Director of Software Engineering
About The Position
This is a critical technical leadership role responsible for building and scaling Dominion Dynamics’ software engineering capabilities alongside the CTO and broader leadership team. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will work closely with the Director of Hardware and cross-functional engineering leaders to deliver tightly integrated, mission-ready systems. As Director of Software, you will lead the execution, architecture, and delivery of the software systems powering our platforms and autonomy stack. You will build and lead a high-performing engineering team while remaining deeply hands-on in the code, helping solve complex technical challenges alongside the team. This role is for a proven software leader who can balance technical depth, team leadership, and execution speed. You understand how to build resilient, mission-critical systems in ambiguous environments, and know how to help engineering teams move fast without compromising quality.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience building and leading high-performing software engineering teams
- A proven track record of shipping complex software systems in defence, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, distributed systems, or adjacent technical environments
- Strong software architecture and systems-thinking capabilities across backend, edge, embedded, or real-time systems
- Experience building scalable engineering organizations while remaining technically hands-on
- Strong programming experience in modern software stacks and comfort operating close to the hardware when needed
- Experience taking products and systems from concept through deployment in fast-moving environments
- Comfort operating in ambiguous, resource-constrained, high-accountability environments
- A mission-aligned mindset, motivated by national security, sovereignty, and real-world impact
- Hands-on leadership style: strategic when needed, in the details when it counts
- Eligible for (or able to obtain) Canadian security clearance
- Currently based in Ottawa, or willing to relocate to Ottawa for a full-time, in-office role with occasional travel (<25%)
Nice To Haves
- Experience with distributed systems, autonomy infrastructure, robotics platforms, simulation environments, or mission-critical systems strongly preferred
Responsibilities
- Accountable for the execution and evolution of Dominion Dynamics’ software systems across autonomy, platform systems, edge computing, communications, and mission-critical infrastructure
- Direct the culture, team, processes, cadences, and best practices of a rapidly growing software engineering team as it scales from ~5 to ~50 over the next year.
- Stay hands-on in the codebase, contributing directly to architecture, implementation, debugging, and critical technical decisions
- Drive the development of scalable, resilient, and secure software systems designed for harsh, disconnected, and operationally constrained environments
- Work closely with the Director of Hardware to align software with hardware requirements and deployment timelines.
- Establish strong engineering practices across system design, testing, CI/CD, observability, and deployment without slowing iteration velocity
- Guide technical direction across distributed systems, embedded software, robotics infrastructure, real-time systems, simulation, and edge compute environments
- Support testing and deployment cycles
- Interview, develop, and retain exceptional engineering talent while creating a culture of ownership, speed, and high standards
- Act as a senior technical leader within the company, contributing to roadmap planning, platform strategy, and long-term system evolution
Benefits
- Competitive base salary and company equity
- Comprehensive health benefits
- Additional equity granted based on impact
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
