Senior Director, Software Development

Be yourself at Protolabs Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification.  We are an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a diverse team that feels they are valued in the workplace.  So do you feel you do not meet every single requirement but still intrigued? We encourage you to still apply!  You can help make our company even better.  We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, mental or physical ability, or any way you represent yourself.  We strongly believe diversity makes for more successful teams.  Why Protolabs? We are the leaders in digital manufacturing.  We hire doers, makers, and creative thinkers who tackle our roles with an entrepreneurial spirit.  Our culture is centered around meaningful work that brings new and innovative products to market at unprecedented speeds.  We are a diverse team that comes from all walks of life and take pride in our team who is smart, genuine, humble, and passionate about what we do.  It’s our people who fuel our creativity and make our culture feel like home. 
Join our team as a Senior Director of Software Development!
This position is a hybrid or remote role based out of Maple Plain, MN. You must be located in MN.
We are looking for a Sr. Director of Software Development to join our team and lead the global software development function. In this role, you will oversee seven software teams responsible for creating, running, and operating software that empowers our clients—ranging from life-saving medical device companies to race car engineers and space technology innovators—to develop their groundbreaking products. This software powers Protolabs' one-of-a-kind manufacturing plants and operates the Protolabs Network, connecting customers to manufacturers (think Lyft for manufacturing).
The ideal candidate will have a strong curiosity and a willingness to learn about innovative manufacturing technologies, approaches to solving complex computational problems, optimizing business processes with software, and experience managing hybrid remote and in-person teams across multiple geographic locations.

What you'll do:

• Lead the delivery of complex business critical software initiatives with speed and quality across the organization
• Continuously improve the departments and the overall organizations’ software development practices to drive faster time to market and increased stability
• Responsible for multiple critical software systems and for their security, performance, maintainability and keeping them and their underlying infrastructure up to date
• Typically leads 5 or more software development teams of 40+ people
• Collaborate with other departments to prioritize software development needs including design, development, and documenting and software development issues and needs in terms of the software’s full life cycle
• Responsible for people management and leadership, including coaching, career and talent development, as well as performance and compensation management. Empowered to make key staffing decisions, including hiring, development, and team transitions
• Assists executives in defining organizational strategies, objectives & priorities
• Cultivate and encourage a culture of teamwork and collaboration
• Make strategic decisions around software development based on company goals and objectives
• Accountable for implementation of software strategy and daily operations
• Coach to team solutioning when a decision needs to be made
• Maintain a mid-term outlook 1-3 years and long-term outlook 3+ years
• Perform additional tasks as assigned

What it takes:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent education and experience
• 15+ years of experience leading technology teams
• 10+ years management experience of a software development team(s) of at least 10 developers
• 5+ years previous experience as a software developer
• Expert business knowledge with comprehensive understanding of the organization and function area
• Demonstrated success in delivering complex software products in compliance with established schedules
• Strong leadership qualities required with demonstrated success in leading a development team in overcoming difficult technical challenges
• Knowledge and understanding of testing approaches within Scrum agile software development projects
• Demonstrated familiarity of software testing practices, methodologies, and tooling
• Knowledge of advanced browser configuration options in modern browsers