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Senior Director Software Engineering Jobs in California

Director, Software Engineering

Los Angeles, CA · On-site +1

$272K/yr

... of software engineers and engineering managers responsible for the S365 and SmartShopper ... Reporting to the Senior Director of Product Engineering, you will play a key role in delivering ...

The Director of Software Engineering reports to Director of Product Development and leads Diality's Software Engineering and Software Verification & Validation organizations. This role serves as the ...

Director, Software Engineering

Irvine, CA · On-site

$223K - $260K/yr

The Director of Software Engineering reports to Director of Product Development and leads Diality's Software Engineering and Software Verification & Validation organizations. This role serves as the ...

Meta is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead the CI Care organization within ... M2s) and senior individual contributors • Partner with product, design, and data science ...

JOB SUMMARY Truvian is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead software development for its recently FDA-cleared blood testing platform, TruVerus(TM). This role will follow software ...

Showing results 21-40

Senior Director Software Engineering information

See California salary details

$137.2K

$250.7K

How much do senior director software engineering jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 18, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior director software engineering in California is $240,723.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $249,700.00 and $249,700.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a senior director of software engineering do?

A Senior Director of Software Engineering is responsible for overseeing multiple software engineering teams, setting technical strategy, and ensuring the successful delivery of software projects. They collaborate closely with other departments, such as product management and operations, to align engineering objectives with business goals. Additionally, they mentor engineering leaders, manage budgets, and drive the adoption of best practices in software development. Their role is key in shaping the technology vision and fostering innovation within the organization.

How does a senior director of software engineering typically balance strategic leadership with hands-on technical oversight?

A Senior Director of Software Engineering is expected to provide high-level strategic direction while also ensuring technical excellence across teams. This often involves setting long-term technology roadmaps, making critical architectural decisions, and mentoring engineering managers. While daily coding is rare, staying technically engaged through code reviews, design sessions, and technical deep-dives helps maintain credibility and alignment with development teams. Effective Senior Directors foster cross-functional collaboration with product, design, and operations to drive business objectives and support organizational growth.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior director of software engineering, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Senior Director of Software Engineering, you need deep technical expertise in software architecture, leadership experience, and a proven track record of managing large engineering teams, often supported by a computer science degree or similar qualification. Familiarity with agile methodologies, cloud platforms (like AWS or Azure), and modern development tools, as well as relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, Scrum Master), is highly valuable. Exceptional communication, strategic thinking, and the ability to mentor and inspire cross-functional teams are standout soft skills for this role. These skills ensure the delivery of high-quality software products, effective team leadership, and alignment with organizational goals in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

What is the difference between Senior Director Software Engineering vs Vice President of Software Development?

AspectSenior Director Software EngineeringVice President of Software Development
CredentialsBachelor's/Master's in Computer Science or related field; extensive experienceSimilar educational background; often more strategic experience
Work EnvironmentLeads multiple engineering teams, reports to VP or CTOOversees entire software development division, reports to C-level
Industry UsageCommon in large tech companies and enterprisesTypically found in large organizations with complex product portfolios
FocusTechnical leadership, project delivery, team managementStrategic planning, cross-department coordination, executive decision-making

The Senior Director of Software Engineering and Vice President of Software Development roles both require extensive technical expertise and leadership experience. The VP role generally involves a broader strategic scope and higher-level decision-making, often overseeing the entire software development function, while the Senior Director focuses more on managing engineering teams and project execution within that scope.

What cities in California are hiring for Senior Director Software Engineering jobs?

Cities in California with the most Senior Director Software Engineering job openings:

Infographic showing various Senior Director Software Engineering job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 90% Full Time, 6% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $240,723 per year, or $115.7 per hour.

Director/Senior Director, Software Engineering

Genentech

South San Francisco, CA • On-site

$201 - $427/hr

Other

Posted 6 days ago


Genentech rating

8.8

Company rating: 8.8 out of 10

Based on 22 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

11th of 86 rated pharmaceutical


Job description

The Position

A healthier future. It’s what drives us to innovate. To continuously advance science and ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need today and for generations to come. Creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love. That’s what makes us Roche.

Advances in AI, data, and computational sciences are transforming drug discovery and development. Roche’s Research and Early Development organisations at Genentech (gRED) and Pharma (pRED) have demonstrated how these technologies accelerate R&D, leveraging data and novel computational models to drive impact. Seamless data sharing and access to models across gRED and pRED are essential to maximising these opportunities. The new Computational Sciences Center of Excellence (CoE) is a strategic, unified group whose goal is to harness this transformative power of data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist our scientists in both pRED and gRED to deliver more innovative and transformative medicines for patients worldwide.

