Acentra - Director - Engineering Excellence

Work Location : Hyderabad or Chennai (open to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, NCR)

Work Arrangement : Requires a minimum of 9 working days per month from the Chennai office, with the remaining days flexible to be worked from any of the other listed locations.

About The Role :

We are seeking a visionary and technically accomplished leader to serve as Director Engineering Excellence. This role is pivotal in driving organization-wide engineering transformation through strategic leadership, innovation, and operational excellence.

The Director will champion modern software development practices, foster high-performing teams, and lead the adoption of cutting-edge technologies including cloud-native architectures, AI-augmented development, and DevOps automation.

This position requires close collaboration with product, delivery, and technology teams to ensure scalable, secure, and high-quality software solutions aligned with business goals.

Key Strategy & Vision :

• Define and implement the engineering excellence strategy and roadmap.
• Align engineering initiatives with business objectives and measurable outcomes.
• Lead transformation efforts including adoption of Agile, DevOps, CI / CD, and cloud-native technologies.

Innovation & Technology Oversight :

• Drive Generative AI initiatives for development, testing, and operations using tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies such as AI / ML, low-code platforms, and observability tools.
• Lead proof-of-concept (POC) efforts and enforce coding, security, and architectural standards.
• Architect scalable, secure, and user-centric software solutions.

Team Leadership :

• Build and mentor high-performing engineering teams.
• Establish performance goals, conduct reviews, and foster continuous improvement.
• Guide career development and leadership growth for engineering managers and team members.
• Promote a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.

Operational Excellence :

• Define and track KPIs for productivity, quality, and delivery timelines.
• Maintain dashboards and reporting systems for visibility into team performance.

Candidate Profile :

Education & Experience :

• Bachelors or masters degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in leadership roles.
• Experience in healthcare or regulated industries preferred.

Technical Expertise :

• Software Development Leadership : Strategic delivery using modern methodologies.
• System Design : Expertise in cloud-native, distributed, microservices-based architectures.
• Development Lifecycle Management : Deep understanding of SDLC and DevOps practices.
• Cloud Strategy : AWS, Azure, GCP, and infrastructure automation tools.
• Quality Assurance : Oversight of manual and automated testing processes.
• CI / CD Enablement : Establishment of robust pipelines for agility and stability.
• Data Governance : Experience with relational and NoSQL databases, data integrity.
• Security & Compliance : Embedding security frameworks and ensuring regulatory adherence.
• Stakeholder Engagement : Effective collaboration using version control and PM tools.
• Technical Communication : Ability to articulate complex concepts to diverse audiences.

Additional Qualifications :

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Cloud certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Developer, Azure Solutions Architect) are desirable.

(ref : iimjobs.com)