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Senior Director Software Engineering Jobs in Ladera Ranch, CA

CalAmp

Sr. Architect, Software Engineering

Carlsbad, CA · On-site

$133K - $180K/yr

They are seeking a Sr. Architect, Software Engineering to manage best practices within the software team, collaborate on functional applications, and develop architectural guidance for robust systems.

CalAmp

Sr. Architect, Software Engineering

Carlsbad, CA · Remote

$120K - $206K/yr

Currently, we are seeking a Sr. Architect, Software Engineering with at least 7-10 years of experience. This is an exciting opportunity for those who align with our core values (Inclusion, Innovation ...

CalAmp

Sr. Architect, Software Engineering

Carlsbad, CA · On-site

$120K - $206K/yr

Currently, we are seeking a Sr. Architect, Software Engineering with at least 7-10 years of experience. This is an exciting opportunity for those who align with our core values (Inclusion, Innovation ...

CalAmp

Sr. Architect, Software Engineering

Carlsbad, CA · Remote

$133K - $180K/yr

Currently, we are seeking a Sr. Architect, Software Engineering with at least 7-10 years of experience. This is an exciting opportunity for those who align with our core values (Inclusion, Innovation ...

Walmart

(USA) Senior Manager, Software Engineering

Irvine, CA · On-site

$132K - $264K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

The Senior Manager, Software Engineering, leads platform-level execution of software and AI/ML systems, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and roadmap milestones. This role oversees shared ...

ETAP Software

Senior Software Engineer

Irvine, CA · On-site

$129K - $171K/yr

They are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to maintain and enhance software that supports state ... Required : • Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field • ...

Socket.dev

Flight Software Engineering Manager

Irvine, CA · On-site

$180 - $230/hr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

Reporting to the Director of Program Engineering, the Flight Software Engineering Manager will be involved in all aspects of a spacecraft's lifetime, with an in-depth vision to guide and mentor ...

Avid Bioservices

Sr. Director of Engineering

Tustin, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Retirement

  • PTO

The Sr. Director of Engineering is accountable for the strategic leadership, governance, and execution of engineering across operations and capital programs. This role serves as the senior technical ...

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Showing results 21-40

All JobsSoftware Engineering JobsSenior Director Software Engineering JobsSenior Director Software Engineering Jobs in Ladera Ranch, CA

Senior Director Software Engineering information

See Ladera Ranch, CA salary details

$147.8K

$270K

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

As of Aug 19, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior director software engineering in Ladera Ranch, CA is $259,292.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $268,900.00 and $268,900.00 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 near Ladera Ranch, CA are hiring for Senior Director Software Engineering jobs?

Cities near Ladera Ranch, CA with the most Senior Director Software Engineering job openings:

Infographic showing various Senior Director Software Engineering job openings in Ladera Ranch, CA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 82% Full Time, 13% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $259,292 per year, or $124.7 per hour.

Sr Director AI Enterprise Engineering

Pacific Life Insurance Company

Newport Beach, CA • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 9 days ago

Pacific Life rating

7.4

Company rating: 7.4 out of 10

Based on 14 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

230th of 310 rated insurance

Job description

Job Description:
Providing for loved ones, planning rewarding retirements, saving enough for whatever lies ahead - our policyholders count on us to be there when it matters most. It's a big ask, but it's one that we have the power to deliver when we work together. We collaborate and innovate - pushing one another to transform not just Pacific Life, but the entire industry for the better. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Pacific Life is more than a job, it's a career with purpose. It's a career where you have the support, balance, and resources to make a positive impact on the future - including your own.
We're actively seeking a talented Sr Director of AI Engineering to join our Engineering Excellence team in Newport Beach, CA.
As a Sr Director of AI Engineering, you'll move Pacific Life, and your career, forward by advancing PL engineering through leveraging AI toward agentic adoption where the work supports it or is required.
This role owns delivery across four capability areas for Engineering Excellence (Code & Delivery, Engineering in Test, Reliability & Telemetry, Security & Compliance), ensuring that AI capabilities are operationalized from experimentation into secure, production-grade systems.
This role operates and drives enterprise adoption of AI-enabled engineering practices, platform standardization, and governance.
Scope
Portfolio: Enterprise AI engineering platforms including CI/CD, AI-assisted development, test generation and quality intelligence, observability/AIOps, and continuous security and compliance
Operating Model: Product based delivery with shared artifacts (Build Register) and continuous feedback loops (Spec ↔ Build ↔ Apply)
Enterprise Impact: Platforms consumed broadly across engineering to drive productivity, quality, and reliability
Responsibilities
  • Define and execute the enterprise AI Engineering Build roadmap, ensuring priorities are clearly aligned to business outcomes, platform adoption goals, and enterprise engineering needs.
  • Build portfolio management: Own the Build Register as the system of record for AI engineering platforms, tools, components, and delivery commitments.
  • Planning and prioritization: Operate Spec ↔ Build planning loops, using adoption signals and enterprise feedback to shape roadmap priorities.
  • AI platform delivery: Lead delivery of production-ready AI platform capabilities, including LLM integration, RAG systems, and agentic workflows.
  • MLOps and LLMOps practices: Establish production-grade MLOps and LLMOps capabilities, including CI/CD, model lifecycle governance, monitoring, and evaluation.
  • Enterprise standards and Responsible AI: Ensure AI engineering platforms meet enterprise expectations for security, privacy, compliance, and Responsible AI.
  • Secure-by-default engineering: Embed secure-by-default practices across AI and engineering workflows, including application security, threat modeling, and policy enforcement.
  • Governance and risk partnership: Partner with CISO and risk leadership to define governance expectations, strengthen control alignment, and manage high-risk releases.
  • Cross-functional alignment: Drive alignment across engineering, product, platform, and security teams to ensure shared priorities, clear decision-making, and coordinated execution.
  • Organization building: Build and scale a high-performing engineering organization through hiring, rotation planning, leadership development, and capability growth.
  • Dependency management: Resolve cross-team dependencies through lateral alignment, shared accountability, and proactive escalation management.