Within the CoE organisation, the Data and Digital Catalyst (DDC) organisation drives the modernisation of our computational and data ecosystems and integration of digital technologies across Research and Early Development to enable our stakeholders, power data-driven science and accelerate decision-making.

One of the Engineering Capability teams in the DDC Organization is called Solutions. The solutions team is building a modernized and interconnected computational and data ecosystem. On top of the Data Ecosystem we are building engineering solutions to accelerate the work done by our Computational and Bench Scientists and enable the work done on ML/AI. Our team specializes in building Data Pipelines and Applications for data acquisition, collection, storage, transformation, linkage and sharing.

Join our team, where you will shape the future of our data solutions. In this pivotal role, you will lead a talented team of engineers to design and deliver innovative engineering solutions that impact stakeholders across our global organization, from lab scientists to AI specialists. Your vision and leadership will be crucial in building collaborative partnerships and fostering an engaging team culture built on trust and impact.

The Opportunity:

In this position, you will make a significant impact by:

  • Driving an AI-first transformation and connecting cutting-edge artificial intelligence with enterprise software engineering, guiding the organization from traditional development towards an AI-native approach in both the products we build and the tools we use to build them.

  • Combining rigorous, hands-on technical depth with a sharp understanding of the competitive landscape to build and deliver software systems leveraging the best available AI techniques and tools.

  • Providing strategic engineering leadership, identifying new opportunities to build common, scalable solutions.

  • Leading, mentoring, and developing a diverse team of software, data, and machine learning engineers, fostering a culture of growth and collaboration.

  • Driving the technical vision and delivery of robust data flows and applications across key domains like Research and Development.

  • Overseeing the full talent lifecycle, from implementing an inclusive recruitment strategy to retaining and developing your team members.

  • Championing technical excellence by improving our application architecture and data ecosystem, leveraging modern, cloud-first, and API-first patterns.

  • Making key technical decisions to reduce technical debt and drive the consolidation of legacy systems.

  • Enabling advanced analytics and AI/ML capabilities by delivering integrated data sets and facilitating model implementation.

  • Building and maintaining strong partnerships with key stakeholders and leaders across our global organization.

Who You Are:

We are looking for a leader who is passionate about technology, people, and creating impactful solutions. You can think strategically while delivering on commitments, and you thrive in a collaborative environment. You deliver your commitments while leveraging the best in class AI tools and processes

To be successful in this role, you should have:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or similar technical field. Master’s degree or higher preferable.

  • 12+ years of experience in software engineering and 7+ years of experience managing teams and experience forming a new team.

  • Deep experience and technical understanding of modern software and data engineering approaches, including data flow within the cloud and cutting-edge data storage solutions

  • Experience developing software using latest AI coding tools.

  • Experience with full stack development. Working knowledge of building Front Ends using HTML/CSS, JavaScript and other Libraries and Backends using any high level languages like Python, Java.

  • Working experience with Databases and Data Analytics (SQL/NoSQL, ETL, ELT), APIs (REST, GraphQL).

  • Experience with building Designs for Data Applications which are highly reliable, scalable, performant, secure and robust and ideally on a public cloud platform.

  • Takes an Open Source, Cloud First, API First, AI First approach towards problem solving.

  • Experience technically leading large and complex projects, involving multiple teams and stakeholders and achieving outstanding results in a timely and efficient manner.

  • Experience influencing, motivating and aligning others towards common technical decisions and leverages shared ownership as appropriate.

  • Highly collaborative and ability to build trusted partnerships with internal and external stakeholders and possesses strong oral and written communication skills.

  • Ability to think strategically and optimize for the long term while acting with a sense of urgency.

  • Cares about technical and product excellence and building highly usable solutions.

  • Experience reducing Tech Debt and consolidating and deprecating legacy solutions.

  • Acts as a mentor and coach for others and consistently exhibits servant leadership and a passion for teamwork and collaboration.

Onsite presence, on our South San Francisco campus, is expected for at least 3 days a week.

Relocation benefits are not available for this posting.

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of South San Francisco, California is $201,200 - $373,600 (Director) and $229,900 - $426,900 (Senior Director). Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

Benefits

Genentech is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in relation to the online application process, please contact us by completing this form Accommodations for Applicants.

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About Genentech

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

A member of the Roche Group, Genentech has been at the forefront of the biotechnology industry for more than 40 years, using human genetic information to develop novel medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Genentech has multiple therapies on the market for cancer & other serious illnesses. Please take this opportunity to learn about Genentech where we believe that our employees are our most important asset & are dedicated to remaining a great place to work.

Industry

Scientific research and development services

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

South San Francisco, CA, US

Year founded

1976

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