Software Development Leader

GlobalFoundries • Santa Clara, CA

6d • $193,000 - $319,000

About The Position

GlobalFoundries is a leading full-service semiconductor foundry providing a unique combination of design, development, and fabrication services to some of the world’s most inspired technology companies. With a global manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GlobalFoundries makes possible the technologies and systems that transform industries and give customers the power to shape their markets. We are seeking a Director of Software Development to help us build the next-generation Platform around Silicon design. Our goal is to build solutions that provide our customers and partners with an experience that allows them to obtain the highest insights from silicon design knowledge. In this role, you will be involved in various aspects of software development from infrastructure to software development of functional and performance models. This will include natural language processing, vector databases, knowledge graphs, machine learning pipelines, model training and inference, semantic search optimization, retrieval-augmented generation and multi-modal AI deployments. You will deliver software on customer-facing platforms that enable customers to customize their software. You will also work directly with stakeholders at all stages to help prioritize and improve deliverables, based on feedback. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a dynamic environment, that involves interacting with our engineering teams — from design and verification to performance. Security is a crucial component as we build software from the ground up! If you are an innovative problem solver with a deep passion for AI-driven software development, and love building things from the ground up, we want to hear from you! As our mission goes, we are committed to offering "Freedom to Innovate Compute". Join us in this mission to accelerate your impact to the larger industry.

Requirements

• Minimum 15 years of experience in Software Engineering, with at least 5+ years in engineering leadership roles (managing managers or leading multi-team organizations)
• Demonstrated success building and scaling engineering organizations delivering AI/ML-driven platforms in a production environment
• Strong technical fluency with Python and modern machine learning frameworks, sufficient to guide architecture decisions and evaluate technical tradeoffs with senior ICs
• Deep understanding of AI platform concepts (transformers, embeddings, fine-tuning, model deployment) and their application to enterprise platforms
• Experience owning AI inference pipelines or training workflows across cloud environments and containerized platforms at organizational scale
• Track record of driving large language model strategy across cloud architectures (multi-modal experience strongly preferred)
• Experience setting engineering standards for Git workflows, containerization, ML pipelines, and automation across a distributed team
• Strong grounding in vector databases, RAG systems, knowledge graphs, prompt engineering, or AI platform optimization — enough to direct technical strategy, even if not hands-on daily
• Proven experience partnering with platform architecture teams and driving cross-functional alignment at the executive level
• Executive-level communication skills, with experience presenting technical strategy and business impact to senior leadership and customers

Nice To Haves

• Master's or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field OR 18+ years in Software Engineering/related field with progressive leadership scope.
• Familiarity with AI-native technologies and platforms (OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face) and how to evaluate them at an organizational level
• Experience establishing MLOps practices and model automation standards across multiple teams
• Experience directing retrieval-augmented generation strategy (LangChain, LlamaIndex, or custom RAG architectures)
• Experience in semiconductor, EDA, or related deep-tech industries
• Exceptional stakeholder management, organizational design, and change-management skills
• Strong strategic planning and business acumen, with experience tying engineering investment to customer and revenue outcomes

Responsibilities

• Own the strategic vision and multi-year roadmap for the AI-driven silicon design platform, translating enterprise goals into an execution plan across NLP, vector databases, knowledge graphs, ML pipelines, and RAG/multi-modal systems
• Build, lead, and scale a high-performing organization of engineering managers and senior engineers, setting technical direction while developing the next generation of engineering leadership
• Drive architectural decisions at the platform level, partnering with principal engineers and architects to ensure scalability, security, and performance across GPU, cloud, and containerized environments
• Establish and govern MLOps standards, model lifecycle management, and AI monitoring practices across the organization, ensuring consistent quality and cost efficiency at scale
• Serve as the executive-level interface between engineering, design/verification/performance teams, and customer-facing stakeholders — prioritizing the roadmap based on customer feedback, business impact, and technical feasibility
• Own the security posture of the platform from the ground up, partnering with security and compliance teams to embed best practices into the development lifecycle
• Represent the platform organization to executive leadership and key customers, communicating strategy, progress, and risk in business terms
• Drive vendor and partner evaluations (cloud providers, AI platform vendors, tooling) and own build-vs-buy decisions that shape the platform's technical foundation
• Own budget, headcount planning, and resource allocation for the organization
• Champion documentation standards and reference implementation quality that customers rely on, ensuring the org delivers on rapid IP query integration for customer evaluation and development
• Perform all activities in a safe and responsible manner and support all Environmental, Health, Safety & Security requirements and programs.

Benefits

• If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.
• An offer with GlobalFoundries is conditioned upon the successful completion of pre-employment conditions, as applicable, and subject to applicable laws and regulations.
• GlobalFoundries is fully committed to equal opportunity in the workplace and believes that cultural diversity within the company enhances its business potential. GlobalFoundries goal of excellence in business necessitates the attraction and retention of highly qualified people. Artificial barriers and stereotypic biases detract from this objective and may be illegally discriminatory.
• All policies and processes which pertain to employees including recruitment, selection, training, utilization, promotion, compensation, benefits, extracurricular programs, and termination are created and implemented without regard to age, ethnicity, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic or category specified by local, state or federal law

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director