineering delivery functions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, maintainable and aligned with enterprise and value stream priorities. The Director, Engineering partners closely with value stream leadership, IT services leaders, and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality technology capabilities that improve attorney and business professional productivity, enhance client experience, and support revenue growth and operational efficiency. This role is accountable for engineering execution discipline, technical quality, delivery reliability, and the evolution of reusable engineering and platform capabilities that accelerate the firm's transition to a build-capable technology organization.

Requirements

Enterprise application architecture and modern development practices.
Strategic planning and execution in complex environments.
People leadership and organizational development.
Financial and vendor management.
Stakeholder partnership and executive communication.
Risk management, security awareness, and operational excellence.
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering or application development, including at least five years in a senior leadership or management role overseeing multiple teams or portfolios.
Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, with clients, lawyers, business professionals, and third parties.
Produce deliverables, answer phone calls, and reply to correspondence in an efficient and responsive manner.
Provide timely, accurate, and quality work product.
Successfully meet deadlines, expectations, and perform work duties as required.
Foster positive work relationships.
Comply with all firm policies and practices.
Engage in both physical and sedentary activity, such as (a) working at a computer for extended periods of time, including on-screen reading and typing; (b) participating in digital/virtual conference calls; (c) participating in meetings as needed.
Ability to work under pressure and manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
Perform all other duties, tasks or projects as assigned.
Embrace and uphold our firm values as a part of our DLA Piper culture.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Technology, business, or management‑related discipline.
Relevant certifications in cloud platforms, architecture, or technology leadership are preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership for engineering and application development teams supporting firmwide legal and business capabilities across value streams.
Set technical direction, architectural standards, and engineering practices to ensure solutions are secure, scalable, maintainable, and operationally sustainable.
Partner closely with IT, legal operations, and business stakeholders to translate business outcomes and value stream priorities into executable technology roadmaps and engineering delivery strategy, keeping a user experience and product value mindset at the forefront.
Lead engineering execution and continuous delivery of technology capabilities, balancing innovation, platform stability, technical debt reduction, risk management, and operational excellence.
Collaborate across IT functions to improve delivery flow, reduce bottlenecks, and increase engineering throughput and reliability.
Oversee engineering efforts across multiple product and platform workstreams, balancing innovation, operational stability, quality, risk, and delivery commitments.
Establish and promote engineering best practices including automation, CI/CD, observability, resiliency, testing, reusable engineering capabilities, and operational readiness.
Manage engineering budgets, vendor relationships, consultant resources, and third-party development partners as applicable to the success of the service portfolio and deliverables.
Lead, develop, and retain engineering management and senior technical talent, including performance management and succession planning.
Establish governance, metrics, and reporting for engineering performance, platform health, technical debt, operational sustainability, and delivery outcomes.
Ensure compliance with firm security, risk, governance, privacy, and data protection standards across all engineering activities.
Partner with infrastructure, operations, SRE, and end-user support teams to ensure stable production operations and smooth lifecycle support for delivered capabilities.
Provides leadership to and manages a team of business professionals to include coaching, mentoring and professional development.
Responsible for providing performance feedback on a regular basis.