Director, Software Engineering

L3Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high-performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work-life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

Job Title: Director, Software Engineering

Job Details

• Job Code: 35415
• Job Location: Fort Wayne, IN; Palm Bay, FL; Rochester, NY; Chantilly, VA; Waco, TX; Camden, NJ; Colorado Springs, CO; Greenville, TX; Herndon, VA
• Work Schedule: 9/80

Job Description

L3Harris is seeking a Software Engineering Director to lead cross-sector software engineering strategy and discipline excellence across the Space & Mission Systems (SMS) segment. Reporting to the Vice President of SMS Engineering & Applied AI, this leader will partner with the sectors to deliver on today's commitments while building tomorrow's software engineering discipline today. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with deep software engineering expertise who can scale vertically as a leader: operating hands-on at the technical level when programs need it, stepping back to drive enterprise strategy when the mission requires it, and coaching and developing the team at every level. This individual will own and drive the AI strategy and roadmap for the software engineering discipline and will partner closely with the AI Transformation team to ensure AI-native engineering practices take root across the SMS workforce.

Essential Functions

• Lead segment-wide discipline initiatives while being available to roll up your sleeves and support sectors with urgent technical fires and critical program needs.
• Coordinate cross-sector software engineering resource sharing, best practices, and discipline standards to reduce duplication and increase segment-wide capability and efficiency.
• Establish and lead Cross-Sector Communities of Practice (CoPs) for software engineering disciplines to accelerate talent development and knowledge transfer across sectors.
• Identify, evaluate, prioritize, and drive adoption of software engineering tools, infrastructure, DevSecOps platforms, development environments, and processes to optimize engineering productivity.
• Own the AI strategy and discipline roadmap for software engineering, identifying where AI-assisted development, code generation, test automation, and intelligent tooling can transform how software is developed at L3Harris.
• Partner with AI Workforce Readiness to ensure AI training programs are tailored to software engineers and aligned with discipline-specific roadmaps and program needs.
• Lead, mentor, and develop discipline talent fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and innovation.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to sector Chief Engineers, program managers, and business development teams on matters of software engineering strategy, standards, and capability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or related field with a minimum of 15 years of experience; or Graduate Degree with a minimum of 13 years of experience.
• Experience leading and developing large software engineering teams across multiple programs or sectors.
• Technical background in software engineering fundamentals: embedded software, mission software architectures, DevSecOps, software integration and test, AI/ML, and software-intensive systems.
• Experience developing engineering team strategies, workforce development plans, and performance management frameworks.
• Active Secret Clearance

Preferred Additional Skills

• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills with a track record of influencing across organizations.
• Hands-On experience with AI-assisted software development tools, code generation, automated testing, and AI integration in software engineering workflows.
• Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), digital engineering frameworks, and software architecture modeling.
• Experience managing and growing engineering communities of practice across large, distributed organizations.
• Strong knowledge of Agile, SAFe, and DevSecOps frameworks in a defense program context.
• Experience leading large DoD proposals with significant software engineering content.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, and the Greater D.C, Denver, or NYC areas is $194,500 - $361,500. The salary range for this role in Colorado state, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York state, Cleveland Ohio, and Vermont is $168,500 - $313,500. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to location, experience, and qualifications.