Director of Software Engineering

Fervo Energy • Oakland, CA

1d • $269,115 - $300,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Fervo Energy is hiring a Director of Software Engineering to build and lead the organization responsible for its internal application layer. Reporting directly to the CTO, this leader will own the architecture, roadmap, and delivery model for software products supporting Fervo’s growing business. The role involves building production software at the intersection of energy infrastructure, industrial operations, data, and AI, helping teams improve workflows, connect information, and make informed decisions.

The Director will define the architecture for Fervo-built applications; lead the development of business-facing software; work directly with operational teams to understand their needs, prototype solutions, and iterate with users; and establish a product-oriented engineering model. The role also includes hiring and developing a software team, setting engineering standards and delivery practices, advancing practical AI-enabled applications, and managing vendor and integration relationships.

This is an in-person role based in Fervo’s Oakland, California; Golden, Colorado; or Houston, Texas office, with a hybrid schedule requiring three days in the office each week. The expected salary range based on Colorado locality is $269,115–$300,000; pay in other locations may vary. Fervo offers benefits including health coverage, retirement savings, paid time off, parental leave, and employee ownership opportunities.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of software engineering experience, including at least 3 years in technical leadership or engineering management.
• Experience building and deploying production full-stack or backend applications in cloud environments.
• Strong backend engineering fundamentals, including modern programming languages, API design, authentication and authorization patterns, and production-grade integration design.
• Hands-on experience integrating applications with modern data platforms or enterprise systems.
• Experience deploying AI, machine learning, or automation-enabled features into production environments.
• Ability to lead engineering teams, manage technical roadmaps, and make prioritization tradeoffs across competing business needs.
• Strong product judgment and a track record of scoping and shipping the simplest useful solution to a real business problem.
• Ability to work with non-technical stakeholders, understand complex workflows, and translate ambiguous needs into software requirements and deployed systems.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the architecture for Fervo-built applications, including application patterns, service boundaries, integrations, deployment models, observability, and application-level security.
• Partner with data, IT, cybersecurity, and business stakeholders to ensure the software ecosystem is scalable, secure, maintainable, and able to evolve.
• Lead development of internal applications such as workflow tools, reporting systems, dashboards, automation capabilities, and AI-enabled applications.
• Work directly with drilling engineers, wellfield operators, power plant technicians, and commercial leads to understand workflows and pain points.
• Rapidly prototype and deploy MVPs in production environments, iterate with users, and share operational learnings with engineering and data platform teams.
• Build a product-oriented engineering model that balances embedded discovery with centralized architecture and engineering discipline.
• Hire, manage, and develop a team of full-stack engineers, backend engineers, and product managers.
• Establish engineering culture, delivery practices, technical standards, and operating rhythms.
• Identify, prioritize, and deliver practical, production-grade AI-enabled software capabilities that improve workflows and decision-making.
• Establish standards for CI/CD, testing, code review, documentation, observability, incident response, and application security.
• Partner with IT and cybersecurity on identity, access management, infrastructure standards, and enterprise security requirements.
• Manage technical relationships with software vendors and integration partners.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plan options.
• Employer-paid basic life insurance and short-term and long-term disability coverage.
• A 401(k) plan with up to 6% employer match.
• Flexible paid time off and paid parental leave.
• Family-building, fertility, hormonal health, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting support through Carrot.
• Dependent care FSA for eligible child and elder care expenses.
• Annual Lifestyle Spending Account for eligible wellness expenses, including fitness, financial planning, pet insurance, and pet care.
• Employee ownership opportunities through the Employee Stock Purchase Program, stock option grants, and bonus opportunities for eligible roles.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed