Director of Software Engineering

Yards are one of the last big margin opportunities in the supply chain. Technology and automation of inventory and yard operations put real money back on the table. YMX Logistics pairs deep yard operations expertise with our YMX OS Yard Management platform to capture that value for our customers. As the platform grows, this newly created role will lead the evolution of our engineering organization and technical foundation. The Director of Software Engineering owns the design, development, delivery, and long-term technical direction of the YMX platform. This leader is accountable for the performance and growth of the engineering team, the quality and pace of delivery, and the architectural soundness, reliability, security, and scalability of the systems we build. This is a true player/coach position - roughly half the role is leading the team, and half is hands-on in the code. If you want a role where you stop writing software, this isn't it. We're looking for technical depth paired with strong leadership judgment: someone equally comfortable making architecture calls, coaching engineers, partnering with Product and Operations, and turning ambiguous business problems into clear technical strategy. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES What You'll Own Hands-on development. Design and ship production features on YMX OS Yard Management alongside the engineering team. Take the complex, high-risk, or ambiguous work personally - integrations, performance-critical paths, and the refactors nobody else wants to own.Code quality and craft. Set development standards and enforce them through review rather than documents. Mentor engineers through pairing and pull requests, and drive down technical debt with a documented plan the team actually follows.Architecture and technical direction. Own architectural decisions across the platform - application structure, service boundaries, data models, APIs, and integrations. Make sure logging, telemetry, permissions, and auditability get scoped in early rather than retrofitted.Cloud architecture. Design and operate the AWS environment behind the platform - networking, compute, storage, databases, identity, backup, and disaster recovery - with infrastructure-as-code as the default and clean separation across environments.Production reliability. Own availability, observability, incident response, and root-cause follow-through. Define service level and recovery objectives, build the monitoring behind them, and lead the response when severity is high.Security and compliance. Own the security posture across application, infrastructure, and CI/CD - access management, least privilege, secrets rotation, encryption, vulnerability management, and audit logging. Lead security incident response and support customer security reviews.CI/CD and engineering enablement. Build reliable pipelines for build, test, security scanning, deployment, and rollback. Set the standards for source control, branching, environment promotion, and release approval.Engineering delivery and feature design. Own planning, execution, and delivery of the engineering roadmap, with commitments that are realistic and consistently met. Partner with Product Management from concept through release, and report status, risk, and capacity to executive leadership in plain terms.Team and technical representation. Lead and mentor a growing team of application, DevOps, and infrastructure engineers - hiring, leveling, performance management, and preparing senior engineers for system ownership. Serve as the technical voice with enterprise customers on architecture, security controls, and data protection. QUALIFICATIONS Required Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 3+ years managing software engineers while remaining hands-on.Senior-level coding ability in PHP or a comparable object-oriented backend language such as Java, C#, Python, Ruby, or TypeScript, with the willingness to work primarily in PHP.A track record of owning features end to end - design, implementation, release, and what happens after.Demonstrated experience building, developing, and retaining engineering teams, including hiring and performance management.Strong background in backend development and application architecture, including API design, data modeling, and system integration.Deep, current AWS experience across compute, networking, identity, and data services, including infrastructure-as-code and deployment automation.Proven ownership of production reliability - service level objectives, observability, on-call, incident command, and post-incident discipline.Practical security leadership: identity and access management, secrets management, vulnerability and patch management, and secure software delivery.Hands-on CI/CD design for a real production application, including staged deployment and rollback.Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, and credibility with executives and enterprise customers on architecture and security - in writing and in the room.Demonstrated ability to operate effectively at the intersection of engineering, product, operations, and business leadership.Preferred Experience in a SaaS, logistics, supply chain, industrial technology, or other high-throughput operational environment.Experience modernizing, scaling, and evolving established software platforms.Experience establishing engineering process and structure within a growing organization.Enterprise integrations across APIs, identity providers, and customer systems.Demonstrated interest in emerging technologies, including AI and automation, with the ability to identify practical applications that create customer and business value.Familiarity with SOC 2 or comparable compliance and audit programs. TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT Backend: PHP 8.3 on Laravel, with PostgreSQLInfrastructure: AWS, with separate development, test, staging, and production environments SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES AND WORK ENVIRONMENT This position directly supervises software engineering staff and may supervise contractors and third-party development resources, including hiring, directing work, setting expectations, and conducting performance evaluations. The position is remote-based within the United States, with travel generally not exceeding fifteen percent. Periodic availability outside standard business hours is expected in connection with production releases and incident response.