Director, Software Engineering at Zendesk summary:
The Director of Software Engineering at Zendesk leads a 60-person Workforce Management engineering team across Poland and Serbia, driving strategy, execution, and technical excellence. This role partners with product leadership to shape the WFM platform roadmap, build scalable teams, and foster an innovative, collaborative culture. The position requires extensive experience in software engineering leadership, strategic planning, and managing global distributed teams.
Job Description At Zendesk, we build beautifully simple software that helps companies deliver the ultimate customer experience. From your favorite brands to the world’s most innovative enterprises, our products connect businesses with their customers in smarter, more seamless ways. We’re passionate about innovation, collaboration, and making complex things feel effortless - and we’re looking for leaders who share that passion.
The Role We are seeking a
Director of Software Engineering to lead our
Workforce Management (WFM) Engineering organization , spanning Poland and Serbia. This role will oversee an organization of ~60 engineers and engineering managers.
As Director of Engineering, you will drive the strategy, execution, and growth of our WFM platform, partnering closely with Product leadership to shape the roadmap and ensure technical excellence. You will build and scale high-performing teams, influence architectural direction, and foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. This role requires a seasoned engineering leader with the vision to scale organizations, the ability to guide complex technical decisions, and the leadership skills to inspire teams across geographies.
What You’ll Do - Lead & Scale: Direct and grow a 60-person engineering organization (managers and engineers) across Poland and Serbia.
- Partner with Product: Collaborate closely with the Director of Product to define and deliver the WFM platform roadmap, aligning technical capabilities with business strategy.
- Drive Engineering Excellence: Promote high standards in software engineering, architecture, and operational excellence across teams.
- Enable Growth: Build structures, processes, and talent strategies that support organizational scalability and long-term success.
- Influence & Inspire: Contribute to strategic planning with senior engineering leadership, while cultivating a culture of trust, inclusion, and innovation.
- Shape the Future: Play an active role in architectural conversations, technology choices, and strategic engineering initiatives with broad company impact.
What You’ll Bring - Proven Experience: 12+ years in software engineering with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles managing managers and large engineering teams.
- Organizational Leadership: Demonstrated success leading multi-site organizations of 50+ engineers, with experience scaling teams and processes.
- Technical Depth: Strong technical background with the ability to contribute to architectural discussions and strategic decision-making.
- People Leadership: A track record of developing leaders, building strong engineering cultures, and fostering diversity and inclusion.
- Collaboration: Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence cross-functional and executive teams.
- Strategic Mindset: Experience shaping long-term product and technology strategies in alignment with business goals.
- Global Perspective: Comfortable leading distributed teams; willingness to travel (approx. 25%), primarily to Novi Sad, Serbia.
Why Zendesk - Impact: Lead a mission-critical engineering organization building the next generation of our WFM platform.
- Culture: Join a team that values openness, diversity, and collaboration - where your input matters from day one.
- Balance: Benefit from flexible work arrangements, progressive parental leave, and an emphasis on work-life balance.
- Growth: Contribute to a global company at the forefront of customer experience, with endless opportunities for professional development.
- Community: Be part of a company that invests in social impact and local communities worldwide.
Important: This role is based in Kraków, Poland, and requires approximately 25% travel, primarily to our office in Novi Sad, Serbia (~one week a month) The Poland annualized base salary range for this position is zł429,000.00-zł643,000.00. Please note that while the salary range represents the minimum and maximum base salary rate for this position, the actual compensation offered will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other relevant factors. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives that will be communicated during the offer stage.
Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.
The intelligent heart of customer experience Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here .
Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to with your specific accommodation request.
Keywords: software engineering, engineering leadership, workforce management platform, team scaling, architectural strategy, product collaboration, distributed teams, technical excellence, innovation culture, global software development