Senior Director Technology

About the Company

The Company is a business unit within the parent organization focused on pet technology solutions rather than insurance. Think of it as a distinct brand.
Products include:

• Shelter management software

• Pet education platforms

• Customer-facing web applications

• Animal lifecycle tracking solutions

These solutions support the broader insurance business by generating customer engagement and long-term pet lifecycle data.

Spans web and platform. The platform is a shelter software management system.
Team Structure

• Hiring Manager: Reports into Technology Leadership

• Reports:

  • 2 Engineering Managers

  • 3–4 Software Engineers (through direct organization) – working with React/Node

• Approximately 30 total engineers across the group

Core platforms:

• A web-based shelter management platform used by animal shelters and humane societies.

• A client-server shelter management system, typically used by municipalities and larger organizations.

• The Company’s customer-facing website and digital experience for pet education and services.

• A pet services platform that has largely been integrated into the Company website, but was referenced as one of the four products.

Technology Environment

Current Stack:

• C#

• .NET

• React

• Node.js

• TypeScript

• SQL Server

• Microsoft Technology Stack

Platforms include:

• Legacy client/server applications

• Modern web applications

• Shelter management software

• Customer web experiences

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

Own technology delivery for all Company platforms including:

• Engineering leadership

• Software delivery

• Feature build

• Technical roadmap

• Platform modernization

• Technical debt management

• Code quality

• Customer satisfaction

• System uptime

• Production support

• Technology strategy

• Executive communication

• Architecture partnership

• Engineering coaching

It’s global, so they will partner with somebody in the UK to have conversations, share ideas around how they’re generating leads.
So someone who could be an impact really with those high-level discussions from a solution standpoint, strategy standpoint and how to really implement.

This leader will influence technology direction but will not be expected to code. Will be involved in high-level discussions.
I need a technical engineering manager that has grown up through engineering, loved software engineering, and still loved software engineering and loves to create really great software engineers.

Must-Have Qualifications
Executive Presence
Must confidently communicate with executives while remaining approachable and hands-on with engineering teams.

Strong Technical Foundation
Ideal candidates have grown their careers through software engineering before moving into leadership.

Must be technically credible with engineers and architects.

Engineering Leadership
Experience leading software engineering organizations rather than purely IT operations.
Should understand:

• Modern software development

• Architecture

• Technical debt

• Code quality

• Engineering best practices

Nice-to-Have Experience
They specifically wants someone who can comfortably move between boardroom discussions and engineering conversations.

Compensation

• Base Salary: $245,000–$260,000

• Eligibility to earn discretionary annual and long-term incentive bonuses

• Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO and 401k

Location

• Chicago, IL

• Hybrid (Tuesday & Thursday in office)

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