Director of Software Engineering

Description

Whisker is redefining what it means to live with cats—designing intelligent systems that remove friction, elevate the everyday, and celebrate the quiet brilliance of feline companionship. Today, Litter‑Robot leads the category. Tomorrow, an entire ecosystem that expands what’s possible for cats and the people who love them. We believe the future is feline. And we’re imagining that future today.

We work onsite 4+ days a week, with our team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Juneau, Wisconsin. Our team of 700+ passionate pet people thrives on collaboration, innovation, and the occasional office cameo from a four‑legged friend.

What You’ll Do

We are hiring a Director of Software Engineering to work onsite at Whisker HQ to co‑lead our technical evolution. This foundational leadership role partners closely with the VP of Software Engineering, anchoring engineering excellence for our core development team.

This leader will oversee the scalable, resilient architecture and execution of all backend systems and shared platform services. A core focus is owning data flow from ingestion and modeling to storage and access creating clean pathways across teams.

The Director will architect our internal metrics infrastructure, enabling all functions (Finance, Ops, Product, Executive) to self‑serve trusted, timely insights. They will connect technical systems with business stakeholders, ensuring the data powering decisions is accurate and transparent.

The role is also responsible for orchestrating backend/frontend development rhythm, ensuring cohesive APIs, predictable integration cycles, and fast, high‑quality development. Ultimately, this leader will champion a culture of data clarity and technical precision, building systems that power our products and help the company operate with confidence.

Summary

The Director of Software Engineering will lead the continued development and management of our digital products, product roadmap for our embedded systems, mobile apps, cloud infrastructure, Machine Learning engineering capabilities, product ideation and management, and the growth and management of our evolving team to ensure we’re delivering great products for our customers around the globe!

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.

• Oversees the design, development, and implementation of software solutions, ensuring alignment with the company’s strategic objectives
• Manages the software engineering department’s resources, fostering innovation, and ensuring that software projects meet quality, budget, and timeline requirements
• Establishes and enforces engineering best practices and operational procedures to ensure scalable and secure software development processes
• Drives the adoption of new technologies and frameworks within the team, staying abreast of industry trends to keep the company at the cutting edge of technological advancements
• Fosters an environment of collaboration and communication within the engineering teams and across departments, ensuring that all stakeholders are informed and engaged in key project decisions
• Advances our software capabilities into sensor fusion, machine learning, pet recognition, IoT connectivity and in‑app experience
• Develops a clear vision of machine learning solutions to enable AI‑powered in‑app experiences for pet health, well‑being and interaction
• Beyond traditional machine learning algorithms, the Director recognizes opportunities where deep learning is applicable and scales the team to address those opportunities
• Recruits, grows, mentors and leads our core SW engineering team
• Develops other leaders and mentoring our junior engineers to deliver amazing products
• Balances the needs of today with where we want to be tomorrow
• Leads execution of Whisker’s software roadmap while shaping long‑term architectural strategy
• Balances near‑term delivery with platform investments that enable future innovation
• Elevates our connected product ecosystem across mobile, cloud, device, and data systems
• Oversees all backend services, APIs, cloud infrastructure, and shared platform systems
• Ensures APIs, mobile experiences, IoT connectivity, and cloud services operate as one cohesive system
• Ensures systems are scalable, secure, observable, and resilient
• Drives architectural clarity that supports both product performance and rapid iteration
• Leads the design and evolution of data pipelines across ingestion, modeling, storage, and reporting
• Builds clean, reliable systems that power product features and internal operations
• Enables Finance, Product, Operations, and Executive teams to access trusted, meaningful metrics
• Collaborates with product management, operations, and other cross‑functional teams to define product requirements and ensures that the engineering team delivers software that meets user needs
• Champions data clarity and operational visibility across the organization
• Establishes strong integration patterns between frontend and backend teams
• Creates predictable development rhythms that reduce friction and rework
• Partners with AI/ML leadership to ensure infrastructure supports machine learning and AI‑powered experiences
• Builds backend systems capable of scaling experimentation and intelligent product features
• Leads crisis management and troubleshooting initiatives, ensuring rapid and effective resolution of software issues to minimize downtime and maintain customer satisfaction.
• Defines and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) for the engineering department to evaluate effectiveness and implement improvements as needed
• Represents the engineering team in executive meetings, providing insights and updates to senior management and other stakeholders about project progress, challenges, and strategic opportunities
• Builds future leaders and cultivates a culture of craftsmanship, accountability, and collaboration.
• Leads with clarity, humility, and a servant‑leadership mindset
• Perform additional responsibilities as required.

Leadership Responsibilities

Directly supervises department Teams. Carries out supervisory responsibilities following Whisker policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, training, and hiring, planning, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, addressing team issues, and upholding safety and quality guidelines.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s in Computer Science or related field and / or equivalent years of experience
• 10+ years of software engineering experience
• 5+ years experience as a Senior Software Engineering Manager or Director
• 10+ years of development experience with at least 5 years in cloud environments working with SQL, Python, Java, and RESTful APIs
• 7+ years leading multiple Agile teams and programs with expert understanding of Agile and Lean principles
• Strong knowledge of the AWS IoT stack in the context of large‑scale IoT product deployments
• Experience with Flutter (or other comparable framework) for mobile app design, development and support
• This requires driving architecture, execution, verification and automation of all aspects of the products
• Clear understanding of both supervised and unsupervised learning methodologies and infrastructure needs
• Proven ability to manage multiple product lines and meet aggressive release schedules
• Excellent communication (verbal & written) and presentation skills
• Experience managing teams of 30-100 people and demonstrated ability to build high‑performing, collaborative teams
• Strong executive‑level communication and presentation skills
• High degree of ownership, initiative and operational discipline
• Maintains confidentiality of proprietary information
• Ability to maintain a professional atmosphere in a fast‑paced environment with numerous interactions and interruptions
• A high degree of initiative, self‑motivation, and ability to motivate others
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with Team Members and colleagues
• Comfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)

Benefits & Purrks

• Premium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Whisker Parents Program
• 1 day "pawternity" leave for new pet adoption
• Pet Insurance Discount
• 401K match
• Flexible spending accounts
• Company‑paid short‑term disability and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off
• 14 Paid Holidays
• Top of the line equipment
• Pet‑friendly office
• Whisker products and swag
• Continuing education Support
• On‑site gym with Peloton
• Referral program

Statement of Inclusivity

We believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.

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