Director of Software Engineering

Overview

Whisker is redefining what it means to live with cats—designing intelligent systems that remove friction and elevate the everyday. Today, Litter-Robot leads the category and Whisker is building an ecosystem that expands what’s possible for cats and the people who love them.

Job Details

Job#:

Job Description: Full time

Location: On-site Auburn Hills, MI

Salary: $180,000 - $220,000

What You’ll Do

We are hiring a Director of Software Engineering to work onsite at Whisker HQ to co-lead our technical evolution. This foundational leadership role partners closely with the VP of Software Engineering, anchoring engineering excellence for our core development team.

This leader will:

• Architect and oversee the scalable, resilient architecture and execution of all backend systems and shared platform services.
• Own data flow from ingestion and modeling to storage and access, creating clean pathways across teams.
• Architect internal metrics infrastructure to enable Finance, Ops, Product, and Executives to self-serve trusted, timely insights.
• Connect technical systems with business stakeholders to ensure data powering decisions is accurate and transparent.
• Orchestrate backend/frontend development rhythm, ensuring cohesive APIs, predictable integration cycles, and high-quality delivery.
• Champion a culture of data clarity and technical precision to power products and operations.

Summary

The Director of Software Engineering will lead the continued development and management of our digital products, product roadmap for embedded systems, mobile apps, cloud infrastructure, machine learning capabilities, product ideation and management, and the growth of the engineering team to deliver great products globally.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

This list is not all-inclusive and may be expanded as needed.

• Oversee design, development, and implementation of software solutions aligned with the company’s strategic objectives.
• Manage software engineering resources, foster innovation, and ensure projects meet quality, budget, and timeline requirements.
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices and secure, scalable software development processes.
• Drive adoption of new technologies and frameworks; stay abreast of industry trends.
• Foster collaboration across engineering and other departments with clear stakeholder engagement.
• Advance software capabilities into sensor fusion, machine learning, IoT connectivity, and in-app experiences.
• Develop a clear vision for machine learning to enable AI-powered in-app experiences for pet health and interaction.
• Recognize opportunities for deep learning and scale the team accordingly.
• Recruit, grow, mentor, and lead the core software engineering team; develop other leaders and junior engineers.
• Balance current needs with future goals; lead software roadmap execution and long-term architectural strategy.
• Elevate the connected product ecosystem across mobile, cloud, device, and data systems.
• Oversee all backend services, APIs, cloud infrastructure, and shared platform systems.
• Ensure APIs, mobile experiences, IoT connectivity, and cloud services operate as a cohesive system.
• Ensure systems are scalable, secure, observable, and resilient; drive architectural clarity for performance and iteration.
• Lead data pipelines design across ingestion, modeling, storage, and reporting; build reliable systems powering features and operations.
• Provide trusted, meaningful metrics to Finance, Product, Operations, and Executives.
• Collaborate with product management, operations, and cross-functional teams to define requirements and deliver software meeting user needs.
• Champion data clarity and operational visibility across the organization; establish strong frontend-backend integration patterns.
• Create predictable development rhythms to reduce friction and rework.
• Partner with AI/ML leadership to ensure infrastructure supports ML/AI-powered experiences.
• Build backend systems capable of scaling experimentation and intelligent product features.
• Lead crisis management and troubleshooting to minimize downtime and maintain customer satisfaction.
• Define and monitor KPIs for the engineering department and communicate progress to leadership.
• Represent the engineering team in executive meetings with insights on progress, challenges, and opportunities.
• Develop future leaders and cultivate a culture of craftsmanship, accountability, and collaboration.
• Lead with clarity, humility, and a servant-leadership mindset.
• Perform additional responsibilities as required.

Leadership Responsibilities

Directly supervises department teams. Performs supervisory responsibilities per Whisker policies and applicable laws, including interviewing, training, hiring, planning, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, addressing team issues, and upholding safety and quality guidelines.

Requirements

What You’ll Bring :

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s in Computer Science or related field and/or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of software engineering experience
• 5+ years as a Senior Software Engineering Manager or Director
• 10+ years of development experience with at least 5 years in cloud environments using SQL, Python, Java, and RESTful APIs
• 7+ years leading multiple Agile teams with strong understanding of Agile and Lean principles
• Strong knowledge of the AWS IoT stack for large-scale IoT deployments
• Experience with Flutter (or similar) for mobile app design, development, and support
• Ability to drive architecture, execution, verification, and automation across products
• Understanding of supervised and unsupervised learning methods and infrastructure needs
• Proven ability to manage multiple product lines and meet aggressive release schedules
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Experience managing teams of 30-100 people and building high-performing, collaborative teams
• Strong executive-level communication and presentation skills
• High ownership, initiative, and operational discipline
• Maintains confidentiality of proprietary information
• Professional demeanor in a fast-paced environment with many interactions
• High initiative, self-motivation, and ability to motivate others
• Ability to establish cooperative working relationships with team members and colleagues
• Comfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)

Benefits & Perks

Join a tenacious, inventive company with opportunities to chart your own path and work with inspiring people. Benefits include:

• Premium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Whisker Parents Program
• 1 day of pet adoption leave
• Pet insurance discount
• 401K match
• Flexible spending accounts
• Company-paid short-term disability and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off and 14 paid holidays
• Top-of-the-line equipment; pet-friendly office
• Whisker products and swag; continuing education support
• On-site gym with Peloton; referral program

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