Director, Engineering

Overview

Who We Are:

Ever wonder who brings the entertainment to your flights? Panasonic Avionics Corporation is #1 in the industry for delivering inflight products such as movies, games, Wi-Fi, and now Bluetooth headphone connectivity!

How exciting would it be to be a part of the innovation that goes into creating technology that delights millions of people in an industry that’s here to stay! With our company’s history spanning over 40 years, you will have stability, career growth opportunities, and will work with the brightest minds in the industry. If you want to learn more about us, visit us at And for a full listing of open job opportunities go to

Responsibilities

The Position:

The Director, Engineering will direct the planning and execution of Software Development including research, design, and development of computer software systems in conjunction with hardware engineering and product development. Assigns projects, establishes/monitors work priorities and schedules. Responsible for standard practices, departmental instructions and modifications to policies and procedures to align execution with strategy. Ensures overall budgets, schedules, and performance standards are realistically set and attained. Owns the quality for software features and fixes. Drives the culture in the organization to create a safe environment where engineers can thrive to establish a talent development pipeline. Participates with senior management in developing and owning the implementation of strategic business plans. Participates in the development of corporate and/or organizational policy and authorizes implementation with adherence to compliance goals. Partner with peers and team members to define a technical roadmap, software architecture, design and structure. Research, evaluate, and implement new software technologies, processes, and workflows for productivity gains. Lead continuous improvement efforts within software development and bring best practices to bear throughout the development life cycle.

Strategic Oversight

• Establish software development strategy and vision and create a culture of practical execution that translates strategy into effective execution plans.
• Manage budget planning and oversight for all software development teams.
• Keep up to date on both macro and micro changes that may impact development efforts and goals and adapt development strategies based on learnings.
• Partner with other departments to ensure alignment with goals and strategies.

Leadership

• Act as a mentor for other technical leaders and work to establish a strong bench of future leaders.
• Recruit, develop, and partner with team members in support of building a pipeline of top talent and team member career goals.
• Drive quality metrics that matter to the customer — field defect rate, seat-level reliability, MTBF impact, MTTR
• Lead multiple software engineering teams and managers, with accountability for architecture, execution, quality, and delivery.
• Partner effectively with Product, Architecture, Program, Customer, and executive stakeholders, including managing technical trade-offs, risks, and escalations.
• Develop, modify and execute company policies that affect immediate operation(s) and may also have company-wide effect.
• Executive communication — able to present a recovery plan to an airline VP when a milestone slips
• Direct activities through subordinate managers who exercise full supervision in terms of costs, scheduling, and staffing.
• Select and monitor vendor support for departments to ensure state-of-the-art applications and equipment.

Technical Oversight

• Strong experience with AWS cloud systems, distributed architectures, APIs/microservices, databases, security, scalability, and production operations.
• Own end-to-end software delivery from requirements and architecture through development, integration, validation, release, and operational support.
• Drive engineering excellence through CI/CD, automation, observability, reliability, test strategy, and secure software development practices.
• Strong systems integration background, ideally across cloud, networking, hardware/edge systems, and third-party platforms.
• Foster a work environment that is innovative and fast and delivers high-quality software products.
• Interface with other business units to help establish common tools, workflows, best practices, and standards to promote concurrent engineering.
• Establish proper interfaces for exchange of data between departments, business units, and vendors.
• Maintain responsibility for technical deliverables of the group.

The salary range of $166,000 - $278,000 is just one component of Panasonic’s total package. The final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to individual’s knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this role may be eligible for discretionary bonuses and incentives.

Qualifications

What we're looking for:

• BS in Engineering required.
• 10 years of software engineering experience.
• 5 years of management experience, directly supervising and mentoring managers.
• Must possess a solid background in relevant engineering discipline.
• Agile software development and DevOps skills preferred.
• Proven ability to drive organizational transformation to support business strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to drive ownership and accountability in delivering quality product on time to customers.
• Proven experience operating at a senior level software engineering position with broad range of responsibilities.
• Demonstrate a strong orientation for developing products from the user’s perspective.
• Hands on experience with modern technologies, frameworks, and design and architecture patterns.
• Seasoned ability to communicate effectively and work with all areas of the company.
• Demonstrate a strong preference for people over process.
• Proven experience collaborating up, down, and across the organization to achieve results.
• Ability to effectively influence multiple constituencies internally and externally and inspire action without direct organizational management responsibility.
• Outstanding communication skills and demonstrated ability in developing and delivering complex business and technical presentations for senior management.
• Excels in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as negotiation and presentation skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate between several departments within the global organization.
• Proficient with mainstream PC desktop applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, VISIO, Project).
• Industry experience a plus.

What We Offer:

• At Panasonic Avionics Corporation we realize the most important aspects in leading our industry are the bright minds behind everything we do. We are proud to offer our employees a highly competitive, comprehensive and flexible benefits program.
• Paid time off: Exempt Salaried employees receive flexible paid time off. This means that there is no fixed number, range, or limit to the amount of Personal and Vacation Days that may be taken for exempt employees. Non-exempt hourly employees accrue 14 vacation days per year + 7 sick days + 3 personal days. Accrual rate increases with tenure. All employees receive 11 company paid holidays per year. We also close our offices at the corporate level in the U.S. between Christmas and New Year. For operational positions that are expected to work on holidays, we provide additional compensation for hours worked.
• Health Insurance: Medical insurance offerings from Aetna and Kaiser (CA & HI). Options for Employee Only, Employee + Spouse/Domestic Partner, Employee + Children, or Family. Dental PPO and DMO options & Vision insurance through EyeMed or VSP.
• 401K with 50% match on up to 8% contribution, full vested from day 1.
• Washington residents only are eligible for: Washington’s Family and Medical Leave program and Washington’s Paid Sick Leave program.
• Other offerings include: Wellness Program, Counseling services, FSA & HSA, Life Insurance for employee, spouse and child, AD&D Insurance, Long-term and Short-term disability, Critical Illness Insurance, Accident Insurance, Legal Assistance, Pet Insurance, Identity Theft Protection, Dependent Care FLSA, Education Assistance, Commuter Program, Employee Purchase Program, Service Award Program.

Our Principles:

Contribution to Society | Fairness & Honesty | Cooperation & Team Spirit | Untiring Effort for Improvement | Courtesy & Humility | Adaptability | Gratitude

Employment Policies & COVID-19

All applicants are subject to Company policies, third party customer and worksite requirements, and government requirements, regarding vaccination and/or testing for COVID-19. Where permitted by applicable law, applicants may be required to be fully vaccinated with an authorized COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment,unless they are eligible for and obtain an exemption based on areasonable accommodation because of a disability or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. While the Company strongly encourages COVID-19 vaccinations, it may require vaccination and/or testing for positions in which third party customer, worksite, or government requirements apply, in accordance with applicable law. At those locations where requirements apply, exemptions will be considered based on applicable law.

Panasonic is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by law or company policy. All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. Pre-employment drug testing is required for safety sensitive positions or as may otherwise be required by contract or law. Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Avionics Corporate.