Dir, Software Engineering

Dir, Software Engineering

realtor.com

Austin, TX

$250.70K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Posted 15 days ago


Job description

Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com has been at the forefront of online real estate for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights and expert guidance to find their perfect home. Through its robust suite of tools, Realtor.com not only makes a significant impact on the real estate industry at large, but for consumers, navigating the biggest purchase they will make in their life, by providing a user experience that is easy to use, easy to understand, and most of all, easy to make decisions.

Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.

About the Role

Realtor.com is looking for a Director of Engineering, Consumer Enablement to lead the platform and enablement organization that powers all consumer-facing web and mobile experiences. This is a high-impact engineering leadership role responsible for three core pillars: Web & Mobile Platforms, Consumer Services, and Quality Enablement — the foundational systems and tooling that every consumer product team at Realtor.com (http://realtor.com|smart-link) builds on.

You will lead a multi-team org of ~40 engineers (FTE + contractors), managing senior engineering managers and staff engineers across web platform, mobile platform, component systems, backend services, and quality engineering. You'll report to the VP of Consumer Engineering.

This role is equal parts technical depth and organizational influence. You're not shipping features — you're building the paved path that lets dozens of engineers ship faster, safer, and with higher quality.

Top Reasons to Apply:

  • Org-wide leverage: Everything consumer runs on what this team builds. Your decisions affect 100+ engineers daily
  • Clear technical vision: Active initiatives with real momentum — Oracle, CMS, rdc-ui V4, Hestia decomposition — not greenfield ambiguity
  • AI-forward culture: The org is actively building and deploying AI-powered tooling with 100% AI adoption as a company goal
  • Senior team: You'll work alongside Staff and Sr. Staff engineers who are already deep domain experts
  • Real ownership: Full responsibility over people, platform roadmap, and cost envelope — not a coordinator role

What You'll Do

Platform Strategy & Execution

  • Own the technical roadmap for web and mobile platform infrastructure, including the MFE architecture (web-islands), CI/CD pipelines, React Router 7 migration (Project Oracle), and headless CMS platform
  • Drive the next evolution of Realtor.com's design system (rdc-ui V4: Panda CSS migration) and component ecosystem used across 41 codebases
  • Lead the decomposition of legacy monolithic services (Hestia) and the transition to domain-owned GraphQL subgraphs via Pantheon federation

Engineering Enablement

  • Define and deliver the "paved path" — standardized patterns, tooling, and guardrails that reduce cognitive load for 100+ consumer engineers
  • Own DORA metrics for the org
  • Partner with stream-aligned teams (Buyers & Sellers, Search, Personalization, New Homes, Rentals, Mobile squads) as an internal platform provider

Quality at Scale

  • Evolve the quality enablement model — shifting quality left through automation, AI tooling, and developer-owned testing
  • Oversee the testing pyramid: reducing E2E test reliance, scaling Playwright frameworks, and rolling out the AI Quality Toolkit

Cloud Cost & FinOps

  • Own the engineering cost envelope for Consumer Enablement — AWS spend, CircleCI credits, and third-party tooling budgets
  • Partner with FinOps and infrastructure teams to instrument cost attribution, identify rightsizing opportunities, and enforce cost-aware development practices across the paved path
  • Establish unit cost baselines for key platform operations (e.g., cost-per-deploy, cost-per-test-run) and drive measurable efficiency improvements quarter over quarter

People & Organization

  • Lead and develop 3 senior engineering managers and multiple staff engineers across 7 sub-teams
  • Create clear career frameworks and growth paths that retain top engineers and set expectations at every level
  • Build inclusive team cultures with high psychological safety — where engineers do their best work, managers are effective coaches, and feedback flows in all directions
  • Drive hiring rigor: define role profiles, calibrate leveling, and make high-quality talent decisions in partnership with recruiting
  • Manage headcount planning, contractor-to-FTE ratios, and capacity allocation across competing priorities in a lean org

