Sr. Director, Engineering

Solera

About The Position

Solera is a global leader in data and software services that strives to transform every touchpoint of the vehicle lifecycle into a connected digital experience. In addition, we provide products and services to protect life’s other most important assets: our homes and digital identities. Today, Solera processes over 300 million digital transactions annually for approximately 235,000 partners and customers in more than 90 countries. Our 6,500 team members foster an uncommon, innovative culture and are dedicated to successfully bringing the future to bear today through cognitive answers, insights, algorithms and automation. For more information, please visit solera.com. We are looking for a visionary Sr. Director of Engineering who leads with AI — not just as a tool, but as a force multiplier for team capability, product velocity, and developer experience. This role sits at the intersection of people leadership, platform engineering, and intelligent automation. You will own the engineering operating model for a global, high-performing team and drive measurable outcomes through disciplined delivery, thoughtful change management, and a relentless commitment to upleveling talent.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with 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)
Strong command of engineering metrics and how to use data to drive decisions and accountability
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

Responsibilities

AI-First Engineering Leadership Champion the integration of AI-powered tooling (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, CodeWhisperer, and emerging LLM-based agents) across the engineering organization to measurably improve developer throughput and code quality
Architect and own an AI product enablement strategy — working with Product and Design to embed AI capabilities (intelligent automation, predictive features, RAG pipelines, agentic workflows) into Solera's core offerings
Build internal AI engineering platforms, reusable prompt libraries, and guardrails that ccelerate adoption safely and responsibly
Stay ahead of the AI tooling landscape; evaluate, pilot, and institutionalize tools that reduce toil and amplify engineering leverage
Delivery Excellence & Execution Own and continuously improve the engineering operating model — from planning and roadmap execution to retrospectives and capacity forecasting
Maintain a high say/do ratio across global teams through consistent 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; translate business objectives into engineering commitments with clarity and confidence
Track leading and lagging indicators of delivery health (cycle time, deployment frequency, MTTR, change failure rate) and drive continuous improvement
People Leadership & Change Management Lead, coach, and scale a global engineering organization including multiple Engineering Managers and senior ICs across regions
Design and execute structured skills uplevel programs — with particular focus on AI literacy, cloud-native patterns, and modern software delivery practices
Drive change management for technology transformations (legacy modernization, AI adoption, platform migrations) with clear communication plans, stakeholder buy-in, and measurable milestones
Build a culture of psychological safety, radical candor, and continuous learning where feedback is prompt, actionable, and welcomed
Partner with Talent Acquisition to build diverse, global engineering pipelines; own engineering brand and hiring bar
Technical Strategy & Architecture Provide hands-on technical leadership across Solera's cloud-native microservices platform (.NET, Java, React, cloud infrastructure)
Work with Software Architects and Product leaders to define and deliver technology roadmaps with organizational visibility and on-time milestones
Champion platform engineering principles — golden paths, internal developer portals, self-service infrastructure — to reduce friction and scale delivery
Own technical debt strategy: quantify, prioritize, and systematically reduce debt while preserving delivery velocity
Ensure engineering practices meet compliance, security, and regulatory requirements across all jurisdictions
Cross-Functional & Stakeholder Leadership Serve as the primary engineering voice in executive conversations — communicating risk, progress, and tradeoffs with clarity
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