Dir Software Engineering

#25-30179

Westchester, Illinois, USA

Job Category

Information Technology

Full-Time/Part-Time

Full-time

Overview

Budgeted Annualized Salary: $170k - $175k

Job Description

Position Overview

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer, providing students, faculty, staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America.

The Director of Software Engineering is responsible for leading and scaling high-performing engineering teams, driving software architecture modernization, and overseeing system integrations and application development. This role requires a strategic leader who can balance technical excellence with business objectives, ensuring the successful and timely delivery of reliable software solutions.

Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Team Management:

• Lead and mentor a team of full-time employees and nearshore contractors across system integrations and content provisioning applications.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Develop and manage engineering roadmaps, balancing feature development with long-term technical goals.
• Manage team staffing levels, hiring, and contractor resources to align with business needs and budget constraints.
  
  
  
  

Architecture & Modernization:

• Guide the evolution of our technology architecture to align with industry best practices while ensuring continuity of business operations.
• Oversee improvements in scalability, security, and maintainability of core systems.
• Support the transition to modern development and deployment practices.
  
  
  
  

System Integrations & Application Development:

• Ensure seamless, accurate, and reliable integrations with student information systems (SIS), learning management systems (LMS), and other third-party platforms.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of applications that provision digital course materials based on student enrollment.
• Implement best practices in software development, testing, and DevOps to enhance system reliability and performance.
  
  
  
  

Stakeholder Collaboration & Strategic Planning:

• Partner with product management, business stakeholders, and campus partners to align technology solutions with business needs.
• Stay current on emerging technologies to identify opportunities for innovation and efficiency improvements.
• Ensure technology decisions support long-term scalability and business growth.
  
  
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 5 years of Software Engineering Leadership Experience.
• Experience working in the higher education technology or ed-tech industry.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Experience with .NET/SQL Server and Java/Python technology stacks.
• Knowledge of data security and compliance requirements in education technology.
• Experience implementing DevOps best practices and CI/CD pipelines.