R&D Director

Position Overview:
We are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to drive the integration of AI solutions within our next generation platform. This role is responsible for leading two agile teams that operate with a startup mentality, breaking down barriers to rapidly deliver customer value. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of challenging the status quo, extreme accountability, and a customer-first mindset.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the integration of AI solutions into the next generation platform, ensuring alignment with business goals and customer needs.
- Manage and inspire two high-performing agile teams, fostering a startup-like culture focused on innovation and rapid delivery.
- Collaborate closely with AI, scientific, and engineering teams to design and implement impactful solutions.
- Partner with the business development team to align technical initiatives with market opportunities and customer requirements.
- Remove obstacles and streamline processes to accelerate value delivery to customers.
- Ensure that developed solutions are effectively leveraged across the organization and establish a robust feedback loop for continuous improvement.
- Champion a customer-first mentality in all aspects of solution development and delivery.
- Lead and mentor full stack development teams, ensuring seamless collaboration across front-end, back-end, and infrastructure components.
- Oversee software testing strategies and execution, driving high standards for quality and reliability.
- Drive DevOps best practices to enable continuous integration, delivery, and deployment of solutions.
- Inspire and empower teams to achieve more than they thought possible, fostering a culture of growth, innovation, and excellence.
Qualifications:
- Master's Degree
- Extensive experience with multiple Agile methodologies and frameworks.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and inspire cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
- Proven experience leading high-performance, global development teams.
- Strong track record of extreme accountability and ownership of outcomes.
- History of successfully challenging and changing the status quo to drive innovation.
- Deep experience with DevOps practices and tools.
- Experience leading full stack development teams and overseeing end-to-end software delivery.
- Proven leadership in software testing, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a focus on delivering customer value.
- Passion for leading others to exceed their own expectations and achieve exceptional results.
Preferred Attributes:
- Experience working at the intersection of AI, science, and engineering.
- Startup or scale-up experience is highly desirable.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Clinical trial experience

The Director, R&D Software Engineering leads the end-to-end software development function, including architecture, engineering execution, testing strategy, and release management. This role plays a critical part in advancing Clario’s technology platforms that support clinical trials and accelerate life-changing therapies for patients worldwide. The Director provides strategic and operational leadership to multiple engineering teams, ensuring scalable, secure, and high-performing software solutions aligned with business objectives.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (starting Day 1 of employment)

• Flexible work schedules

• Attractive PTO plan

• Engaging employee programs

• Remote and hybrid work options

What You’ll Be Doing

• Define and execute the technical strategy and operational roadmap to sustain existing products and deliver new product initiatives.

• Partner with executive leadership, Product Management, and key stakeholders to align engineering priorities with corporate strategy.

• Establish development milestones within an Agile framework and ensure on-time, on-budget delivery.

• Lead multiple engineering teams responsible for product architecture, software development, quality engineering, and release management.

• Drive collaboration between Software Development and Software Quality Engineering to maximize automation and integrate quality throughout the SDLC.

• Monitor team capacity, productivity, quality metrics, and velocity; proactively address variances and risks.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Quality Assurance, Service Delivery, and Product Management to ensure clear internal and external documentation.

• Serve as a member of the Engineering senior leadership team and contribute to corporate strategy and long-term planning.

• Identify technical and operational risks and implement mitigation strategies.

• Oversee engineering metrics and ensure accurate reporting within corporate systems.

• Lead workforce planning, hiring, performance management, leadership development, and succession planning.

• Foster an inclusive, high-performance culture that encourages innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Support organizational development, change management, and diversity initiatives within the engineering function.

What We Look For

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience

• 10+ years of progressive technical experience in software engineering

• Proven experience leading and developing engineering teams of 10+ across multiple disciplines and technologies

• Strong expertise in Agile methodologies and modern software development practices

• Demonstrated knowledge of multi-tier architecture, multi-tenant SaaS deployments, scalability, performance, and reliability

• Solid understanding of data modeling, database design, and process modeling concepts

• Experience managing budgets, business cases, and cost-benefit analysis

• Strong analytical, prioritization, and problem-solving skills

• Track record of delivering complex technical projects on time and within budget

• Experience in performance management, career development, and team building

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

At Clario, our purpose is to transform lives by unlocking better evidence. It’s a cause that unites and inspires us. It’s why we come to work—and how we empower our people to make a positive impact every day. Whether you're advancing clinical science, building innovative technology, or supporting our global teams, your work helps bring life‑changing therapies to patients faster.

Clario is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

The duties and responsibilities listed in this job description represent the major responsibilities of the position. Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned, as required. Clario reserves the right to amend or change this job description to meet the needs of Clario. This job description and any attachments do not constitute or represent a contract. The Department Head has the discretion to hire personnel with a combination of experience and education, which may vary from the above listed qualifications.