Senior Director, Research Engineering, GitHub NextGithub

GitHub has changed the way software is built, and we have a unique opportunity to look further ahead, to identify how software development can be faster, safer, easier, and more accessible. We’re looking for a talented, technical engineering lead to join us in this mission!

Our team (GitHub Next) has incubated genre-defining products such as Copilot, the new GitHub Code Search, and more. Our explorations help to inform GitHub’s strategy, and allow the company to take on speculative bets, by driving early research and building working prototypes.  This is a rare opportunity that affords both startup-level agency, and the reach of the most beloved development product in the world.

In this role, you’ll lead a small team of experienced and talented researchers to help define the future of software development. Please note that while our team is focused on applied R&D, this is not an academic research role. Our job is to not only dream big, but ultimately, to pave a path towards the future. By building it ourselves!

You can see many of our past and current projects at GitHub Next.

Responsibilities:

As a research engineering lead, you’ll manage a small, but senior team of engineers and researchers (3-4) that conduct investigations and build prototypes. As a manager, you’ll help to coach and guide your team, to ensure we’re continuously cultivating a strong culture of empowerment and innovation.

Additionally, because of the builder nature of our team, you’ll also be expected to model technical excellence, by contributing some amount of IC work, which will include writing code, acting as the DRI for team projects (e.g. setting direction/tempo/milestones), performing market analysis (e.g. staying on take of key trends), and helping lead partnerships with stakeholders across the company.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Several years of experience in leadership roles, overseeing teams of senior, staff, and principal engineers
• Multiple years of experience building and shipping software using a variety of technology stacks, or equivalent experience 
• Several years of experience with building distributed systems in production, using public cloud infrastructure
• Experience identifying and justifying research goals in situations of ambiguity and executing towards those goals without explicit direction

Preferred Qualifications:

These are more specific abilities we’re looking for, but it is the rare human who possesses them all. Think of this as a descriptive sketch, not a checklist of requirements. Be comfortable applying even if you don’t have all of them.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, that can clearly articulate complex topics, identify trade-offs, and help to inspire us to take on risky and speculative bets
• A deep understanding of GitHub’s industry and business context and the ability to articulate topics related to our product and audience
• Have significant experience with one or more frontend technologies. We currently default to Typescript and React for the web and a range of technologies on the backend, but “whatever enables us to ship” is the top concern
• Have significant experience with open-source software, communities, and the systems these communities use to self-organize and ship software for others

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Location: In this role, you can work remotely from anywhere in the United Kingdom.

#LI-Remote

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