Director, Software Engineering

Maximus is currently seeking a Director, Software Engineering. We are seeking a visionary and hands-on Director, Software Engineering to lead the development of our customer-facing, content-rich web applications. You will guide a team of talented engineers in designing and delivering scalable, performant, and beautifully crafted web experiences using modern JavaScript technologies like React, Node.js, and related frameworks in the open-source ecosystem.

As both a technical leader and a people manager, you will strike the right balance between strategic direction, technical depth, and operational excellence. This role is perfect for a seasoned engineering leader who still enjoys being close to the code — reviewing architecture, guiding designs, and troubleshooting complex issues when needed.

This critical leadership role is based out of our McLean, VA (Tysons Boulevard) office location and is expected to be in the office 2-3 or more days a week to collaborate in-person with the team and other leaders.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering & architecture for resilient cloud-native, data-driven solutions with cutting edge technologies to meet the needs of our organization, users, and internal strategic partners.
• Lead strategy and operational delivery of business-critical platforms and services.
• Create new processes and structures to help drive delivery and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to construct a product delivery strategy, reasonable roadmaps, and timelines.
• Build a highly available, scalable platform with the customer at the center.
• Understand design, architecture, and code across multiple technologies and provide technical guidance to team members.
• Leads and directs the work of other employees and has responsibility for personnel actions including; hiring, performance management, and termination. Supervision is often provided through a team of subordinate managers.

Job-Specific Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead a high-performing engineering team (6-8 direct reports) responsible for building next-generation web applications.
• Provide technical leadership across the full software development lifecycle — from design and architecture to coding standards, testing, deployment, and monitoring.
• Perform code reviews and help troubleshoot complex problems across the React and Node.js stack.
• Ensure delivery of high-quality, performant, secure, and maintainable software aligned with customer experience goals.
• Collaborate closely with Product, UX, and Content teams to prioritize and deliver impactful features.
• Establish best practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and code quality enforcement.
• Mentor and grow engineering talent through coaching, feedback, and career development support.
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, and customer obsession.
• Stay ahead of industry trends in open-source, front-end and back-end web technologies, and incorporate them into the team’s toolbox.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field of study.
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience required.

Job-Specific Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field of study. Additional years of relevant experience will be considered in lieu of degree.
• 10+ years of hands-on software development experience, including significant time in technical leadership roles in building full-lifecycle enterprise-scale web applications.
• Must have the ability to work on-site 2-3 days per week.
• Per customer requirements, this position requires United States Citizenship.
• While not immediately required, identified candidate must be “clear-able” for both Federal Civilian and DoD work including Secret clearance.
• Deep expertise in JavaScript/TypeScript, React.js, Node.js, HTML5, CSS3, UI/UX Principles and related frameworks (e.g., Express, Next.js, Redux).
• Strong understanding of modern web application architecture, API design (REST/GraphQL), microservices, and cloud-native deployment (AWS).
• Experience building scalable content-driven applications with a strong focus on customer experience, performance, and accessibility.
• Proven ability to manage, coach, and grow high-performing engineering teams.
• Strong understanding of Authentication (OAuth, JWT, SAML), and web security best practices (XSS, CSRF, Data Encryption)
• Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, Git workflows, debugging and monitoring tools.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

• Experience working with headless CMS systems.
• Experience developing mobile applications – iOS, Android.
• Familiarity with design systems, web analytics, A/B testing, and SEO best practices.
• Contributions to open-source projects or active engagement with developer communities.
• Experience in fast-paced startups or enterprise-scale web platforms.
• Ability to guide the team in using AI tools effectively and responsibly, including prompt engineering and code validation strategies.
• Awareness of AI-assisted coding practices and familiarity with tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar platforms for boosting developer productivity and code quality.

Maximus is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information and other legally protected characteristics.

Maximus compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to job location, a candidate's education, training, experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value analysis including seniority and merit systems, as well as internal pay alignment. Annual salary is just one component of Maximus's total compensation package. Other rewards may include short- and long-term incentives as well as program-specific awards. Additionally, Maximus provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and paid time off. Compensation ranges may differ based on contract value but will be commensurate with job duties and relevant work experience. An applicant's salary history will not be used in determining compensation. Maximus will comply with regulatory minimum wage rates and exempt salary thresholds in all instances.

Maximus provides reasonable accommodations to individuals requiring assistance during any phase of the employment process due to a disability, medical condition, or physical or mental impairment. If you require assistance at any stage of the employment process—including accessing job postings, completing assessments, or participating in interviews,—please contact People Operations at applicantaccommodations@maximus.com.

Minimum Salary: $200,000.00

Maximum Salary: $210,000.00