Director of Software Engineering

Position Summary Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest employment law firms in the world, is seeking an accomplished Director of Software Engineering to lead its enterprise-wide software development functions. This role is responsible for the strategic leadership, delivery excellence, and ongoing evolution of a large and highly diverse application portfolio supporting client service, internal operations, and firm-wide innovation. The software development portfolio consists of over 150+ tools and systems (both new tools and maintenance/upgrades for existing). A significant portion of this portfolio supports the firm's globally recognized Immigration Law Practice, including complex, mission-critical systems relied upon by the firm's large enterprise clients. The Director will serve as the firm's platform and enablement leader with a dual mandate: operate a high performing central engineering function to maintain and develop software solutions that support the firm; and establish the secure platforms, standards, guardrails, data access, and shared services that enable distributed, business led solution delivery-"creating the roads" on which others can build and operate. The Director of Software Engineering will act as the "General Contractor" to optimize the firm's internal software development efforts, including the team, people, processes and procedures necessary to maintain maximum development velocity. The Director will lead a distributed team of 40+ professionals across the United States and offshore, including Business Analysts, Software Engineers, Database professionals, System Architects, and AI/Automation specialists and will partner closely with practice innovation leaders and business-aligned development teams as clients of the platform. This role requires deep technical credibility, mature enterprise leadership, and the ability to effectively partner with senior attorneys, firm leadership, and business stakeholders, while championing integration initiatives, access to shared resources, and data democratization to enable analytics and AI across the firm. Essential FunctionsPlatform and enablement leader with a dual mandate: run central engineering and software development while also providing secure platforms, standards, guardrails, data access, and shared services for business-led delivery. Lead and develop a diverse onshore/offshore and vendor team; build succession and career paths; foster a high-performance, collaborative culture. Enforce buy-vs-build discipline; favor best-of-breed SaaS and composable solutions; mandate integration-focused design to enable safe reuse by other teams. Democratize secure data access for analytics and AI; implement Azure governance with compliance and auditability. Partner with senior attorneys, practice leaders, and Innovation/AI; scale successful pilots; provide a service-oriented platform experience to internal development groups. Own and govern the applications, platforms, and integrations portfolio; ensure robust integration across core legal systems; automate high-value manual processes. Continue to drive modernization efforts including cloud adoption, platform consolidation, automation, and AI-enabled solutions. Define and govern platform/application strategy aligned to firm goals; balance innovation, security, scalability, stability, and technical debt; set architectures, frameworks, and roadmaps. Lead Agile/Scrum delivery across multiple workstreams; ensure SDLC rigor, release management, quality assurance; champion DevOps, CI/CD, and observability. Align development with ITSM (incident, problem, change, release); partner with infrastructure, security, and operations for reliable build-to-run transitions. RequirementsBachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, or a closely related technical discipline. Master's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology (or a closely related technical discipline), or Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Technology, Strategy, or Operations preferred. 15+ years of experience in enterprise technology with significant responsibility for platforms, applications, and integration at scale. Experience in Professional Services, FinTech, or highly regulated environments is preferred. 8+ years in senior leadership roles managing large, distributed development organizations and vendor ecosystems. Demonstrated success establishing buy-vs-build discipline, favoring best-of-breed SaaS and composable solutions, with an integration focus. Deep experience with cloud governance and security, preferably Azure, including segmented access, landing zones, policy/blueprint management, identity, and compliance. Strong architectural breadth across modern stacks: cloud-native services, APIs/microservices, data platforms, automation, and AI/ML enablement. Data governance and democratization expertise, enabling safe, auditable access to data for analytics and AI while maintaining privacy, security, and regulatory compliance. Experience implementing and governing low-code/citizen development (e.g., Microsoft Power Platform) to safely offload simple apps, workflows, and automations to business units. Proven experience delivering and governing RPA/intelligent automation (e.g., UiPath, Microsoft Power Automate) at enterprise scale. Mastery of enterprise SDLC and Agile delivery at scale; DevOps/CI-CD, testing automation, observability; alignment with ITSM (incident, problem, change, release). Deep understanding of Microsoft-centered ecosystems (Azure, .NET, SQL) and modern engineering toolchains (GitHub, GitHub Actions, Copilot) with appropriate enterprise guardrails as well as experience with open-source frameworks. Demonstrated ability to lead onshore/offshore and hybrid delivery models; negotiate and manage partners; scale successful pilots into resilient, supportable solutions. Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills with the presence to engage senior legal professionals, practice leaders, and executives. Leadership Competencies Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline Credible technologist with business-first mindset Calm, decisive leader in high-pressure situations Excellent people developer and team builder Strong negotiation and influence skills High integrity, discretion, and professionalism Benefits Ogletree Deakins offers a robust suite of benefits for our Staff including: Paid Time Off, Paid Sick Leave, a 401(k) matching program, Profit Sharing, Paid Holidays, Paid Parental Leave, affordable Health and Life Insurance including Dental & Vision coverage, Health Savings Account /Flexible Spending Accounts to help offset the cost of dependent care and/or health care expenses, Tuition Reimbursement and an Employee Assistance Program. Contact Information If you have questions, please e-mail Megan Becker with with "Director of Software Engineering" in the subject line. Please note, applications submitted via e-mail will not be considered. Firm Overview Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Best Law Firms® has named Ogletree Deakins a "Law Firm of the Year" for 14 consecutive years. In the 2025 edition, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its "Law Firm of the Year" in the Litigation - Labor and Employment category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 1,100 attorneys located in 60 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, including many of the Fortune 50 companies in the U.S. We are fully committed to the importance of diversity within the legal profession, as well as all workplace environments. Equal Opportunity Employer.

Created: 2026-03-04