Sr. Director, Engineering

Solera•Westlake, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Solera is seeking a visionary Sr. Director of Engineering who will lead with AI as a force multiplier for team capability, product velocity, and developer experience. This role is at the intersection of people leadership, platform engineering, and intelligent automation. The successful candidate will own the engineering operating model for a global, high-performing team and drive measurable outcomes through disciplined delivery, thoughtful change management, and a commitment to talent development.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive software engineering experience.
7+ years leading engineering teams at scale.
Demonstrated track record of delivering complex, multi-quarter programs on time with a verifiable high say/do ratio.
Hands-on experience integrating AI/ML tools into developer workflows and/or shipping AI-enabled product features.
Proven change management experience leading technology transformations, modernization efforts, or cultural shifts in engineering organizations.
Experience managing and coaching Engineering Managers across distributed, global teams.
Deep fluency in cloud-native architecture, microservices, and modern SDLC practices (CI/CD, DevSecOps, SRE principles).
BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in highly regulated or compliance-sensitive domains (automotive, insurance, fintech, health tech) is a strong advantage.
Strong command of engineering metrics and how to use data to drive decisions and accountability.

Responsibilities

Champion the integration of AI-powered tooling across the engineering organization to improve developer throughput and code quality.
Architect and own an AI product enablement strategy, embedding AI capabilities into Solera's core offerings.
Build internal AI engineering platforms, reusable prompt libraries, and guardrails for safe and responsible adoption.
Evaluate, pilot, and institutionalize AI tools that reduce toil and amplify engineering leverage.
Own and continuously improve the engineering operating model, from planning and roadmap execution to retrospectives and capacity forecasting.
Maintain a high say/do ratio through agile delivery practices, OKR alignment, and data-driven accountability.
Establish predictable release cadences with robust CI/CD pipelines, automated quality gates, and observable, secure systems.
Lead quarterly and annual engineering planning cycles, translating business objectives into engineering commitments.
Track leading and lagging indicators of delivery health and drive continuous improvement.
Lead, coach, and scale a global engineering organization, including multiple Engineering Managers and senior ICs.
Design and execute structured skills uplevel programs, focusing on AI literacy, cloud-native patterns, and modern software delivery practices.
Drive change management for technology transformations with clear communication plans and stakeholder buy-in.
Build a culture of psychological safety, radical candor, and continuous learning.
Partner with Talent Acquisition to build diverse, global engineering pipelines and own the engineering brand and hiring bar.
Provide hands-on technical leadership across Solera's cloud-native microservices platform.
Define and deliver technology roadmaps with organizational visibility and on-time milestones.
Champion platform engineering principles to reduce friction and scale delivery.
Own technical debt strategy: quantify, prioritize, and systematically reduce debt.
Ensure engineering practices meet compliance, security, and regulatory requirements.
Serve as the primary engineering voice in executive conversations, communicating risk, progress, and tradeoffs.
Partner deeply with Product Management, Design, Data Science, and Operations to foster a unified product engineering culture.
Break down organizational silos through cross-team initiatives, shared platforms, and inner-source practices.
Contribute to annual budget planning, headcount strategy, and vendor/tooling decisions.