Director, Client Software Development Services

At Vantage Compute , we don’t just solve IT problems — we own them. We serve hundreds of municipalities and organizations across the United States and Canada, bringing IT to the people who need it most. We believe in earning trust, having a growth mindset, and delivering excellence every single time. We're a team of doers, builders, and tech whisperers who live by 4 core values: Go Beyond | Own It | Be Curious | Serve as One We pride ourselves on making IT personal, making IT easy, and getting IT right. And it all starts with our talented team that is committed to raising the bar. The Impact you will have: Vantage Compute is a leading Managed, Security and Professional Services Provider partnering with public and commercial organizations across North America to secure, operate, modernize their technology. Our Software Development Services team partners with clients to design, build, and evolve the software that runs their business, including: a custom purpose-built software solutions for the local government, compliance and education sectors. The Director, Software Development Services is primarily a leadership role and owns practice P&L, team performance and client outcomes and is expected to raise the bar on both the people and the results. This leader is responsible for web development (front and back end), software development (including custom, automation, API, integration and Agentic AI development), and Vantage Compute ’s EdTech commercial product. The role has a clear mandate to scale the practice commercially while transforming the team to an AI-first, code-generation-driven engineering model. The ideal candidate is a former Software Engineer or DevOps lead who has built and grown a software practice inside a services organization. The role is hands-on with AI-first development tooling, comfortable in front of external clients, and motivated by the opportunity to grow the client base, revenue and mature best practices. What you will be doing: Practice Leadership & Growth• Lead, grow, and mature the Software Development practice within Vantage Compute including: capability, capacity, and commercial performance. • Partner with Sales and Client Strategy to expand existing client relationships, develop new logos, and shape pipeline for the practice. •Own scoping, estimation, statements of work, and delivery of commercial software development client engagements. •Define and evolve the practice's service offerings, pricing posture, and delivery methodology. •Own the full P&L for the business unit, with direct accountability for gross margin performance across all client engagements. AI-First Engineering Transformation • Pivot the team from traditional software development to an AI-first / code-generation-driven model using tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and agentic development workflows. •Upskill existing engineers through coaching, pairing, and structured enablement •Establish guardrails for AI-assisted development: code review standards, evaluation frameworks for AI-generated output, security scanning, and human-in-the-loop review. •Author and maintain the practice's AI-first engineering playbook. Team & Client Leadership • Conduct a structured assessment of team capabilities within the first 30 days, and develop and execute a clear talent plan, including development pathways and, where necessary, role transitions, to ensure the team is positioned for success. •Build and lead a high-performing, AI-first Software Development team, hiring, mentoring, performance management, and capacity planning. •Drive team billable utilization to defined targets •Own the technical roadmap and delivery for client web and software engagements across modern web (React, Next.js) and cross-platform stacks. • Set architecture, tooling, and quality standards across the practice; remain hands-on enough to be credible in design reviews and pull requests. •Serve as the senior technical voice in client conversations, from discovery and pre-sales through delivery and account growth. Cross-Functional Partnership & Enablement •Partner with Marketing, Customer Success, and other Vantage Compute practice leads to align on delivery, velocity, and product evolution. •Closely collaborate with the Lead, AI and Data practice to: 1) Parlay software developed through client engagements into commercial go-to-market client offerings as part of the Vantage Compute Managed AI Offering, 2) set AI Council agenda, 3) standardize AI best practices •Educate internal teams (Automation and Tools Teams, AI POD) on new or updated development practice ensure alignment. Performance Deliverables •Measurable improvement in delivery throughput, chargeable utilization and engagement margin across client work. •Maintain client satisfaction score across active engagements, with direct accountability for escalation resolution and client retention. •Clear plan and early traction on practice growth, pipeline build, new logos, and/or expanded scope with existing clients. •Team confidently shipping AI-generated and AI