Director of Software Engineering & Platform Architecture, India

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING

A LinkedIn application alone is not a complete application. To be considered, you must follow the How to Apply instructions at the end of this job description and complete the Signalmash application form.

Applications that do not include the completed form will not be reviewed. Automated or bulk applications that do not follow these instructions will be disregarded.

About Signalmash

Signalmash operates a cloud communications platform that enables businesses to manage and deliver RCS, SMS, and MMS messaging through carrier and technology-provider integrations. The platform includes customer onboarding, messaging APIs, routing, compliance, vendor integrations, usage tracking, and billing.

As the platform and engineering organization grow, we are adding an India-based technical leader to strengthen architecture, project coordination, and execution across our internal engineers and external development partners.

The Role

The Director of Software Engineering & Platform Architecture will work alongside the existing engineering team to develop a complete understanding of the Signalmash platform and guide its continued evolution.

This is a hands-on leadership role combining software architecture, technical project management, production ownership, and engineering-team coordination. You will connect the US management and product teams with engineers in India, improve how work is specified and delivered, and help the combined team modernize the platform safely.

This is not a management-only position. The successful candidate must be comfortable reading code, tracing production behavior, reviewing consequential changes, and helping engineers resolve difficult technical problems.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop a thorough understanding of the platform's architecture, codebase, infrastructure, data model, integrations, and operational workflows.
• Coordinate technical execution across internal engineers and external development partners.
• Translate business and product requirements into clear specifications, milestones, ownership boundaries, and acceptance criteria.
• Facilitate architecture decisions and maintain a practical, staged platform-modernization roadmap.
• Guide incremental refactoring without disrupting customers, messaging operations, billing, or data integrity.
• Manage engineering priorities, dependencies, risks, schedules, and delivery commitments.
• Establish consistent practices for code review, testing, documentation, QA, releases, and incident response.
• Coach engineers and help the team improve technical judgment, communication, and production ownership.
• Review architecture, APIs, data models, migrations, security boundaries, and major production changes.
• Introduce responsible AI-assisted development practices using tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Copilot.
• Define how engineers and AI agents receive context, implement changes, test results, and undergo human review.
• Coordinate production incidents and ensure root causes, corrective actions, and lessons are documented.
• Communicate progress, risks, decisions, and tradeoffs clearly to the US management team.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including architecture and production responsibility.
• Experience leading distributed engineering projects involving internal teams, external partners, or both.
• Experience managing and coaching software engineers in India.
• Substantial experience with communications software such as CPaaS, telecom messaging, carrier platforms, contact-center technology, UCaaS, or comparable systems.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, multi-tenant SaaS, APIs, webhooks, queues, retries, idempotency, and observability.
• Ability to read application code, trace execution across services, review database schemas, and diagnose production failures.
• Experience modernizing a live platform through controlled, incremental changes.
• Practical experience using AI coding tools in real repositories, including specification, testing, review, and security controls.
• Strong spoken and written English.
• Based in India and able to work until approximately 11:30 PM IST to overlap with the US management team.

Preferred Experience

• RCS, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, messaging compliance, or carrier provisioning.
• TypeScript, Node.js, React/Next.js, PostgreSQL, and modern API frameworks.
• GCP or transferable AWS/Azure experience.
• Usage-based billing, rating, routing, vendor-cost, or financial-ledger systems.
• Security, tenant isolation, authentication, authorization, and compliance-sensitive systems.
• Leading modernization initiatives across multiple teams or organizational boundaries.

Location

The position is based in India and may initially be remote. Signalmash is evaluating an engineering office in Kochi during 2026-2027. Candidates should be open to relocating to Kochi if an office is established.

Please complete the Signalmash application form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScg2expjQ434OyOcortfBcqJCKw8VUSx5DfrXleHI-vN7BdJg/viewform

You can upload your resume directly through the form. You may also upload an optional two-to-three-minute video or audio introduction. Applications that include an introduction will receive priority review. Recording quality, accent, appearance, and background are not evaluated. We care about clarity, authenticity, thoughtfulness, and communication.

Applications without a completed Signalmash application form will not be reviewed.