Director R&D, US

Windward • Washington, DC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Windward is seeking a Director, US R&D to establish and lead its new R&D function in the United States. This foundational role involves creating a cleared, GovCloud-native engineering capability to serve US federal customers. The Director will oversee the migration of Windward's platform to a US Government Cloud environment, build and lead a US engineering team, and act as the primary technical liaison between federal agency customers and Windward's global product and engineering organization. The goal is to create a high-performing, cleared US R&D team that operates seamlessly within the global engineering structure and provides a mission-critical partnership to US federal customers.

Requirements

• Agentic-First Mindset: Committed to agentic ways of working, defaulting to automation; hands-on experience with AI coding and agentic development tools; proven ability to drive an engineering organization toward full agentic operations; passion for automating engineering tasks.
• Experience: 10+ years of combined software engineering, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure experience, with 3-5 years in senior technical leadership; proven hands-on experience deploying and operating workloads in US GovCloud environments; strong developer background with proficiency in modern languages (Python, Go, Java) and microservices architectures; experience building/leading technical teams in cleared environments, including hiring and maintaining security clearances; demonstrated track record as a customer-facing technical leader engaging with senior government stakeholders.
• Technical Depth: Deep knowledge of federal compliance frameworks (FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, IL4/IL5, CMMC, ITAR); hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, Terraform, GitOps pipelines, and observability tooling in restricted environments; familiarity with data fusion architectures, multi-source intelligence platforms, or AI/ML deployment in CUI/classified environments is an advantage; comfort with REST APIs, data engineering, and cloud security fundamentals; experience integrating with or deploying Palantir platforms is a significant advantage.
• Clearance & Eligibility: Active Top Secret; TS/SCI; willingness to support clearance upgrades.
• Leadership & Culture: Builder mindset, comfortable with ambiguity and focused on outcomes; exceptional communicator; team-first orientation, collaborative and invested in team growth; aligned with Windward's mission.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with data fusion architectures, multi-source intelligence platforms, or AI/ML deployment in CUI or classified environments.
• Experience integrating with or deploying Palantir platforms (Gotham, Foundry, AIP) in federal environments.
• Former Palantir employees are strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• Establish Windward's US R&D Function: Define structure, processes, and operating model; hire, mentor, and grow a cleared engineering team; integrate the R&D function with existing US operations; align the US team with the global engineering roadmap.
• Lead the GovCloud Migration: Own the end-to-end technical migration to a US GovCloud environment; architect and implement compliant cloud infrastructure; build and maintain the full DevOps pipeline in a cleared environment; ensure platform meets security, availability, and performance SLAs.
• Develop and Maintain the Solution: Contribute hands-on development and technical design for the US federal market; maintain, support, and improve the live US production environment; establish engineering best practices and operational runbooks; adapt global platform capabilities for US federal customers.
• Own the Customer Technical Relationship: Serve as the primary technical point of contact for US federal agency customers; translate mission requirements into engineering priorities; lead technical reviews and capability briefings with federal stakeholders; bridge communication between US customers and Windward's global organization.

What This Job Offers

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