Director Of Applications Engineering Jobs in Colorado

Director of Software Engineering

Location: Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Type: Full-Time, Salary/Exempt, on-site with limited remote work flexibility.

Annualized Salary Range: $155,000 - $215,000 commensurate with experience.

Position Description

Caliola is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead our software organization as we scale mission‑critical communications products, programs, and technical solutions. Reporting to the VP of Engineering, this leader will manage software engineering teams building web applications, backend signal processing for communications, alternate positioning/navigation/timing solutions, and applications that run over mesh networks.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, management, and accountability for Caliola’s software organization, establishing software leads, mentoring technical talent, and strengthening team capability across in‑person, remote, and restricted development environments.
• Define, maintain, and continuously improve software engineering standards for architecture, code quality, testing, CI/CD, documentation, secure development, and AI‑enabled software engineering practices.
• Maintain awareness of Caliola’s software technology stack and guide standards, tooling, and staffing decisions across languages, frameworks, development environments, and deployment targets.
• Improve delivery predictability by monitoring staffing, dependencies, technical risks, quality, technical debt, execution blockers, and team capacity across current contracts, future awards, and internally funded development efforts.
• Establish and continuously improve agile software development practices, including sprint planning, backlog management, prioritization, estimation, retrospectives, accountability, issue escalation, and follow‑through.
• Partner with program management, business development, product/design, engineering leaders, and customers to support proposals, translate requirements into executable software plans, and validate technical approaches, staffing assumptions, and delivery commitments.
• Support productization of DoD‑funded and internally developed solutions by promoting reusable components, common patterns, maintainable architectures, disciplined software sustainment practices, and appropriate adoption of approved AI‑enabled tools and workflows.
• Drive healthy team dynamics by setting clear expectations, coaching through conflict, escalating issues early, and creating an environment where software teams can execute with focus and accountability.

What We Require

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including leading software teams, technical leads, or complex software delivery efforts.
• Demonstrated ability to provide leadership, management, and accountability for software engineers and technical leads across in‑person, remote, and restricted development environments.
• Strong working knowledge of modern software engineering practices, including agile development, software architecture, code quality, automated testing, CI/CD, secure development, documentation, and release discipline.
• Ability to manage staffing, priorities, dependencies, technical risk, quality, technical debt, and delivery commitments across multiple programs or development efforts.
• Ability to partner effectively with program management, business development, product/design, engineering leaders, and customers to support proposals, technical planning, and execution.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage challenging situations with professionalism, and communicate clearly with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret security clearance.

What We Value

• Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Active U.S. Government Secret or Top Secret clearance.
• Experience leading software organizations that deliver both customer‑funded programs and internally funded or productized software capabilities.
• Experience developing or delivering software in DoD, Federal Government, defense contractor, restricted, regulated, classified, or mission‑critical environments, including familiarity with statements of work, proposal support, and formal program execution.
• Familiarity leading teams across technologies such as C++, Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Vue.js or similar front‑end frameworks, Node.js or comparable backend technologies, GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, containers, Linux, and secure or restricted development environments.
• Experience scaling software engineering practices in a growing small business, defense contractor, or mission‑focused technology organization.
• Experience guiding adoption of AI‑enabled software engineering practices, development tools, or knowledge‑management workflows.
• Ability to travel periodically for critical meetings at customer sites and other business locations.

Minimum Physical Requirements

• Must possess exceptional written and verbal English communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Must be able to navigate a standard office environment including prolonged periods at a desk and frequent use of computers, screens, and digital communication tools.
• Ability to maintain high levels of cognitive focus, analytical thinking, and attention to detail for extended periods when reviewing architectural designs, code repositories, and technical proposals.
• Must be able to frequently move about the office environment to facilitate team collaboration and engage with stakeholders. Requires the occasional ability to lift, move, and set up office and personal technical equipment (e.g., laptops, monitors, and peripherals) up to 20 lbs.

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age, or any other federally protected class.

Caliola participates in E‑Verify. Upon hire, all employees are required to complete Form I‑9 to verify their identity and employment eligibility to work in the United States.