Programming Director Jobs in Red Bank, NJ (NOW HIRING)

About Harmonic Security
AI is being run everywhere, by humans and agents. Harmonic Security governs all of it. The AI Governance and Control (AIGC) platform understands user and agent intent and data context in real time, giving security teams visibility and control across every tool and workflow so companies can move faster with AI while minimizing risk.
We operate in one of the fastest-moving spaces in tech: the emerging intersection of AI and cybersecurity. It's a market still being defined, and we're among the first to build natively for it -- protecting sensitive data in real time, at the endpoint, with minimal friction for the teams using it. Enterprises get full visibility and control. Their people get to innovate without guardrails slowing them down.
Named to the Rising in Cyber 2026 list, Harmonic is gaining serious recognition and serious traction. We're led by deep cybersecurity expertise and backed by investors who know the space: N47, Ten Eleven Ventures, and In-Q-Tel.
As AI adoption inside the enterprise accelerates, the ability to safely observe, control, and enforce policy in real time isn't a nice-to-have. It's mission-critical infrastructure. That's what we build.
How We Work: AI-First by Design
Harmonic exists to help enterprises adopt AI safely and at scale. We hold ourselves to that same standard. Everyone here actively leverages AI tools to perform their best work -- from deep research and writing to building robust processes and automating complex workflows. We expect every new hire to bring a genuine curiosity for AI and a commitment to using it to work smarter, faster, and with greater creativity.
For some, this involves tinkering and remaining open to emerging tools; for others, it means architecting entirely new systems with AI at the core. We will be transparent about expectations for every role and provide the tools and support needed for you to thrive.
About the Team
Harmonic's engineering team has been built in the UK from day one - and it's worked well enough that we're now taking the next step: standing up our first US engineering presence, based on the East Coast. This isn't a satellite office or an outsourcing play. It's a real second home for engineering, and we want someone who's genuinely built one of these before to lead it.
You'll report into our VP of Engineering, alongside our UK engineering leadership, as part of one engineering organization rather than two. The goal isn't a US team that happens to share a Slack with the UK - it's one function that works as a single team across time zones, with the US site eventually covering its own ground in customer engineering, platform, and product delivery.
About the Role
We're looking for a Director, Engineering to build our US engineering function from the ground up. Based in Boston or NYC, you'll help open our East Coast office: hiring the initial team, establishing how it runs day to day, and making sure it integrates tightly with our existing UK team rather than drifting into a separate operation with its own culture and priorities. Over time, you'll grow the US side of three capabilities we already run in the UK: customer engineering, platform (DevOps and infrastructure monitoring), and product roadmap delivery.
This is mostly a leadership role, not a coding role - but not on day one. While the team is small, you'll be hands-on: interviewing deeply technical candidates credibly, making early architecture and tooling calls, and probably writing some code yourself before you have a team large enough to hand it to. As the team grows, your time shifts toward hiring, coaching, and being the connective tissue between two offices five time zones apart.
What You'll Do

• Hire and build Harmonic's first US engineering team from a standing start, sequencing growth across customer engineering, platform, and product roadmap capability based on business need
• Be genuinely hands-on while the team is small - reviewing code, making early technical calls, and stepping in directly where needed - before shifting toward a fuller leadership role as headcount grows
• Design how the US and UK engineering teams actually work together day to day: overlap hours, handoffs, communication norms, and shared rituals, so the US site is one team with the UK rather than a second one
• Own the engineering hiring bar and interview process for the US market, adapting what works in the UK rather than reinventing it from scratch
• Represent the US engineering function to our VP of Engineering and the rest of engineering leadership, and make sure US context and constraints are visible in company-wide planning
• Partner with People/Recruiting on the practical realities of hiring in the US - compensation benchmarking, employment structures, and market norms that differ from the UK
• Build the operational rhythm (planning, delivery, on-call, incident response) that lets the US team ship independently while staying aligned with existing engineering practices

What You Bring

• 10+ years of experience managing and leading engineering teams
• A genuine track record of building a US (or other second-site) engineering presence for a company headquartered elsewhere - not just managing a team that already existed when you joined
• Experience hiring engineers from a standing start, not inheriting an existing team and its processes
• Comfort being hands-on early - technically credible enough to make calls and interview deeply technical candidates - with a clear track record of transitioning into fuller leadership as a team scales
• Broad enough technical range to hire well and set direction across customer-facing engineering, platform/infrastructure, and product engineering, even without deep specialism in all three
• Real experience collaborating across time zones with a non-collocated team - ideally specifically with a UK team, so you understand both the practical overlap-hours problem and the cultural texture of working with UK colleagues
• A track record of operating well inside a broader engineering organization led by someone else, rather than needing full autonomy to feel ownership

You Might Be a Fit if You

• Have done this exact motion before: stood up a US presence for a company based elsewhere, and know firsthand what makes a second site succeed or quietly become a second company
• Get real satisfaction from the first 90 days of a build - hiring well, setting the tone, getting the first few things right - as much as from steady-state leadership
• Are based on the East Coast, or ready to be, and believe in-person team-building matters enough to build around it rather than default to fully remote
• Are excited by broad scope across several engineering domains rather than owning one deep specialism
• Are comfortable being judged early on hiring quality and team health rather than feature throughput
• Thrive in fast-paced startup environments where ambiguity is the norm
• Leverage AI tools as an engineer and a leader to help your team build smarter, faster and better

Why Join Us
This isn't just a job - it's a chance to help define a category, and to build the US chapter of that story from its first page. We're building at the intersection of AI and security, carving out an emerging market where the rules haven't been written yet, and the people who join now will write them.
We believe today's talent is tomorrow's success, and we're committed to creating an environment where you can do the best work of your life.

• Recognized momentum - We made the Rising in Cyber 2026 list, a signal that the market is taking notice
• Rare market opportunity - Join early in a category-defining company at the convergence of AI and security, where your work directly shapes how enterprises tackle one of the biggest unsolved problems in tech
• Competitive pay and meaningful equity - A real stake in Harmonic's success, not a token gesture
• Comprehensive benefits - 401K, pension plan, generous PTO, and flexible hybrid work
• A small, high-trust team that values transparency, creativity, and continuous learning - no politics, no bureaucracy
• Thoughtful leadership - that cares deeply about your growth, not just your output
• Annual global off-sites - past trips include Lisbon, Portugal and Nashville, TN
• Real ownership - you'll shape a new part of the company, its culture, and its direction from day one

Harmonic's Core Values
Flourish in the Unknown
We embrace new, unfamiliar situations that require initiative and rapid decision-making. We orient ourselves quickly and deliver results with minimal guidance.
Never Full
We raise our hands, take on challenges, and assist others whenever possible. We hunger for opportunities to learn and do more.
Perfect Harmony
We support one another to create cohesion and unity. We collaborate openly, share feedback honestly, and help everyone produce their best work