Senior Director of Engineering

at Forward Networks

Santa Clara, CA

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed. The Forward Enterprise platform delivers a vendor-agnostic "digital twin" of the network, based on a mathematical model. The platform scales to support hundreds of thousands of network devices, whether cloud, hybrid cloud, or on-prem. It serves as a single source of truth for the network, enabling network operators to instantly verify security posture, accelerate troubleshooting, avoid outages, and modernize network management.

Over the past few years, Forward Networks has received tremendous industry recognition, including “Cool Vendor in Enterprise Networking” by Gartner, “Product of the Year” by Cloud Computing, “Hot Company” by Cyber Defense Magazine, “Enterprise Cloud Computing Software of the Year,” and has been named to Fortune’s “Best Workplaces in the Bay Area” list.

The company was founded by four Stanford PhD graduates who saw a massive opportunity to improve network operations. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, MSD Capital, Threshold Ventures, and Goldman Sachs.

Forward Networks is currently seeking a Senior Director of Engineering. As the Senior Director of Engineering, you will be responsible for leading multiple engineering teams across two geographic regions (US and India). You will collaborate closely with Product Management and UX teams to ensure high-quality product delivery while adhering to timelines and business requirements.

Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Management:

Lead and manage multiple engineering teams across the US and India, ensuring high-performance, alignment with company goals, and timely delivery of projects.
Foster a collaborative environment between geographically dispersed teams, ensuring smooth communication and effective coordination.
Mentor and coach engineering managers and technical leads, ensuring strong team culture, career development, and technical excellence.
Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, and innovation within the teams.

Collaboration with Product and UX:

Work closely with Product Management to review requirements, provide feedback, and ensure they align with the product vision and company goals.
Collaborate with UX teams to review design proposals, ensuring usability and seamless integration with backend systems.
Lead efforts to provide engineering estimates for feature development, including timelines, resources, and potential risks.
Translate business and product requirements into technical deliverables and ensure alignment between the engineering team and stakeholders.

Technical Oversight & Delivery:

Provide guidance on technical architecture and design to ensure scalable and maintainable solutions.
Oversee the end-to-end delivery of product features, from concept through release, ensuring alignment with the roadmap and quality standards.
Ensure product delivery meets key performance indicators such as scalability, performance, security, and user experience.
Drive continuous improvements in development processes, including code review, testing, and automation.

Strategic Input & Stakeholder Communication:

Partner with senior leadership to align the engineering vision with broader company goals and strategy.
Act as the technical representative for engineering teams in high-level discussions with cross-functional leadership.
Communicate project status, risks, and key milestones to senior leadership, providing transparency and updates on ongoing initiatives.

Qualifications

Must-Have:

10+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in an engineering leadership role (managing multiple teams).
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (Product Management, UX, and Design) to drive product development and delivery.
Strong technical background in building enterprise-level products.
Experience in project planning and resource allocation.
Excellent communication, leadership, and organizational skills, with an ability to influence and inspire technical teams.

Nice to have:

Experience in networking concepts (Layer 2/3 protocols, network infrastructure, security, and visibility tools).
Experience working in a networking-focused company or a role where networking concepts played a significant role in the product.
Knowledge of agile methodologies and a deep understanding of product development lifecycles.

This position is a regular, full-time opportunity with Forward Networks in Santa Clara, CA.

The base pay range for this role is between $280,000 and $300,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location

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