Director of Engineering - #2182120

Director of Software Development, AI Agent Security Platform (NEW FDI) Ocho Exclusive client

At-a-Glance

• Director-level leadership of the R&D organisation building a new platform for securing AI agents
• Domain: agent identity, delegated authorisation, policy enforcement, evidence and continuous authentication
• Hybrid, Belfast
• Competitive executive package
• Build the engineering organisation that makes AI agents trustworthy for the world's most regulated enterprises

About the Company

Our client is a global leader in identity, payments and data security, trusted by governments, banks and enterprises around the world. With decades of expertise in public key infrastructure, digital identity and cryptographic security, it protects the people, devices and transactions modern business runs on. It is now bringing that expertise to AI, building a trusted foundation for agent identity, authority, execution and assurance, and is growing a team in Northern Ireland to deliver it.

The Role

As Director of Software Development you'll lead the R&D organisation that builds and delivers this new platform. You'll turn a four-plane reference architecture (Identity, Authority, Execution and Assurance) into an executable development strategy, operating model and roadmap, and own engineering execution, talent, quality, security and delivery predictability across the platform. You'll work closely with the VP of Software Development, Product Management, the Platform Architect, Security, Cloud Operations and the wider business units. It suits a proven engineering leader who can move fast on a new platform while holding the rigour that cryptographic systems and regulated customers demand.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the development strategy, organisational design, delivery model and technical roadmap for the platform
• Turn product and architecture priorities into funded plans, measurable outcomes and clear release commitments
• Own delivery predictability, quality, reliability, security, cost and engineering productivity
• Establish strong mechanisms for planning, dependency management, design review, testing and release readiness
• Guide development of cloud-native services, APIs, SDKs, authorisation components and tamper-evident evidence systems
• Embed secure development, threat modelling, privacy, observability and third-party assurance into the lifecycle
• Build a production ownership model with SLOs, incident response and root-cause analysis
• Make sound build-versus-buy decisions and manage technical debt and platform risk
• Hire, lead and develop a high-performing, inclusive engineering organisation with clear career paths and succession plans
• Communicate progress, trade-offs, dependencies and risks to executive and cross-functional stakeholders

What You'll Need

Essential:

• 20+ years' software development experience, including 10+ years leading engineering managers or multiple teams
• A track record of delivering enterprise-grade cloud or security products from concept through to production and operation
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, APIs, cloud platforms, secure development and DevSecOps
• Experience leading products with demanding security, privacy, availability or regulatory requirements
• The ability to influence senior leaders, resolve cross-functional conflict and make clear decisions in ambiguity
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Desirable / Nice to Have:

• Experience with identity, PKI, cryptography, authorisation, policy engines, workload identity or zero-trust architectures
• Experience building AI, agentic AI, LLM, MCP or machine-to-machine platforms
• Delivery under assurance regimes such as FIPS 140-3, Common Criteria, SOC 2, FedRAMP or eIDAS

Why Apply?

• Competitive executive package (to be confirmed)
• Hybrid working from Belfast
• Generous annual leave
• Comprehensive benefits package, details on request
• Build and shape a new engineering organisation from the ground up
• Lead work on one of the defining problems in technology: trust and accountability for AI agents
• The backing and scale of a global security leader

Next Steps

For a confidential conversation, contact Phil Gamble at or connect with Phil on LinkedIn/Whatsapp.