Director of Software Engineering

Director of Software Engineering Information Technology POSTED: 7/28/2026 ABOUT CJA The New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) is a not-for-profit service and research organization that operates in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. CJA is the City’s main pretrial services agency, combining operations, pilot projects, and research under one roof. CJA utilizes procedural justice practices to provide pretrial services to over 100,000 arrested annually in New York City. Information collected about these arrestees and subsequent case processing is maintained in the agency’s internal and externally shared database systems, which are used to conduct descriptive and evaluation research on arrestee characteristics, case processing and court outcomes, and on issues and potential reforms to criminal justice policy in New York City. CJA’s programs operate in the criminal courts and detention facilities 24 hours a day seven days a week within the 5 boroughs of NYC, employing over 300 employees, citywide. DEPARTMENT SUMMARY NYCJA’s Information Technology team provides strategic vision, leadership, and innovative solutions so that CJA’s internal and external stakeholders have the trusted data and applications they need to deliver high-quality IT solutions to support pretrial services and research. Our data platform powers operational decision-making that impacts individuals, programs, and city-wide strategy. Our systems and platform powers daily operations, and we are expanding our capabilities into a scalable cloud environment to support real-time data needs and long-term analytics and research. The Software Engineering team designs, builds, and operates secure, scalable applications that support the agency’s mission-critical criminal justice functions. The team delivers modern, reliable solutions through strong engineering practices, cloud-native architecture, and continuous improvement. Position Summary The Director of Software Engineering provides both strategic and technical leadership for NYCJA's enterprise application portfolio, leading engineering execution across the full software development lifecycle in partnership with business stakeholders, product owners, and IT leadership. Reporting to the Executive Director of Information Technology, the Director leads a growing team of software engineers and is responsible for managing both internal staff and external development partners. The role is accountable for application architecture, engineering quality, platform modernization, delivery excellence, and the long-term sustainability of the Agency's software platforms. This is a technical leadership position. While the Director delegates day-to-day implementation to engineering teams, they remain actively engaged in architecture, technical design, production readiness, and the resolution of complex engineering challenges. Success in this role requires balancing strategic leadership with the technical depth necessary to guide engineering decisions and ensure high-quality outcomes. Primary Responsibilities Lead the design, delivery, and operation of NYCJA's enterprise application platforms. Provide engineering leadership across the full software development lifecycle in partnership with product owners, business stakeholders, and other IT teams. Build, develop, and retain a high-performing Software Engineering team through hiring, coaching, performance management, succession planning, and professional development. Participate directly in architecture, system design, and key technical decision-making. Establish and enforce engineering standards for software design, code quality, testing, CI/CD, security, and development practices. Work alongside engineering teams to diagnose and resolve complex production, performance, reliability, and integration issues. Define and execute the application modernization strategy, including cloud-native architecture, API-first design, and containerized platforms. P…