Software Engineering Director

The Software Engineering Director is an executive technical leader in the Data & AI department responsible for setting the strategic direction, architecture, and engineering excellence of the firm's AI-powered platforms and cloud-native systems. Reporting directly to senior leadership, this role owns the vision and delivery of large-scale, distributed engineering programs — from agentic AI orchestration and GenAI platforms to enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure — while building and leading high-performing engineering organizations across multiple teams and geographies. This is a strategic engineering leadership role requiring an executive who has built and scaled complex systems at enterprise scale. The ideal candidate brings deep technical authority in AI architecture and cloud platforms, combined with demonstrated success leading large, multi-regional engineering organizations and connecting technology decisions to measurable business outcomes. This position is responsible for both strategic platform leadership and hands-on engineering direction. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Define and drive the multi-year technical strategy for the firm's AI and cloud-native engineering platforms, including agentic AI orchestration, GenAI-assisted delivery tools, and enterprise cloud infrastructure. Architect and govern large-scale distributed systems spanning multi-tenant SaaS, event-driven microservices, cloud-native platforms on Azure, and AI-first application layers including RAG pipelines, vector search, and LLM integrations. Establish enterprise architecture standards, architecture review boards, and AI governance and compliance controls across regulated environments. Lead and grow an engineering organization, setting direction for engineering managers, architects, and senior engineers. Partner with business and practice leadership to translate complex requirements into scalable platform capabilities, opening new revenue opportunities through technology productization. Own the end-to-end delivery of major platform programs from inception through production scale, ensuring reliability, security, and compliance at each phase. Drive operational excellence — setting standards for observability, incident response, capacity planning, and cost optimization across cloud platforms. Champion engineering culture: foster technical mentorship, talent development, and continuous improvement across the engineering organization. Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies — including agentic AI frameworks, model orchestration platforms, and cloud-native tooling — to maintain competitive technical advantage. Education and/or Experience: Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical field; or equivalent professional experience with demonstrable enterprise architecture expertise. Minimum 15 years of progressive software engineering experience, including significant time in architecture and engineering leadership roles. Minimum 5 years of experience leading large engineering organizations across multiple teams or geographies. Proven track record architecting and delivering enterprise-scale distributed systems — including cloud-native platforms, agentic AI systems, and microservices — in production environments. Deep expertise in GenAI and agentic system architecture including LLM application design, multi-agent orchestration frameworks, RAG pipelines, vector search, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Hands-on experience with Azure cloud platform services including Azure AI Foundry, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Service Bus, Azure PostgreSQL, and related managed services. Demonstrated ability to translate engineering investment into business outcomes — including revenue growth, cost reduction, and operational efficiency — with quantifiable results. Experience establishing and leading architecture governance, including architecture review boards and AI, security, and compliance controls in regulated environments. Proficiency in Python, C#, Java, or equivalent enterprise languages; familiarity with modern AI frameworks including LangGraph, Claude SDK, or Temporal. Experience with enterprise security and compliance requirements including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR. Preferred: Experience architecting agentic AI platforms with deterministic execution patterns and auditability controls for regulated professional services environments. Background in productizing internal platform capabilities into revenue-generating offerings. Azure certifications at the expert level (AZ-305, AZ-400) or equivalent demonstrated expertise. Expert-level Infrastructure-as-Code proficiency in Bicep or Terraform for large-scale cloud environments. Experience in professional services industries (legal, financial services, accounting, or consulting). Familiarity with legal technology, document management systems, or AI-assisted knowledge work platforms. Other Skills and Abilities: The following will also be required of the successful candidate: Strong organizational skills Strong attention to detail Good judgment Strong interpersonal communication skills Strong analytical and problem-solving skills Able to work harmoniously and effectively with others Able to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion Able to work under pressure Able to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines and priorities #LI-OE1 Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or in the future The target salary range for this role is: $231,600 - $330,000 if located in Texas. Salaries vary by location and are based on numerous factors, including, but not limited to, the relevant market, skills, experience, and education of the selected candidate. Our compensation package also includes bonus eligibility and a comprehensive benefits program. Benefits information can be found at Sidley.com/Benefits. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the Duties and Responsibilities above satisfactorily and meet the requirements. The requirements listed above are representative of the minimum knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. If you need such an accommodation, please email View email address on click.appcast.io (current employees should contact Human Resources). Sidley Austin LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Sidley is an elite global law firm with a known reputation of deploying innovative strategies to achieve powerful results. Business professionals are essential to the firm’s ability to deliver the highest quality legal services to our clients. We are always looking for talented, motivated individuals who thrive in a performance-driven culture to join our team. We encourage you to explore current openings and check back for future opportunities that align with your skills, experience, and career goals. If you find a suitable position, please submit your resume. Our recruitment team will review your materials and contact you if your qualifications fit our needs. Connect with our recruiting team, and we will reach out should an opportunity arise that aligns with your experience and qualifications. Sidley employs approximately 2,300 lawyers working with our clients in complex transactional, restructuring, crisis management, investigation, regulatory, and litigation matters. Our 160 years of perspective and reach are truly global, supported by 21 offices strategically situated in key commercial, regulatory, and financial centers across the world. Our lawyers and business professionals, fluent in more than 75 languages, possess the cultural awareness and cross-border legal acumen needed to bring clarity to a dynamic business landscape.