Director Software Development

Overview

We’re looking for a Director, Software Development to lead Engineering for Lightspeed Payments. This key department within Financial Services has grown 3x in the past couple of years. You will be a key leader in the Payments group, working with cross‑functional leaders and teams to ensure alignment of goals across the organization.

Location: Canada/USA (able to work within EST/EDT hours).

Work environment: fully remote, partially remote, or office‑based in cities with local offices.

Responsibilities

Strategic Execution & Delivery

• Navigate ambiguity, bring structure to complex challenges, and drive alignment across teams.
• Work cross‑functionally to bring clarity to priorities and define what needs to be done to drive success.
• Operate closely with the team, wearing multiple hats to ensure critical projects are executed successfully.
• Own the delivery, collaborating closely with Product Managers and business stakeholders to achieve meaningful outcomes.

People Leadership & Team Development

• Act as a people leader, mentoring and developing engineers into future leaders.
• Hire and grow a high‑performing team, ensuring strong technical and leadership talent.
• Set high standards and elevate the team through coaching, feedback, and hands‑on support.
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and technical excellence within and beyond the team.
• Extend expertise and influence beyond Payments into the broader Financial Services organization and the Services vertical.

Communication & Influence

• Ensure clear and concise messaging across stakeholders, particularly around the goals, objectives and priorities.
• Work cross‑functionally with business teams to align on technical and product strategy.
• Influence and drive decision‑making across teams, advocating for best practices in engineering and business execution.

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Architect and scale business systems with a strong understanding of various paradigms, including event‑driven systems.
• Evaluate and guide technical architecture decisions to ensure scalability, reliability, and efficiency.
• Develop a deep understanding of existing systems, guiding the teams to continuously evolve their systems, architecture, and patterns.
• Drive continuous delivery of value, ensuring high availability and operational excellence.
• Develop quick prototypes to validate ideas or assist with technical spikes.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge and understanding of software engineering principles, technologies and best practices.
• Strong software development background with experience as an engineer and expertise in multiple mainstream technology stacks (Node, JVM, .NET, etc).
• Expertise in software architecture and design of scalable, maintainable and resilient systems that run on the cloud across regions.
• Expertise in modern software delivery practices (continuous delivery, lean practices, etc).
• Operational excellence mindset: experience running and managing operations of business‑critical systems on the cloud.
• People management experience in hiring, performance management, and growth.
• Experience leading other leaders in a software engineering organization.
• Experience working with cross‑functional leaders as one unit and setting organizational goals and objectives.
• Experience owning technology or product for a clear line of business or a complete product.
• Experience working in product engineering and/or SaaS software delivery is a plus.
• The hunger to learn across the core areas of your domain and the ability to synthesize insights and leverage them in your team.
• Highly collaborative and effective team member.

Benefits

• Lots of autonomy, flexible work culture.
• Join a fast‑paced, high‑growth company.
• Work on systems that handle billions of dollars in transactions for our merchants globally.
• Surround yourself with strong talent and enjoy continuous professional growth.
• Develop in a modern and proven technology stack.
• Great benefits and perks, including equity and flexible/hybrid remote work options, in a diverse and inclusive environment.
• Development of very high traffic products used at the global scale.
• Opportunities to learn and expand your skill set.
• Lightspeed equity scheme (we are all owners).
• Flexible paid time off policy.
• Health and wellness benefit of $500 per year.
• Paid leave and assistance for new parents.
• Mental health online platform and counseling and coaching services.
• Volunteer day.

Lightspeed does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. If we have not directly engaged your company in writing to supply candidates for a specific vacancy, Lightspeed will not be responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

Lightspeed is a proud equal opportunity employer and we are committed to creating an inclusive and barrier‑free workplace. Lightspeed welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.