Software Engineering Director

CLA is a top 10 national professional services firm where our purpose is to create opportunities every day, for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services. Even with more than 8,500 people, 130 U.S. locations, and a global reach, we promise to know you and help you.

We are seeking a Software Engineering Director to provide technical leadership in designing, building, and delivering software solutions within our AI & Automation practice. This person will work directly with clients and engineering teams to understand complex business problems, design practical solutions, and guide their implementation from initial concept through production.

The ideal candidate brings deep software engineering expertise, strong architectural judgment, and a natural ability to solve difficult problems. They understand how applications, APIs, data, cloud infrastructure, security, and enterprise systems fit together. They're comfortable getting hands-on when needed, learning unfamiliar technologies, and finding a path forward when the solution isn't obvious.

Equally important is the ability to work with clients. This person needs to ask good questions, understand business needs, explain technical concepts clearly, and build trust with both technical and nontechnical stakeholders. They should be comfortable evaluating custom software, Microsoft platform capabilities, automation, and AI-enabled solutions based on what makes the most sense for the client.

We also want someone who actively embraces AI-assisted software development, including coding agents and modern development tools, while maintaining the engineering fundamentals and judgment necessary to deliver secure, reliable, and maintainable solutions.

Key Responsibilities Lead the technical architecture and implementation of client solutions involving custom software, cloud applications, APIs, enterprise integrations, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.

Work directly with clients to understand their business processes, existing systems, technical constraints, and desired outcomes. Translate those conversations into practical solution designs and implementation approaches.

Serve as a trusted technical advisor to clients, communicating architectural decisions, tradeoffs, project risks, and technical recommendations in ways that business and technology stakeholders can understand.

Maintain hands-on involvement in software engineering, including architecture, prototyping, code reviews, complex integrations, troubleshooting, and resolving difficult technical challenges.

Evaluate solution approaches across custom development, Microsoft Azure, Power Platform, automation tools, existing enterprise platforms, and hybrid architectures. Recommend the simplest effective approach based on business requirements, security, cost, and maintainability.

Translate business requirements into technical scopes, implementation plans, estimates, dependencies, and acceptance criteria. Identify technical risks early and communicate them clearly.

Provide technical leadership across engineering engagements, helping developers work through architectural questions, implementation challenges, and complex technical decisions.

Establish and maintain practical engineering standards for software architecture, coding, testing, security, CI/CD, deployment, documentation, and production support.

Guide implementation in client-owned environments, accounting for existing infrastructure, security requirements, identity management, data access, deployment processes, and operational constraints.

Apply AI-assisted development tools, including Claude Code, Git Hub Copilot, and other coding agents, to…