Required Qualifications
  • Engineering leadership: Proven track record leading multi-team platform or AI engineering organizations at Director+ scope.
  • Domain depth and breadth: Deep expertise in at least two domains, such as Developer Experience Engineering, Software Engineering in Test, SRE/Observability, or Application Security, with working fluency across the others.
  • Production AI delivery: Hands-on experience building and scaling production AI/ML systems, including LLMs, ML pipelines, or AI platforms.
  • Cloud-native architecture: Strong understanding of cloud-native architecture such as Azure, AWS, or GCP and single or multi cloud design and deployment
  • AI lifecycle governance: Experience implementing MLOps, LLMOps, and AI lifecycle governance practices.
  • Security, privacy, and compliance: Strong understanding of secure SDLC, data privacy, and compliance requirements as well as fluency in AI and LLM emerging security challenges.
  • Technical risk leadership: Ability to operate as a peer to security leadership and own technical risk conversations.
  • Experience level: Minimum 20+ years of engineering experience, including at least 8 years leading teams at Director+ scope.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Enterprise AI platform experience: Experience building enterprise AI platforms or scaling enterprise engineering organizations.
  • Responsible AI and regulatory fluency: Familiarity with Responsible AI frameworks, such as NIST AI RMF, and related regulatory expectations.
  • Agentic architecture exposure: Experience with multi-agent architectures, orchestration layers, or model routing.
  • Regulated industry experience: Experience operating in regulated industries, such as financial services, insurance, or healthcare.
  • Platform adoption leadership: Experience managing platform adoption and internal developer experience programs.

Leadership Expectations
  • Strategic systems thinking: Translate AI opportunities into enterprise-scale platforms that advance engineering productivity, quality, and reliability.
  • Innovation with discipline: Balance speed of innovation with governance, security, and operational rigor.
  • Team leadership and culture: Build high-performing teams with strong accountability, engineering excellence, and continuous improvement practices.
  • Executive communication and alignment: Communicate effectively with executive stakeholders and drive alignment across enterprise priorities.
  • Operational execution: Maintain rigor across delivery planning, prioritization, execution tracking, and outcomes management.

#LI-DW1
Base Pay Range:
The base pay range noted represents the company's good faith minimum and maximum range for this role at the time of posting. The actual compensation offered to a candidate will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications and geographic location. Also, most employees are eligible for additional incentive pay.
$203,760.00 - $249,040.00
Your Benefits Start Day 1
Your wellbeing is important to Pacific Life, and we're committed to providing you with flexible benefits that you can tailor to meet your needs. Whether you are focusing on your physical, financial, emotional, or social wellbeing, we've got you covered.
  • Prioritization of your health and well-being including Medical, Dental, Vision, and Wellbeing Reimbursement Account that can be used on yourself or your eligible dependents
  • Generous paid time off options including: Paid Time Off, Holiday Schedules, and Financial Planning Time Off
  • Paid Parental Leave as well as an Adoption Assistance Program
  • Competitive 401k savings plan with company match and an additional contribution regardless of participation

You Can Be Who You Are
We are committed to a culture of diversity and inclusion that embraces the authenticity of all employees, partners and communities. We support all employees to thrive and achieve their fullest potential.
What's life like at Pacific Life? Visit Instagram.com/lifeatpacificlife
EEO Statement:
Pacific Life Insurance Company is an Equal Opportunity /Affirmative Action Employer, M/F/D/V. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center as a result of your disability. To request an accommodation, contact a Human Resources Representative at Pacific Life Insurance Company.

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About Pacific Life

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

When you purchase life insurance and retirement solutions, you're buying a promise. A promise that today, tomorrow or ten years from now, we'll be there. For more than 150 years, our clients have trusted Pacific Life to protect what matters most to them - their families, their businesses, their futures.

Industry

Finance and insurance

Company size

1,001 - 5,000 Employees

Headquarters location

Newport Beach, CA, US

Year founded

1868

Social media

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