Software Engineering Director

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) • Tampa, FL

8d

About The Position

CLA is seeking a Software Engineering Director to provide technical leadership in designing, building, and delivering software solutions within its AI & Automation practice. The role works directly with clients and engineering teams to understand complex business problems, design practical solutions, and guide implementation from initial concept through production.

The position calls for deep software engineering expertise, sound architectural judgment, and the ability to solve difficult problems across applications, APIs, data, cloud infrastructure, security, and enterprise systems. The director may contribute hands-on, learn unfamiliar technologies, and guide teams through ambiguous technical challenges. They also serve as a client-facing technical advisor, understanding business needs, communicating technical concepts clearly, and evaluating custom software, Microsoft platform capabilities, automation, and AI-enabled solutions according to client needs.

The director is expected to embrace AI-assisted software development tools, including coding agents, while applying engineering judgment to deliver secure, reliable, and maintainable solutions. The role includes technical leadership, mentoring, establishing practical engineering standards, and improving engineering efficiency across client engagements.

Requirements

• At least 6 years of relevant experience in software engineering, solution architecture, cloud engineering, application development, systems integration, or related technology roles.
• Bachelor's degree required; a combination of relevant experience, education, and training may be accepted in lieu of a degree.
• Strong hands-on software engineering background, including designing, developing, integrating, deploying, and supporting production applications.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, APIs, databases, integration patterns, cloud infrastructure, identity and access management, and distributed systems.
• Experience with modern programming languages such as C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar, and ability to learn unfamiliar technologies.
• Strong client-facing communication skills, including technical discovery, requirements clarification, solution presentations, expectation management, and explaining technical tradeoffs to executive and business audiences.
• Ability to develop technical estimates, identify implementation dependencies, evaluate feasibility, and manage technical delivery risks.
• Working knowledge of Git, CI/CD, DevOps, automated testing, code review, secure development, deployment, monitoring, and production support.
• Ability to validate AI-assisted development outputs for correctness, security, and maintainability.
• Ability to guide and mentor engineers, provide constructive technical feedback, and improve engineering practices through shared knowledge and practical standards.
• Ability to work effectively across technology stacks, including unfamiliar or client-managed environments, without relying on a single platform or preferred solution.

Nice To Haves

• 7 years of relevant experience is preferred.
• At least 3 years of experience providing technical leadership across software engineering teams, complex implementations, solution architecture, or software development initiatives.
• Experience designing and implementing solutions using Microsoft Azure services such as App Service, Azure Functions, SQL, API Management, Service Bus, Key Vault, and storage services.
• Familiarity with Power Platform, Power Apps, Power Automate, SharePoint, Dataverse, and Copilot Studio, particularly when evaluating low-code versus custom software approaches.
• Experience with enterprise systems, third-party APIs, data platforms, and integrations connecting applications and data across multiple environments.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex issues, identify root causes, and solve problems across application, infrastructure, integration, and data boundaries.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools, coding agents, or AI-enabled engineering workflows.
• Experience in consulting, professional services, or other client-facing environments where technical decisions account for business outcomes, budgets, timelines, and changing requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical architecture and implementation of client solutions involving custom software, cloud applications, APIs, enterprise integrations, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Work with clients to understand business processes, existing systems, technical constraints, and desired outcomes, and translate them into practical solution designs and implementation approaches.
• Advise clients on architectural decisions, tradeoffs, project risks, and technical recommendations in terms understandable to business and technology stakeholders.
• Remain hands-on in software engineering through architecture, prototyping, code reviews, complex integrations, troubleshooting, and resolving difficult technical challenges.
• Evaluate custom development, Microsoft Azure, Power Platform, automation tools, existing enterprise platforms, and hybrid architectures; recommend an effective approach based on requirements, security, cost, and maintainability.
• Translate business requirements into technical scopes, implementation plans, estimates, dependencies, and acceptance criteria; identify and communicate technical risks.
• Provide technical leadership across engineering engagements and help developers address architectural questions, implementation challenges, and complex technical decisions.
• Establish and maintain practical standards for software architecture, coding, testing, security, CI/CD, deployment, documentation, and production support.
• Guide implementation in client-owned environments while accounting for infrastructure, security, identity management, data access, deployment processes, and operational constraints.
• Use AI-assisted development tools, including Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and other coding agents, to accelerate development, testing, debugging, and documentation while maintaining technical review and quality control.
• Collaborate with software engineers, Microsoft platform engineers, AI engineers, data scientists, product teams, and client technology teams.
• Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge, and strengthen the team's ability to design, build, troubleshoot, and support complex solutions independently.
• Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through reusable architecture patterns, development practices, automation, and lessons learned from client engagements.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefit options, including health, dental, vision, and 401(k).
• Well-being support focused on physical, financial, social, and emotional well-being.

What This Job Offers

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