RSM is seeking an experienced Application Development Director to lead and scale its India-based software engineering organization. This role combines strategic people leadership, hands-on technical expertise, solution architecture, and operational management across a diverse technology portfolio.

The ideal candidate will have strong technical proficiency across Microsoft technologies, custom application development, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud-native applications. They must be capable of providing technical solutions to complex business challenges while leading multidisciplinary engineering teams, managing client engagements, and ensuring operational efficiency.

The role will be responsible for building high-performing teams, driving engineering excellence, managing resource utilization and financial performance, and ensuring the successful delivery of scalable, high-quality technology solutions within a global delivery environment.

Key Responsibilities :

1. Team Leadership, Management & Talent Development :

- Lead, manage, and scale multidisciplinary software engineering teams across India, including developers, technical leads, architects, and project managers.

- Own end-to-end talent management, including workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, performance management, mentoring, and employee retention.

- Develop technical capabilities and leadership competencies within the team through structured coaching, knowledge sharing, and career development initiatives.

- Establish clear performance expectations, delivery accountability, and productivity benchmarks across engineering teams.

- Identify and develop future leaders while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, continuous learning, and operational excellence.

- Collaborate with global stakeholders and regional leadership to align team capabilities with business requirements and delivery priorities.

2. Technical Leadership & Solution Architecture :

- Provide technical leadership across Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, PowerApps, Power Automate, Dataverse, .NET, JavaScript, Angular/React, integration, data engineering, and NetSuite/cloud-native applications.

- Evaluate business and technical requirements and recommend scalable, secure, and cost-effective technology solutions.

- Lead solution architecture, technical design reviews, technology selection, troubleshooting, and resolution of complex engineering challenges.

- Ensure engineering teams follow consistent coding standards, architecture principles, security practices, and modern software development methodologies.

- Oversee application development, system integration, data migration, ETL processes, data warehousing, and cloud-based solution implementations.

- Drive the adoption of Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, automation, reusable components, and modern SDLC practices to improve engineering productivity and solution quality.

- Ensure the effective integration of different technology teams, promoting cross-functional collaboration and consistent technical standards.

3. Delivery Management & Client Engagement :

- Oversee the complete software development lifecycle, from requirement discovery and solution design to development, testing, deployment, and post-implementation support.

- Work closely with clients, business stakeholders, and technical leaders to understand business challenges, define requirements, and translate them into actionable technical solutions.

- Act as a senior escalation point for technical issues, delivery risks, resource constraints, and client concerns.

- Manage delivery timelines, scope, quality, dependencies, and risks to ensure engagements are completed within agreed commitments.

- Conduct solution demonstrations, technical presentations, and design discussions with clients and internal stakeholders.

- Establish delivery governance, reporting mechanisms, quality benchmarks, and continuous improvement initiatives across projects.

- Oversee end-user training, technical documentation, knowledge transfer, and transition activities to support effective client adoption.

4. Engineering Operations & Resource Utilization :

- Own day-to-day engineering operations, ensuring optimal resource allocation, workload distribution, capacity utilization, and delivery efficiency.

- Manage team utilization, bench strength, staffing requirements, and resource deployment across multiple client engagements.

- Partner with practice and account leadership to forecast demand, plan capacity, and align hiring with the engineering delivery pipeline.

- Monitor project health, delivery productivity, operational bottlenecks, and resource performance, implementing corrective actions where required.

- Establish standardized operational processes, governance frameworks, and performance metrics to improve scalability and consistency.

- Drive continuous improvement in delivery processes, resource planning, engineering productivity, and operational effectiveness.

5. Financial & Business Performance Management :

- Own the financial performance of the India engineering practice, including budgeting, forecasting, utilization, delivery costs, and margins.

- Ensure engagements are delivered within approved budgets while maintaining quality, productivity, and client satisfaction.

- Track and report key performance indicators covering utilization, capacity, delivery health, resource productivity, and financial performance.

- Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, optimize resource costs, and enhance the profitability of engineering engagements.

- Work with senior leadership to align team growth, hiring investments, and delivery capabilities with business demand and practice objectives.

Required Qualifications & Skills :

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related discipline. A Master's degree is preferred.

- 20+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, application development, solution delivery, or technology consulting.

- Demonstrated experience leading large or multidisciplinary engineering teams, with substantial responsibility for people management and organizational growth.

- Strong technical knowledge across all major technology areas listed below, with the ability to evaluate solutions, guide architecture decisions, and resolve complex technical challenges.

Technical Expertise :

Microsoft Technologies: Dynamics 365, Power Platform, PowerApps, Power Automate, and Dataverse.

Custom Application Development: .NET, JavaScript, Angular, and/or React.

Integration & Data Engineering: Enterprise application integration, SQL Server, ETL, data warehousing, data migration, and data cleansing.

Enterprise & Cloud Platforms: NetSuite and cloud-native application development.

DevOps & SDLC: Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, modern development methodologies, testing, deployment, and release management.

Leadership & Business Expertise :

- Proven experience in hiring, mentoring, developing, and retaining engineering talent.

- Strong solution architecture and technical problem-solving capabilities across multiple technology stacks.

- Experience managing client-facing delivery, project governance, escalations, and stakeholder relationships.

- Demonstrated ownership of resource utilization, capacity planning, operational delivery, budgeting, forecasting, and financial performance.

- Strong business acumen, with the ability to translate technical decisions into measurable business outcomes.

- Excellent communication, collaboration, decision-making, and organizational skills.

- Fluency in English and the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders at all organizational levels.

- Willingness to travel as required.

Preferred Candidate Profile :

The ideal candidate is a technology leader who combines deep technical breadth with strong people-management and operational capabilities. They should be comfortable guiding teams across diverse technologies, personally evaluating technical solutions, resolving critical delivery issues, and managing the business performance of an engineering organization.

Candidates with experience in technology consulting, enterprise application development, global delivery centres, or multidisciplinary engineering practices will be particularly well suited to this role.