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Software Engineering Director Jobs in California

Cubic Corporation

Engineering Director

San Diego, CA · On-site

$232K - $253K/yr

Degree - BS in an Engineering discipline (i.e., Software, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering), Masters degree is preferred * Certifications - Cost Account Director (CAM) Certification * Clearance ...

Cubic Corporation

Engineering Director

San Diego, CA · On-site

$200 - $250/hr

Job Summary Title - Engineering Director Location - San Diego, CA, onsite Schedule - 9/80 Travel ... Specific software/program experience - Microsoft Office ANSYS, SOLIDWORKS, MATLAB, DOORS, Visio ...

Blue Star Families

Engineering Director

San Diego, CA · Hybrid

$232K - $253K/yr

Degree - BS in an Engineering discipline (i.e., Software, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering), Masters degree is preferred * Certifications - Cost Account Director (CAM) Certification * Clearance ...

FloQast

Director, Software Engineering

Los Angeles, CA · On-site +1

$186K - $282K/yr

The Director of Software Engineering at FloQast will oversee multiple software engineering teams tasked with designing and implementing features and functionalities to scale and enhance our B2B SaaS ...

FloQast

Director, Software Engineering

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$200 - $250/hr

The Director of Software Engineering at FloQast will oversee multiple software engineering teams tasked with designing and implementing features and functionalities to scale and enhance our B2B SaaS ...

Diality Inc

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 ...

Diality

Director, Software Engineering

Irvine, CA · Hybrid

$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 ...

Socket.dev

Director, Software Engineering

San Diego, CA · On-site

$200 - $250/hr

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 ...

Worky

Director, Software Engineering

San Diego, CA · On-site

$200 - $250/hr

We're hiring a Director of Software Engineering to lead a team of developers building the software that powers our multi-omic instruments and platforms. Your team's surface area spans frontend ...

Posted today

Diality

Director, Software Engineering (Irvine)

Irvine, CA · On-site

$270K/yr

The Director of Software Engineering is responsible for establishing software engineering strategy, developing high‑performing organizations, guiding execution across multiple product lines, and ...

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Software Engineering Director information

What is a software engineering director?

Software Engineering Directors are senior leaders responsible for overseeing software development teams and projects within an organization. They set the technical vision, manage engineering managers and senior engineers, and ensure that software products meet strategic business goals. Their role involves collaborating with other departments, defining engineering best practices, and ensuring the scalability and quality of software solutions. They also play a key role in hiring, mentoring, and developing engineering talent. Overall, they bridge the gap between business objectives and technical execution.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a software engineering director?

To thrive as a Software Engineering Director, you need a strong background in software development, leadership experience, and typically a degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with software development methodologies (such as Agile or Scrum), cloud platforms, and project management tools is highly valued, along with certifications like PMP or relevant technical credentials. Exceptional communication, strategic thinking, and the ability to motivate and mentor teams are standout soft skills in this role. These skills and qualities are crucial for aligning engineering efforts with business goals, driving innovation, and ensuring successful project delivery.

What are some common challenges faced by a software engineering director when managing cross-functional teams?

As a Software Engineering Director, one common challenge is aligning the priorities and workflows of diverse teams, such as development, QA, and product management, to ensure smooth project delivery. Navigating communication gaps and managing resource allocation across multiple projects can also be complex. To address these challenges, strong leadership, effective stakeholder management, and a keen ability to set clear objectives are essential. Proactively facilitating collaboration and maintaining transparency helps ensure teams remain focused and productive.

What are the most commonly searched types of Software Engineering jobs in California?

The most popular types of Software Engineering jobs in California are:

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

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

Infographic showing various Software Engineering Director 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.

Software Engineering Director - Inference Platform

SambaNova

San Jose, CA • On-site

$296K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 6 days ago

Job description

About the team

The SambaStack team builds the inference serving platform enterprises and service providers use to host foundation models on RDU hardware. The platform is cloud-agnostic, and the team owns deployment, orchestration, scaling, and reliability for production inference workloads.

About the Role

The SambaStack team is seeking an Engineering Director to lead a software engineering team while remaining a hands-on technical contributor. You'll own the growth and effectiveness of your team, the technical quality of their output, and the roadmap for the inference serving platform. You'll continue to design systems and write code on the platform's hardest problems.

 
Responsibilities

People & Team Leadership

  • Lead, grow, and inspire a software team, fostering a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement
  • Own hiring for your team: define roles, assess candidates, and build a diverse, high-performing engineering organization
  • Drive the career development of your engineers through regular 1:1s, meaningful feedback, and clear growth plans
  • Set clear goals and expectations, track team progress, and remove blockers to keep the team executing effectively
  • Partner with Product, ML, QA, and DevOps leadership to align team priorities with broader organizational objectives

Technical Contribution

  • Contribute directly as a software engineer: designing systems, writing code, and leading implementation on critical platform initiatives
  • Participate in and lead design reviews, providing authoritative technical guidance on major features and cross-cutting changes
  • Establish and uphold engineering standards, best practices, and coding quality across the team
  • Proactively identify and drive the resolution of systemic risks: performance bottlenecks, reliability gaps, and scaling constraints
  • Stay current on emerging technologies and AI inference trends to inform the team's technical direction
Required Qualifications
  • 12+ years of software engineering experience, including 2+ years leading and managing engineering teams
  • Demonstrated ability to manage, develop, and hire strong engineers while remaining a hands-on technical contributor
  • Strong technical depth in backend systems built with Python, Go, or Rust
  • Experience with AI inference serving, orchestration, and the infrastructure challenges of LLM workloads at production scale
  • Proven ability to drive engineering excellence across an engineering team
  • Excellent communication skills: able to work effectively with engineers, cross-functional partners, and senior leadership
  • Experience running iterative engineering processes in a fast-paced environment
Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience with Kubernetes ecosystem tooling, including Operators and Helm Charts
  • Background in ML application optimization and productionization
  • Experience building or managing teams that deliver cloud-native platforms for enterprise customers
  • Familiarity with AI coding assistants and the developer tooling ecosystem
  • Experience at a high-growth AI infrastructure company

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