SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
ServiceNow is seeking a Director of Software Engineering Management to lead a high-performing team of software engineers building AI-native and cloud-native applications on the ServiceNow platform. This role combines deep technical credibility with strong people management capabilities, fostering a culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous learning.
Key Responsibilities:
People Leadership & Development: Build, grow, and maintain a diverse team of IC2-IC5 engineers. Conduct regular 1:1s, provide coaching and career guidance, and support engineers through career transitions. Identify high-potential engineers and invest in their development. Address performance issues promptly and create a culture of psychological safety and learning.
Hiring & Team Building: Define hiring strategy and lead technical interviews for engineering candidates at all IC levels. Partner with HR and recruiting on job descriptions and candidate pipeline management. Build diverse teams and identify capability gaps. Participate in employer branding and recruiting events.
Technical Strategy & Product Leadership: Work with product and cross-functional partners to define technical strategy aligned with business goals. Establish technical direction, champion AI-native thinking, and lead architectural reviews. Advocate for technical investments and set quality standards. Partner with senior engineers on multi-year technical roadmaps.
Team Execution & Accountability: Drive delivery of committed business objectives. Establish clear sprint goals and remove blockers. Track team metrics including velocity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Conduct retrospectives and manage team capacity. Report on progress and risks to senior leadership.
Customer & Cross-Functional Engagement: Build relationships with key customers and stakeholders. Participate in customer meetings and technical escalations. Work closely with product management and customer success teams. Lead customer-critical incident response and gather feedback for product improvements.
Organizational Leadership & Culture: Model organizational values and contribute to hiring and interview training. Mentor junior managers and participate in engineering leadership meetings. Promote psychological safety and inclusion. Foster knowledge sharing across the organization.
AI-Native Thinking & Innovation Leadership: Develop deep understanding of AI/ML capabilities and integration patterns. Coach the team on AI-native thinking, prompt engineering, agentic workflows, and responsible AI principles. Establish practices for evaluation-driven development and model performance monitoring. Stay informed about LLM advancements and emerging techniques.
Requirements:
- 12+ years of professional software development experience, with 5+ years in AI-native systems, cloud-native architecture, or equivalent
- 5+ years of people management experience leading software engineers; track record of developing talent and building high-performing teams
- 3+ years managing application development on SaaS platforms (ServiceNow, Salesforce, or similar); deep understanding of platform architecture and constraints
- 3+ years hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, LLM integration, prompt engineering, and responsible AI practices
- Demonstrated expertise in hiring, team building, and organizational development
- Expert-level understanding of modern software engineering practices: CI/CD, testing, security, deployment
- Strong technical credibility; ability to engage in technical discussions with senior engineers; hands-on coding experience valued
- Proficiency in Python, Java, and JavaScript; understanding of ServiceNow scripting and platform APIs
- Track record of delivering significant business results through engineering teams
- Experience scaling teams and organizations
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; ability to influence across technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Strong coaching and mentoring skills
- Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies
- Demonstrated understanding of data security, compliance, and responsible AI practices
- Strong emotional intelligence
- Experience with performance management and difficult personnel decisions
- Passion for building inclusive, psychologically safe teams
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, business, or related field
- Experience leading teams through organizational change, technical migrations, or strategic initiatives
Preferred: MBA or management certification; experience managing managers or leading multiple teams; background in both IC and manager roles; experience in startup or scale-up environments; familiarity with data-driven decision making; customer-facing or go-to-market experience; understanding of product management and business metrics; track record of improving team efficiency and quality metrics; experience mentoring individuals into management roles.
