Senior Director, Software Engineering

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

Job Description

At Thermo Fisher’s PPD clinical research business, we’re using digital innovation, data science, and AI to reimagine how life-changing therapies reach patients. Our teams combine deep scientific expertise with advanced analytics, automation, and digital platforms to make research smarter, faster, and more connected.

We know that innovation happens when diverse minds meet. Our Digital Science, Data, and AI professionals collaborate closely with scientists, clinicians, and operational experts to solve real-world challenges in clinical research. Alongside our partnership with Open AI, you can be part of the collaboration that will help to improve the speed and success of drug development, enabling customers to get medicines to patients faster and more cost effectively.

You’ll join a culture that values experimentation, learning, and collaboration — where your ideas can help shape how we deliver life-saving solutions and improve global health outcomes. Whether you’re a data engineer, product manager, software developer, or AI scientist, you’ll find opportunities here to apply your skills to work that truly matters — improving global health outcomes. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Director, Software Engineering, leads a global engineering group responsible for delivering secure, reliable, and differentiated digital products. This leader defines engineering strategy, establishes strong operating mechanisms, and builds a high-performance culture grounded in customer outcomes, quality, and predictable delivery. The role partners closely with Digital Product Management, UX, Data Science, Security/Compliance, and business leaders to translate strategy into scalable platforms and exceptional end-user experiences while accelerating execution through modern engineering practices and AI-enabled productivity.

Key Responsibilities: 

Engineering Leadership:

• Define and implement strategic technical direction and engineering best practices.
• Foster a culture of quality, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement within the engineering teams.
• Oversee the architecture and technical decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and align with the organization’s long-term vision.
• Stay abreast of AI and machine learning technologies to optimize engineering workflows, enhance developer productivity and streamline development processes.

Global Talent Development and Management:

• Recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing engineering talent.
• Drive career development, set clear performance objectives, and establish a supportive environment for professional growth.
• Manage growth and expansion of engineering capabilities in strategic global locations.
• Provide coaching, leadership, and technical guidance to engineering teams and managers.

Engineering Excellence:

• Lead the adoption and execution of modern software development methodologies (e.g., Agile, CI/CD, DevOps, Cloud-native practices).
• Establish robust QA practices, including automation and testing strategies, to ensure delivery of reliable and high-quality software products.
• Ensure adherence to industry standards, compliance regulations, security best practices, and performance benchmarks.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate closely with stakeholders to ensure alignment on product goals, timelines, and deliverables.
• Clearly communicate engineering strategies, plans, and progress to executives, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.
• Act as a trusted advisor on technical matters to senior leadership and peers across the organization.

Operational Excellence:

• Manage budgets, resource planning, and vendor relationships related to engineering activities.
• Implement metrics-driven management, defining clear KPIs to measure team performance, product delivery success, and operational effectiveness.
• Proactively manage risks and challenges, driving prompt resolution to maintain timelines and quality.

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Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in healthcare, life sciences, computer science, business, or related field preferred. 
• Progressive engineering leadership experience that provides the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the job (comparable to 12+ years’ experience) 
• 5+ years in leadership roles managing software engineering teams.
• In some cases, an equivalency, consisting of ap