Senior Director of Engineering - Next-generation Network OS for Switching and routing Infrastructure-10393
Title of position: Senior Director of SW Engineering -Exchange
Position type: Full time
Location: San Jose
Position reports to: VP of SW Engineering
Application deadline: Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis and this posting will remain open until filled.
Work authorization: Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the country where the role will be performed.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead the strategy, development, and delivery of next-generation Network OS for Switching and routing Infrastructure. This leader will drive innovation through AI-assisted development practices, build high-performing teams, and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality, metrics-driven outcomes at scale.
The ideal candidate brings deep domain expertise in networking infrastructure combined with modern software development leadership and a strong track record of adopting AI/ML tools to accelerate engineering productivity and product quality.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership Profile & Strategy
· Define and execute engineering strategy for Next-gen Network OS
· Lead and mentor globally distributed engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and operational excellence
· Partner with Product, Architecture, and Customer Success teams to align roadmaps with business goals and customer needs
· Drive organisational transformation toward AI-assisted engineering practices
· Strategic thinker with strong execution focus
· Data-driven decision-maker
· Passion for innovation and continuous improvement
· Collaborative and influential across organisational boundaries
· Strong advocate for engineering excellence and customer value
Engineering Excellence
· Establish and enforce quality, reliability, and performance standards
· Champion modern, data-driven engineering practices, leveraging delivery performance, developer experience, and AI-assisted productivity metrics to drive continuous improvement and high-quality outcomes
· Foster a fail-fast, learn-fast culture by encouraging rapid experimentation, iterative development, and quick feedback loops to accelerate innovation while minimizing risk
· Promote blameless postmortems and continuous learning to improve systems, processes, and team effectiveness
AI-Driven Development
· Lead adoption of AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code generation, automated testing, observability, and incident response automation)
· Integrate AI/ML into engineering workflows to:
· Accelerate development velocity
· Improve code quality and defect detection
· Enhance operational insights and automation
· Promote best practices for responsible and secure use of AI in engineering
Delivery & Execution
· Drive predictable and high-quality software releases across multiple product lines
· Ensure programs are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with strategic objectives
· Establish robust CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices
· Continuously improve engineering processes based on data and feedback
Stakeholder Management
· Communicate effectively with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
· Provide regular updates on roadmap execution, risks, and performance metrics
· Represent engineering in customer and partner engagements.
Qualifications Required
· 20+ years of engineering experience, with 5+ years in senior leadership roles
· 7+ years leading large, global engineering teams, including India-based and US-based organizations.
· Proven expertise in networking technologies, including Data centre, Enterprise solutions.
· Demonstrated success leading large-scale, distributed engineering teams
· Strong track record of delivering high-quality, scalable products using metric-driven approaches
· Hands-on experience driving adoption of AI-assisted software development tools and practices
· Deep understanding of cloud-native architectures, microservices, and distributed systems
· Experience with DevOps/DevSecOps frameworks and CI/CD pipelines
Preferred Quaifications
· Familiarity with observability, telemetry, and data-driven operations
· Knowledge of security principles related to networking and infrastructure
· Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
Key Success Metrics
· Improvement in engineering velocity and predictability
· Reduction in production defects and MTTR
· Adoption rate and impact of AI-assisted development tools
· Platform reliability, scalability, and customer satisfaction (SLAs, NPS)
· Employee engagement and retention within engineering teams
Equal Employment Opportunity
- Extreme Networks, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. We are committed to taking affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified protected veterans, including disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active-duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans.
- Extreme Networks also strives to prevent other, subtler forms of inappropriate behavior (for example, stereotyping) from ever gaining a foothold in our organization. Whether blatant or hidden, barriers to success have no place at Extreme Networks. We encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply.
Fair chance and background checks
- Extreme Networks will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the California Fair Chance Act, Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance, Illinois Human Rights Act, Cook County Human Rights Ordinance, Seattle Fair Chance Employment Ordinance, and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. An applicant's conviction history will not be considered until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. Following any individualized assessment, applicants will be provided with the opportunity to respond before any adverse action is taken.
- Extreme Networks does not seek salary history information from applicants and will not rely on salary history in determining whether to offer employment or in setting compensation.
This role offers a market‑competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range of 250,000 to 309,000 USD. Actual compensation will depend on the selected candidate’s experience, qualifications, skills, and work location. The posted range reflects the amount Extreme Networks reasonably and in good faith expects to pay upon hire. This range is determined using objective, gender‑neutral criteria based on skills, experience, responsibility, and working conditions. In addition to base pay, this role is eligible for a performance‑based bonus and the full benefits package described below.
Benefits and total rewards:
Extreme Networks offers a comprehensive benefits package. Specific benefits vary by country and may include:
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Flexible work schedules and work-from-home opportunities where role permits
- Paid time off, including open time off in eligible markets and statutory leave in all markets
- Paid holidays in accordance with local practice
- Retirement savings programs, including 401K matching in the United States
- Employee Stock Purchase Program, where eligible
- Adoption assistance and fertility treatment support, where eligible
- Flexible spending accounts, where eligible
- Employee assistance program
- Tuition reimbursement, where eligible
- Life and disability insurance
Benefits eligibility is based on country of employment, role, and employment status. Complete benefits details will be provided during the interview process and in the formal offer of employment.