Director, Software Engineering

An Amazing Career Opportunity for a Director, Software Engineering!

Location: La Ciotat, France

Job ID: 48279

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Software Engineering Director to lead our efforts in developing and managing software products and platforms for HID IDT Textile Services Business Unit.

The successful candidate will report to the General Manager and will be responsible for leading several distributed software engineering teams, ensuring disciplined and scalable delivery across the full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

This position emphasizes people management, engineering effectiveness, process governance, and quality engineering, ensuring teams ship reliable software predictably, thanks to strong engineering practices and a culture of continuous improvement.

You will play a pivotal role in the company’s objective to re-engineer and modernize its core products and tools by establishing consistent delivery standards, embed quality-by-design and shift-left testing, improve development methodologies, and drive measurable improvements in productivity, predictability, and product quality.

You will be a key partner to Product and Operations, ensuring that engineering execution and technical strategy support business outcomes, including cost-efficiency, security, high availability and innovation objectives.

Who are we? 

HID powers the trusted identities of the world’s people, places, and things, allowing people to transact safely, work productively and travel freely.

We are a high-tech software company headquartered in Austin, TX, with over 4,500 worldwide employees. Check us out here: www.hidglobal.com and https://youtu.be/23km5H4K9Eo 

Identification Technologies (IDT):

IDT is creating trusted identities for IoT applications through Smart Components and Enabling Services.

HID’s Identification Technologies powers the trusted identities of the world’s people, places and things through smart components and cloud services. We make it possible for people and organizations to transact safely, work productively, and travel freely. Our contactless identification and sensing (RFID, NFC, and BLE) components and solution enabling technologies address the dynamic requirements across multiple industries to wirelessly connect, identify, collect and manage data quickly and accurately across virtually any IoT application.

Essential Duties

• Software Delivery (Engineering), Scrum Master(s), QA/Quality Engineering.
• Oversight of BU-owned platforms/tools and local IS services under BU responsibility (excluding Customer Support).
• Challenge and enable QA teams to adopt methods that reduce production incidents and improve upstream quality (shift-left testing, automation, quality gates).
• Create a culture of engineering excellence: CI/CD, documentation, code reviews, code health, static analysis, linting , reliability, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Mature quality engineering: test strategy, automation, non-functional testing, defect prevention, and measurable quality metrics.
• Establish and govern release management practices, including participation in Release Committees and cross-functional readiness reviews.
• Support operational excellence through improved monitoring, alerting, and incident prevention mechanisms (in partnership with DevOps/Platform teams).
• Non- functional testing: performance , reliability, security, accessibility, maintainability.

People & Global Collaboration

• Lead and collaborate across multi-site teams ( France, USA, India) with strong communication, alignment, and delivery governance.
• Foster a team culture grounded in accountability, continuous learning, and engineering excellence.
• Promote structured collaboration with local and global engineering organizations to improve efficiency and reuse.
• Responsible for overseeing the engineering budget while working collaboratively with relevant leadership teams.

Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop engineering teams to build healthy, consistent-delivery teams, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Build, develop, and retain high-performing teams: define required skills, lead recruitment, succession planning, coaching, and performance management.
• Run effective performance management:
• Goal setting aligned to business and product outcomes.
• Regular feedback and calibration.
• Address performance issues early with clear improvement plans.
• Drive hiring excellence:
• Define interview loops, rubrics, and hiring standards.
• Ensure inclusive hiring practices and bias-aware assessment.
• Partner with HR/Talent Acquisition on sourcing strategy and employer branding.

Process and Delivery Management

• Establish clear SDLC standards and governance across teams:
• Requirements, quality, and acceptance criteria.
• Architecture and design reviews (ADRs).
• Branching strategies.
• Change management.
• Traceability and compliance readiness where needed.
• Code review standards and definition of “done”.
• CI/CD workflow expectations.
• Release readiness criteria and sign-offs.
• Improve delivery predictability through effective planning , estimation practices, sprint/flow management, backlog readiness, better estimation practices, capacity planning, retrospective and dependency management (SAFe/Scrum Agile principle).
• Oversee the design, development, and maintenance of tools that support the entire lifecycle from development to deployment.
• Partner with Product Directors/Product Owners to translate strategy into roadmaps, release plans, prioritization, and delivery commitments.
• Create and drive continuous improvement initiatives to increase speed, quality, reliability, and cost efficiency across the SDLC.
• Define and report engineering KPIs (e.g., throughput, cycle time, escaped defects, availability, reliability, technical debt, release frequency) for executive and operational steering.
• Coordinate cross-functional alignment across Architecture, DevOps, QA, Security, and Product to ensure teams understand the “why” behind plans and are inspired by the vision.