AI Strategy & Developer Enablement

  • Partner with engineering managers to embed AI practices into daily workflows — code review, documentation, incident response, sprint planning
  • Represent the Consumer Engineering perspective in AI investment decisions: what to build internally, what to buy, and what to deprecate

What We're Looking For

Required

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience with at least 5 years leading engineering teams, including managing managers
  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
  • Demonstrated experience owning platform, infrastructure, or developer tooling organizations — not just product delivery teams
  • Deep understanding of modern frontend architecture: micro-frontends, component systems, React, TypeScript, CI/CD pipelines
  • Experience with backend GraphQL/API services and federated architecture patterns
  • Strong track record of improving engineering velocity and developer experience at scale (DORA metrics, lead time, deployment frequency)
  • Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management — able to influence without authority, represent platform value to product and business leaders, and navigate competing priorities across multiple stream-aligned teams

Preferred

  • Experience with AI developer tooling strategy: evaluating, deploying, and driving adoption of AI-assisted development tools across an engineering organization
  • Hands-on background with FinOps practices: cloud cost attribution, unit economics for platform operations, CI/CD spend optimization, and engineering budget ownership
  • Experience with mobile platform engineering (iOS/Android release processes, CircleCI, React Native or native)
  • Familiarity with Apollo Federation, GraphQL schema governance, and Pantheon-style API gateway patterns
  • Background in quality engineering transformation — shifting from manual QA models to developer-owned quality
  • Experience with headless CMS platforms and content-driven architecture
  • Familiarity with AWS infrastructure (EKS, Lambda, DynamoDB, CloudFront, ArgoCD)

Tech stack you'll own

React · TypeScript · Node.js · GraphQL (Apollo Federation) · NestJS · Swift · Kotlin · AWS (EKS/Lambda/DynamoDB) · CircleCI · ArgoCD · Playwright · Panda CSS · styled-components · New Relic · Splunk

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. Our employees work three days in our Austin headquarters where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

How We Reward You:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and well-being of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

  • Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
  • Family forming benefits
  • 13 Paid Holidays
  • Flexible Time Off
  • 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
  • Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
  • Tuition Reimbursement program for degree and non-degreed programs
  • 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
  • Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
  • Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Do the best work of your life at Realtor.com

Here, you'll partner with a diverse team of experts as you use leading-edge tech to empower everyone to meet a crucial goal: finding their way home. And you'll find your way home too. At Realtor.com, you'll bring your full self to work as you innovate with speed, serve our consumers, and champion your teammates. In return, we'll provide you with a warm, welcoming, and inclusive culture; intellectual challenges; and the development opportunities you need to grow.

Diversity is important to us, therefore, Realtor.com is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Realtor.com will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.




Frequently asked questions

Q: What skills or qualities help someone succeed as a Director of Software Engineering?

A: To succeed as a Director of Software Engineering, key technical skills include expertise in software development methodologies (e.g., Agile, DevOps), proficiency in programming languages and technologies relevant to the industry (e.g., cloud computing, artificial intelligence), and a deep understanding of software architecture and design patterns. Essential soft skills include strong leadership and communication abilities, the capacity to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration, and the ability to make data-driven decisions. By combining these technical and soft skills, a Director of Software Engineering can effectively lead high-performing teams, drive strategic technical initiatives, and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

Q: What is the career path for a Director of Software Engineering?

A: A Director of Software Engineering typically follows a career progression from entry-level roles such as Software Engineer or Team Lead, to mid-level positions like Senior Software Engineer or Engineering Manager, and eventually to senior leadership roles like Director of Software Engineering. Key opportunities for skill development and professional growth in this role include mastering technical leadership, strategic planning, and people management, as well as staying up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies. Long-term career prospects for a Director of Software Engineering may include transitioning into CTO or VP of Engineering roles, or pursuing entrepreneurial ventures, such as founding a software company or investing in tech startups.



realtor.com job posting for a Dir, Software Engineering in Austin, TX with a salary of $250,700 Annually and benefits including Medical, Vision, Dental, and Retirement with a map of Austin location.