The Director of Engineering at PowerPlan is a senior technology leader responsible for building, scaling, and operating the next generation architecture PowerPlan’s cloud-native SaaS platform modernizing a decades trusted regulated utility product suite. This role is accountable for turning strategy into execution: delivering modern architecture, accelerating SaaS adoption, improving engineering productivity, and ensuring security, reliability, and compliance while maintaining the trust of utility customers who operate in highly regulated environments. This leader is hands on where it matters, deeply accountable for outcomes, and a role model for PowerPlan’s culture of ownership, clarity, and continuous improvement.

What Success Looks Like (12–24 Months)

A successful Director of Engineering will:

• Deliver measurable progress on NXT adoption(customer migrations, production usage, ARR contribution).
• Establish a clear, scalable NXT reference architecturethat teams consistently follow.
• Improve engineering execution metrics(predictability, cycle time, quality, reliability).
• Reduce operational noise (support tickets, manual processes, regressions).
• Build a strong bench of leaders(Managers, Directors, Architects) who operate with ownership.
• Be viewed by Product, Architecture, CloudOps, InfoSec, and GTM as a trusted execution partner, not a bottleneck.

Core Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end deliveryof the NXT engineering roadmap in partnership with Architecture and Product.
• Translate architectural vision into clear, executable engineering planswith milestones, dependencies, and measurable outcomes.
• Ensure consistent adoption of:
• Cloud-native patterns (Azure-first, microservices where appropriate)
• API-first and integration standards
• Data platform strategy (Databricks, analytics, reporting)
• Security-by-design and compliance-ready architectures
• Balance modernization speed with operational safetyfor regulated utility customers.

Expectation:Architecture does not remain theoretical, teams ship production ready, supportable systems.

• Own engineering delivery across:
• New feature development
• Legacy modernization
• SaaS migration
• Platform reliability and scalability
• Establish clear ownership modelsfor services, domains, and systems.
• Improve SDLC discipline:
• Predictable planning and delivery
• Strong definition of done
• Reduced rework and technical debt
• Partner with CloudOps and InfoSec to ensure:
• 6gt;=99% uptime
• Secure, compliant releases
• Operational readiness before customer adoption

Expectation:Engineering delivers with confidence, not heroics.

• Lead and develop Engineering Managers, Directors, and senior ICs.
• Set clear expectations for:
• Accountability
• Technical rigor
• Collaboration
• Decision ownership
• Actively coach leaders on:
• Translating strategy into execution
• Managing trade-offs
• Giving clear feedback
• Build a culture where:
• Problems are surfaced early
• Decisions are documented
• Teams feel ownership, not fear

Expectation:Strong leaders create strong teams; weak ownership is addressed directly.

• Work tightly with:
• Productaligning engineering execution to customer and market priorities
• Architectureensuring designs are implementable and scalable
• CloudOps / SaaSOpsoperational excellence and cost efficiency
• InfoSecaudit-ready, compliant engineering practices
• Professional Services & Supportsmooth customer onboarding and reduced friction
• Provide clear trade-off recommendationswhen priorities compete.
• Represent Engineering in executive-level discussions with data, clarity, and confidence.

Expectation:Engineering is seen as a business enabler, not a constraint.

• Own and report on engineering KPIs, including:
• Delivery predictability
• SaaS adoption enablement
• Quality and defect trends
• Cloud cost efficiency per customer
• Support ticket reduction
• Use metrics to drive action, not just reporting.
• Continuously improve processes, tooling, and developer experience.

Expectation:Decisions are data-informed, not anecdotal.

Cultural Expectations at PowerPlan

At PowerPlan, how results are achieved matters as much as the results themselves.

This role is expected to model:

• Ownership:Problems are owned until resolved.
• Clarity:Direct communication, clear decisions, minimal ambiguity.
• Trust & Accountability:High standards with respect and fairness.
• Customer Empathy:Understanding the operational realities of regulated utilities.
• Continuous Learning:Willingness to evolve architectures, tools, and leadership approaches.
• Low Ego, High Impact:Focus on outcomes over titles or turf.

What This Role Is Not

• Not a hands-off people manager disconnected from delivery.
• Not a pure architect without execution accountability.
• Not a short-term firefighter role.
• Not a culture-neutral role, leadership behavior matters.

Qualifications

Leadership & Delivery

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years leading large, multi-team organizations.
• Proven experience modernizing enterprise SaaS platformsfrom legacy architectures.
• Strong track record of delivering complex, multi year transformations.

Technical & Architectural

• Deep understanding of:
• Cloud platforms (Azure preferred)
• Distributed systems and service ownership
• Enterprise integration patterns
• AI, Data platforms and analytics
• Ability to challenge architectural decisions constructivelyand pragmatically.

Business & Communication

• Strong executive communication able to explain tradeoffs clearly.
• Comfortable balancing speed, quality, cost, and risk.

Please note that this is a hybrid role that involves a combination of onsite work from our corporate office as well as work from home. While we strive to accommodate flexible working arrangements when sensible, there will be times when onsite work is required. This could include scheduled office days, team meetings, client meetings, or special events.