Director Of Software Development Jobs in Austin, TX

Company Overview

We build the leading pupil transportation tracking platform that protects over 1 million K-12 students every day. Our RFID-based system provides real-time bus tracking, parent notifications, routing, dismissal management, and student safety tools to school districts across the country. As a privately owned, bootstrapped SaaS company, we are currently building a lean, high-performing engineering team that delivers exceptional reliability and customer outcomes.

Position Overview
We are seeking a rare, high-impact leader to step into the dual role of Director & Staff Engineer of Software Development. This unique position sits at the intersection of executive technical leadership and hands-on execution. You will split your time between defining the engineering strategy, building and mentoring a world-class team, and actively writing code and defining software architecture. As a Staff Engineer, you will be an individual contributor driving our core technical vision, designing scalable systems, and pioneering AI-assisted development workflows. As a Director, you will collaborate with cross-functional leadership, unblock delivery pipelines, manage engineering outcomes, and cultivate a culture of engineering excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture (Staff Engineer Scope)

• Hands-on Development: Design, build, and maintain scalable, high-performance features across our full stack using Azure SQL, .NET 8+, ADO.NET, EF Core, ASP.NET MVC/Web API, React/Next.js, and TypeScript.
• Architectural Stewardship: Guide the transition of legacy systems toward clean architecture, optimizing backend business logic, data access layers, and data models in Azure SQL.
• Pioneer AI-Driven Velocity: Lead the adoption of emerging AI engineering tools (e.g., Copilot, Cursor, Claude). Leveraging AI for design, code generation, testing, and documentation is a baseline expectation.
• Geospatial Innovation: Architect and scale features leveraging mapping and navigation platforms, handling real-time location tracking, routing engines, and spatial databases.

Organizational & People Leadership (Director Scope)

• Team Performance & Delivery: Collaborate with Product Management, DevOps, and QA to establish highly efficient CI/CD workflows, ensuring the team successfully ships reliable code multiple times per week.
• Mentorship & Culture: Actively mentor senior and mid-level engineers through pair-programming, rigorous code reviews, and career development frameworks. Cultivate an environment focused on high accountability and continuous learning.
• Strategic Alignment: Represent the engineering team in leadership circles, aligning technical roadmaps with broader business objectives and managing resource allocation effectively.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee operational health, including performance tuning, security compliance, automated testing standards, and the engineering on-call rotation framework.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 6+ years of full-stack .NET experience in production environments, with a proven track record of designing and shipping large-scale, high-availability distributed systems.
• Expert proficiency in C#, .NET 8 (or later), EF Core, ASP.NET MVC, and Azure SQL.
• Strong front-end mastery utilizing React 18+, Next.js, TypeScript, and modern state management.
• Deep understanding of computer science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, concurrency, and distributed systems.
• Extensive experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated unit/integration testing frameworks, and advanced monitoring/telemetry.
• Demonstrated experience or strong aptitude for engineering management, resource planning, and cross-functional leadership.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• A relentless passion for efficiency; an early adopter mindset regarding LLMs and AI-assisted coding to maximize team velocity.

Strongly Preferred Qualifications

• Geospatial & Navigation Expertise: Hands-on experience building or integrating with mapping platforms such as Google Maps API, Mapbox, HERE Maps, OpenStreetMap (OSM), or ArcGIS.
• Telematics & Routing: Familiarity with geocoding, reverse geocoding, routing engines, polyline rendering, real-time location tracking, or fleet/telematics applications.
• Spatial Data: Experience working with GIS data formats (GeoJSON, KML, Shapefiles) and spatial databases (PostGIS, Azure SQL spatial types).

Position Details & Requirements

• Location: Full-time, on-site in our Georgetown, TX 78628 headquarters. Return to Office (RTO) is required and non-negotiable. This is an in-office role with no remote or hybrid option.
• Employment Type: W-2 employee only. We do not hire 1099 contractors or C2C arrangements for this position.
• Work Authorization: Must be a U.S. Citizen or Green Card holder. No visa sponsorship is available.
• Compensation: $165,000 – $185,000 base salary (depending on experience and qualifications). Full benefits package included (medical, dental, vision, term life, 401k, and PTO).