Sr Dir, Software Engineering

Senior Director of Software Engineering
Hybrid - Phoenix, Arizona
About the Role
We are looking for a Senior Director of Software Engineering to lead and support our product development teams in the next evolution of Blackboard.
This is not a role for maintaining an existing product estate. Over the coming months, this leader will support a new operating system for the company, optimize tools and processes, and use artificial intelligence to level up software engineering to deliver more value for our customers.
The measure of success will be that the company runs better and teams move faster.
Responsibilities:
The estate. The premium and point solutions including our market leading Ally solution.
The transformation. The operating system of our work needs to be refreshed to suit a 2026 company: to drive productivity and leverage AI. Beyond individual productivity, this role is responsible for efficiency and automation across software engineering. Your experience will help inform and implement that transformation.
The partnership. Close working relationships with Product Management and Design, Security, and Cloud Operations. Product Development systems decisions are business decisions, and you will make them collaboratively with the leaders who depend on them.
The team. Building, developing, and in places restructuring a global organization. Some of this work will change what roles exist. You will lead that honestly and with care.
Audit and compliance. ISO 27001, SOC 2, FedRAMP, and GovRAMP are requirements of doing business. You know what those obligations require of corporate systems, and your team is in the room with Security and the auditors, producing evidence as needed.
Occasional travel
Required Skills and Experience
10+ years of related experience with a bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience
Has run a large software engineering team at scale and transformed its effectiveness
Leveraged artificial intelligence and automation to build and deploy software on a global scale
Fluent in cost. Driven cost out of cloud spend by frugal architect principles and/or reduced cost by finding opportunities for savings.
Led through structural change and treated the people involved as adults. Delivered difficult news, kept your best people, and left a team that trusted you.
Comfortable being measured. Published your service levels and look for continuous feedback to drive improvement.
Operated globally in practice, not in theory. Managed across time zones, navigated works councils and regional employment norms, and handled data residency requirements without treating them as an obstacle.
Deep experience in EdTech, SaaS, or te