Associate Director, Software Engineering

Job Description

Are you a hands-on engineering leader with a passion for building AI-powered products, scaling systems, and leading high-performing teams? Do you thrive in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments where you can drive innovation and make things happen? If so, we’d love to talk. About NetElixir NetElixir is an AI-First digital marketing firm with 21 years of experience helping e-commerce businesses grow profitably. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, we work with leading retail and DTC brands across North America and Europe. Our team spans Princeton and Hyderabad, and we cherish a Go-Giver culture built on curiosity, empathy, and accountability. We’re profitable, self-funded, and growing fast—with a bold vision to democratize AI marketing. Through our non-profit arm, Udaan, we’ve supported the education of over 50 underprivileged girls in Telangana since 2016. Learn more at www.netelixir.com. Role Overview We're hiring an Associate Director, Software Engineering to lead our engineering team in Hyderabad. This is a pivotal leadership role for someone who can operate at both strategic and tactical levels—setting vision, writing code when needed, leading from the front, and ensuring our systems scale as we grow 3x by 2026. You’ll work closely with the Executive Leadership Team to deliver mission-critical e-commerce development projects for our clients and develop AI-first solutions that power our products and internal automation platforms. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise, an entrepreneurial mindset, and the ability to inspire and grow teams. What You’ll Be Doing Strategic Leadership Lead the Engineering team’s people vision, innovation roadmap, solution and product charter as a core member of the India leadership team. Department Leadership Oversee all software engineering initiatives, from innovation and delivery of complex e-commerce development projects to platform migrations. Ensure technical excellence, QA rigor, infrastructure management, and compliance with ITIL, ISO 2001, SOC2, GDPR, and CCPA. People Leadership Recruit and develop a high-performing engineering team. Mentor, coach, and lead by example. Foster a culture of ownership, diversity, and learning that’s aligned with NetElixir’s values and growth mission. Process Leadership Establish and scale agile processes to support our 3x growth target. Oversee infrastructure (cloud, licensing, scaling), coordinate with operations and vendors, and manage delivery timelines, risks, and communication with executive stakeholders. What We’re Looking For 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in a technical leadership role Deep experience building AI-powered or data-intensive products—ideally in fast-moving or growth-stage environments Strong command of cloud infrastructure (GCP, AWS), backend stacks (Node.js, Python, etc.), and CI/CD A builder who codes, mentors, and inspires—not just manages Proven success in building and scaling high-performing teams Strong understanding of SaaS, data engineering, AI/ML integration, and DevSecOps Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate across time zones Entrepreneurial mindset with high ownership, urgency, and follow-through Bonus: Experience with e-commerce platforms or ad-tech systems Why You’ll Love Working With Us You’ll build solutions that matter—with real users, data, and business outcomes You’ll collaborate with a bold, kind, and driven global team You’ll have the freedom to innovate—and the support to make it real You’ll shape the future of AI-powered marketing for 800+ e-commerce brands You’ll be part of a purpose-driven company—giving back is in our DNA At NetElixir, we value leaders who build with intent, lead with humility, and stay curious. If you're looking to do meaningful work with real impact, this could be the right place for you.