Position : Director of Software Applications EngineeringDepartment: Cloud Networking EngineeringReports To: Vice President, Cloud Networking EngineeringLocation: Hybrid - Salem, United StatesFull-TimePosition SummaryExtreme Networks is looking for a Director, Software Applications Engineering to lead the teams that design, build, and operate the cloud-native applications, APIs, and middleware/data services powering our cloud networking platform. This leader owns the technical roadmap and delivery quality for application-layer services that sit above the network fabric - provisioning, orchestration, telemetry, analytics, and customer-facing management applications - and partners closely with product management, platform/infrastructure engineering, and customer-facing teams to ship reliable, secure, and scalable software at cloud scale. Reporting to the VP of Cloud Networking Engineering, this role balances hands-on technical leadership with people management, resourcing, and cross-functional influence.
Key Responsibilities- Own the strategy, architecture, and execution roadmap for cloud applications, APIs, and middleware/data services supporting the cloud networking platform.
- Lead, hire, and develop multiple engineering teams (managers and individual contributors), setting clear goals, career paths, and performance expectations.
- Partner with Product Management and the VP of Cloud Networking Engineering to translate business and customer requirements into a prioritized, achievable technical roadmap.
- Drive engineering excellence: code quality, CI/CD practices, test automation, observability, and secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) across all owned services.
- Ensure the scalability, availability, and performance of cloud applications and data services running in multi-tenant, multi-region cloud environments.
- Collaborate with Platform Engineering, SRE/Cloud Operations, Security, and Support teams to manage incident response, capacity planning, and service-level objectives (SLOs).
- Evaluate and evolve the middleware and data-services architecture (APIs, messaging, event streaming, data pipelines) to support new product capabilities and integrations.
- Manage departmental budget, vendor/tooling decisions, and resource planning in partnership with the VP.
- Represent Software Applications Engineering in executive reviews, planning cycles, and cross-org initiatives; communicate status, risks, and trade-offs clearly to senior leadership.
- Champion Agile/Scrum or similar delivery practices, continuous improvement, and a strong engineering culture across distributed teams.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
- 12+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including 5+ years in engineering leadership/management roles overseeing multiple teams.
- Demonstrated experience building and operating cloud-native applications on AWS, Azure, or GCP, including microservices, containers (Docker/Kubernetes), and serverless technologies.
- Strong background in middleware and data services - REST/gRPC APIs, message queues/event streaming (e.g., Kafka), and data pipeline or database technologies (SQL and NoSQL).
- Proven ability to lead through organizational change, manage competing priorities, and deliver complex, cross-team initiatives on schedule.
- Experience partnering with Product Management on roadmap definition, and communicating technical strategy to executive stakeholders.
- Solid understanding of secure software development practices, CI/CD pipelines, and modern observability/monitoring tooling.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to influence peers and senior leadership without direct authority.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience in the networking, cloud networking, or infrastructure software industry (SD-WAN, network management, IoT, or similar).
- Master's degree in a relevant technical field or MBA.
- Experience scaling engineering organizations through periods of rapid product or company growth.
- Familiarity with multi-tenant SaaS architecture, subscription/licensing models, and enterprise-grade security and compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, etc.).
- Prior exposure to AIOps, telemetry/analytics platforms, or large-scale data engineering.
Travel RequirementsOccasional travel (up to 10-15%) for team offsites, customer engagements, and company events.
Compensation & BenefitsThe base salary range for this role is [$ 190000 - $240000 USD], determined by geographic location, relevant experience, and qualifications, in compliance with applicable US pay transparency laws. This position is also eligible for bonus/incentive compensation, equity, and Extreme Networks' full benefits package (medical, 401(k) match, and more).
