Director, Application Development

RSM is seeking an Application Development Director to lead and grow our India-based software engineering teams. This is a hybrid technical and people-leadership role: the Director will build and scale a multi-disciplinary engineering organization spanning Microsoft technologies, custom application development, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud native applications, while directly owning the hiring, development, and retention of engineering talent in India. The Director will also own team utilization and financial performance, ensuring the practice delivers high-quality client outcomes as a sustainable, well-run business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the hiring strategy and execution for engineering roles in India, building a strong pipeline of software engineering talent across disciplines.
• Mentor, coach, and grow developers, technical leads, and project managers on technical skills, delivery best practices, and career progression.
• Build a culture and set of practices that drive employee engagement and retention, reducing attrition across the India engineering organization.
• Collaborate and work effectively with consultants, engineers, and peer leaders across other regions and practices to support a unified, global delivery model.
• Identify and develop future leaders within the team, creating clear growth paths for high performers.
• Lead delivery and staffing across a multi-discipline engineering portfolio: Microsoft (Dynamics 365 and Power Platform), custom application development, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud native applications.
• Ensure consistent engineering standards, delivery methodology, and technical best practices are applied across all disciplines.
• Champion cross-discipline collaboration so that Microsoft, custom apps, integration, data engineering, and cloud native teams work from a shared playbook rather than in silos.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance across the SDLC, including solution architecture, design reviews, and troubleshooting for complex delivery issues.
• Serve as a senior client-facing leader, managing relationships with customer technical leads and business stakeholders.
• Discern, define, refine, and document client requirements, ensuring solutions are designed in alignment with business objectives.
• Lead engagements from discovery and design through development, testing, and deployment, acting as the primary point of contact for issue and risk management.
• Oversee design, development, and testing of software applications across the full SDLC, including data warehousing, data migration/cleansing, integration, and cloud native solution delivery.
• Deliver customized solution demonstrations and drive continuous improvement of delivery standards, tools, and reusable assets.
• Conduct end-user training and produce knowledge-transfer documentation as needed to support client enablement.
• Own utilization targets for the India engineering team, proactively managing staffing, bench, and resource allocation across engagements.
• Manage team financial performance, including budgeting, forecasting, and margin, ensuring engagements are delivered on time and on budget.
• Partner with practice and account leadership on capacity planning and demand forecasting to balance growth with financial discipline.
• Report on utilization, financial performance, and delivery health to practice leadership on a recurring basis.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field; Master's degree preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive experience in software engineering or application development, including prior people-leadership or people-management responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience hiring, mentoring, and retaining engineering talent, ideally in an India-based or distributed delivery model.
• Broad, multi-discipline technical fluency across Microsoft technologies (Dynamics 365, Power Platform, PowerApps, Power Automate, Dataverse), custom application development (.NET, JavaScript, Angular or React), integration, data engineering (SQL Server, ETL, data warehousing), and NetSuite or other cloud native platforms.
• Experience with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and modern SDLC practices.
• Track record of owning team utilization and financial/business performance for an engineering practice or delivery unit.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to speak about technology in the language of business.
• Excellent client relationship management, project management, and organizational skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; fluent in English.
• Ability to interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders at all organizational levels.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed.

Skills

.NET, Angular, Application Development, Dynamics 365, Hiring, JavaScript, Mentoring, People Management, React, Retention, Software Engineering, Team Management