Director, Software Engineering Closed

Job description

Position:             Director, Software Engineering

Department:      Engineering / Innovation

Reports to:          VP Engineering

Location:             Work-from-home / Full-time

Compensation: $160,000 - $200,000

Open through:  July 30, 2025

Tessitura is a non-profit company dedicated to helping arts and cultural organizations thrive.

CRM lies at the heart of our mission and our technology platform. With Tessitura in their toolkit, organizations can achieve their goals with ease.

The Tessitura community includes over 800 cultural institutions in ten countries. Our staff provide ²⁴⁄₇ support and offer guidance to grow revenue and build lifelong engagement.

Job Summary:

At Tessitura, the Innovation Group’s mission is to build Tessitura’s product and technology innovation pipeline from identification of need, through ideation, product development, engineering, infrastructure, quality assurance, deployment, and feedback/iteration cycles, ensuring that we deliver continually innovated technology to our members, ecosystem partners, and team members.

The Engineering division is responsible for creating enterprise systems that cut across all the functions of an arts and cultural organization to enable connections with prospects, donors, members, single-ticket buyers, and subscribers and other constituent groups. Tessitura offers an equally strong solution for ticketing, fundraising, marketing, customer relationship management, data segmentation and web capabilities. This includes business facing applications, consumer facing web applications, Android-based access control systems, and more.

The Director, Software Engineering provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for multiple engineering teams, directly managing Software Engineering Managers and Staff Engineers across the organization. This role is responsible for driving engineering excellence, establishing technical standards, and ensuring the successful delivery of complex software solutions that serve our global community of arts and cultural organizations. The Director works closely with the VP Engineering to translate business strategy into technical execution while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

We build and support diverse products such as a business facing CRM, ticketing and contribution management solution, a consumer-facing white label e-commerce application, a robust REST API, and an Android-based access control application.

We serve a thriving, unique, and passionate global community of Arts and Cultural organizations. As such, successful engineering leaders at the Tessitura Network match the passion and creativity of the members we serve.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage multiple Software Engineering Managers, providing strategic guidance, mentorship, and support for their team leadership responsibilities.
• Oversee Staff Engineers across teams, ensuring technical excellence and architectural consistency across all engineering initiatives.
• Collaborate with VP Engineering to develop and execute engineering strategy, translating business objectives into technical roadmaps and team goals.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards, best practices, and methodologies across all development teams.
• Drive cross-team collaboration and ensure alignment of engineering efforts with product development and business objectives.
• Manage resource allocation and team organization to optimize engineering effectiveness and delivery capabilities.
• Oversee hiring and talent development initiatives, working with managers to identify, recruit, and retain top engineering talent.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for engineering teams, measuring effectiveness, productivity, and code quality.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and technical excellence throughout the engineering organization.
• Coordinate with Product Development and other Innovation Group teams to ensure fluid product delivery.
• Support Software Engineering Managers in their professional development, providing guidance on team leadership and technical management.
• Guide Staff Engineers in their technical leadership roles, ensuring they effectively mentor teams and drive architectural excellence.
• Lead engineering participation in company-wide initiative, representing engineering perspectives in strategic planning sessions.
• Oversee implementation of security practices, compliance requirements, and industry standards across all engineering teams.
• Manager relationships with external technology partners and vendors as needed for engineering initiatives.
• Drive adoption of modern engineering practices including continuous integration, deployment automation, and cloud-native development.
• Lead engineering response to critical technical issues and coordinate cross-team problem resolution efforts.
• Support the development and execution of professional development programs for all engineering staff.

General Skills and Experience:

• To support the Innovation Group on key short and long-term strategic planning issues and make recommendations on important decisions as a member of engineering leadership.
• To integrate as a key member in Innovation Group leadership, advancing the business of arts and culture through technical excellence.
• To role model, embed and reinforce the connection between the Company’s values, people, and organizational performance, taking personal accountability for individual, departmental and organizational performance.
• Support and take personal responsibility for driving Tessitura’s company culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, transparency, and openness, and to have mutual respect, and appreciation for everyone’s contribution to the Company, offering support and encouragement to others as required.
• To maintain and improve the Company’s reputation as a leading service provider with a focus on Member needs, working as a leader, taking a broad, strategic, cross Company view in any decisions.
• To understand the risks and challenges that faces the Company as an international organization, taking account of Age, Disability, Gender, Language, Race, Religious Belief, and Sexual Orientation.
• To support and take personal responsibility for driving the Company’s Corporate Plan, and associated strategies, and to have mutual respect, and appreciation for everyone’s contribution to the Company, offering support and encouragement to others as required.
• As a term of employment, the post holder may be required to undertake such other duties and / or times of work as may be reasonably be required commensurate with the general level of responsibility within the Company.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated progression in technical leadership roles.
• 5+ years of experience managing engineering managers and senior technical staff.
• Strong technical background with hands-on experience in modern programming languages such as C#, Java, or similar object-oriented languages.
• Experience with JavaScript frameworks such as Angular or React.
• Extensive experience with cloud computing platforms, particularly Amazon Web Services, including infrastructure as code and cloud-native development practices.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale software development initiatives and product delivery.
• Experience with continuous integration, continuous deployment, and modern DevOps practices.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, system design, and technical decision-making at enterprise scale.
• Exceptional communication skills with ability to translate technical concepts to business stakeholders and vice versa.
• Experience with agile development methodologies and team management practices.
• An open, curious, and growth-oriented mindset with commitment to continuous learning.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Experience with .NET technology stack and Microsoft development ecosystem.
• Experience with enterprise software development and deployment in regulated industries.
• Knowledge of security practices, compliance requirements, and industry standards (PCI, GDPR, etc.).
• Experience working in a distributed office environment with global teams.
• Understanding of the arts and cultural sector or similar mission-driven organizations.
• Experience with the Tessitura platform or similar enterprise software solutions.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

How to apply

Please apply by using the online form. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us at [email protected]

Our company is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills, as well as providing a workplace of mutual respect, free of any discrimination or harassment. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

Benefits and Compensation

The compensation reflects a U.S. salary range based on current market data. The candidate’s skills, experience, and other relevant factors will determine the final compensation.

Tessitura Network offers a comprehensive and robust benefits package designed to support our employees’ well-being. Our offerings include various medical, dental, and vision plans, as well as life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance, employee assistance programs, and a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match. We prioritize work-life balance by providing generous paid time off, including vacation and sick leave, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, a 7-week sabbatical after seven years of service, and a recharge week between Christmas and New Year’s. These benefits are available to our fully remote team, with adjustments made as required by local laws.

Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) Commitment

At Tessitura, our mission is to enable arts and cultural organizations to achieve their goals. We recognize that having a diverse team is not only critical to our commitment to adopt equitable behaviors, but it will also fuel collaboration, innovation and creativity as we deliver on our mission.

Creating an environment where everyone feels safe and comfortable in bringing their authentic selves to work is both our pledge and our passion.

Ultimately, providing an accessible and inclusive workplace will allow the Tessitura community to thrive.

Equal Opportunity

Tessitura is an equal opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate against employees and applicants for employment based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship status, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, gender identity and expression, physical or mental disability of an otherwise qualified individual, membership or application for membership in a uniformed service, engaging in legally protected activity, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law. Tessitura also provides reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees in accordance with applicable law. Subject to its legitimate business requirements, Tessitura bases all personnel actions, such as recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, layoff, recall, compensation and benefits, discipline, termination, and educational, recreational, and social programs, solely on an individual’s qualifications, merit and performance.