Quality  & Release Engineering

• Ensure delivery meets agreed standards for quality, security, scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Define and roll out a modern testing strategy:
• Testing pyramid principles and practical application.
• Automated regression strategy (UI/API/unit) based on risk and ROI.
• Integration testing and contract testing where appropriate.

Required Qualifications 

• Over 10 years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in a management role. (Engineering, QA leadership, or multi-team leadership).
• Proven track record improving delivery predictability and product quality at scale.
• Strong expertise and active experience in SDLC governance, Agile/Lean delivery, and modern engineering practices.
• Deep understanding of quality engineering: Test strategy, automation approaches, non-functional testing, and quality metrics.
• Demonstrated capability in performance management, coaching, and building a healthy team culture.
• Strong stakeholder management skills; able to communicate trade-offs and influence executives.
• Experience leading change across multiple teams (process adoption, tooling improvements, operating model changes).
• Strong track record delivering complex programs (re-engineering, modernization, scalability, reliability).
• Financial Acumen in Engineering environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in conducting structured engineering audits/health checks, identifying bottlenecks and risk areas, and driving corrective actions through measurable improvement plans and follow-up reviews.
• Experience with distributed teams and scaling organizations.
• Experience improving engineering productivity using evidence-based metrics (DORA, flow metrics) responsibly.
• Experience implementing quality gates and pipeline controls.

Work Requirements

• Compliance with all relevant HID Global policies and procedures related to Quality, Security, Safety, Business Continuity, and Environmental systems.
• Travel and fieldwork, including international travel may be required. Therefore, employee must possess, or be able to acquire a valid passport.
• Must be legally eligible to work in the country in which you are hired.

What we can offer you:

• Competitive salary and rewards package.
• Competitive benefits and annual leave offering, allowing for work-life balance.
• A vibrant, welcoming & inclusive culture.
• Extensive career development opportunities and resources to maximize your potential.
• To be a part of a global organization that is pioneering the hardware, software and services that allow people to confidently navigate the physical and digital worlds.

Why apply? 

• Empowerment: You’ll work as part of a global team in a flexible work environment, learning and enhancing your expertise. We welcome an opportunity to meet you and learn about your unique talents, skills, and experiences. You don’t need to check all the boxes. If you have most of the skills and experience, we want you to apply.
• Innovation: You embrace challenges and want to drive change. We are open to ideas, including flexible work arrangements, job sharing or part-time job seekers.
• Integrity: You are results-orientated, reliable, and straightforward and value being treated accordingly. We want all our employees to be themselves, to feel appreciated and accepted.

HID does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. We are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

HID is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce that reflects the global communities we serve. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We evaluate applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. Our goal is to create a workplace that empowers everyone to thrive and be their authentic selves, fostering an environment of mutual respect and inclusivity. If you have a disability and require assistance or accommodation to participate in the application process or to perform essential job functions, please contact accommodations-ext@hidglobal.com.

Please be aware that our recruitment process may include the use of AI-powered tools to assist in screening applicant resumes. These tools help us efficiently identify candidates whose qualifications and skills align with the job description. We use AI in a responsible manner and in accordance with applicable data privacy laws and regulations. Importantly, all applicants are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team. AI is used to support, not replace, human judgment in the evaluation process. 

We make it easier for people to get where they want to go!
On an average day, think of how many times you tap, twist, tag, push or swipe to get access, find information, connect with others or track something.  HID technology is behind billions of interactions, in more than 100 countries.  We help you create a verified, trusted identity that can get you where you need to go – without having to think about it.  
 
When you join our HID team, you’ll also be part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, the global leader in access solutions. You’ll have 63,000 colleagues in more than 70 different countries. We empower our people to build their career around their aspirations and our ambitions – supporting them with regular feedback, training, and development opportunities. Our colleagues think broadly about where they can make the most impact, and we encourage them to grow their role locally, regionally, or even internationally. As we welcome new people on board, it’s important to us to have diverse, inclusive teams, and we value different perspectives and experiences.

 #LI-HIDGlobal