Director of Developer Experience (DX)

About Gradera Gradera is an enterprise AI company transforming how organizations work through human–AI collaboration. Our Neural IQ™ platform powers intelligent digital workers that think, plan, and execute with enterprise-grade governance, security, and reliability. Through our PhiSphere™ solution suites, we help enterprises optimize value chains, accelerate innovation, and deliver measurable outcomes. At Gradera, we believe the future isn’t automated—it’s intelligent. Director of Developer Experience (DX) Reports to: Chief Product Officer Employment Type: Full Time Work Location This role is fully remote and open to candidates across all 50 U.S. states. If you're located in the Greater Denver, Colorado area, you’ll also have optional access to our office in the Denver Tech Center (DTC). Overview A Director of Developer Experience (DX) is a critical leadership role that focuses on improving the productivity, satisfaction, and engagement of both internal and external developers. This is achieved by optimizing the tools, platforms, documentation, and overall journey developers take when building on or with a company's technology. Job Summary We are seeking a highly impactful, technically savvy, and strategic Director of Developer Experience (DX) to lead our efforts in making our developer practices and experiences world-class. You will own the entire end-to-end experience for our engineering teams, from initial service creation to deployment and observability. This role is crucial for ensuring speed, quality, and a low-friction experience across the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). Key Responsibilities DX Strategy and Leadership • Define and articulate a compelling vision and multi-year strategy for the overall Developer Experience, ensuring alignment with company-wide business and technology goals. • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of platform, infrastructure, and tools engineers focused exclusively on developer enablement. • Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) like developer satisfaction (DSAT), lead time for changes, deployment frequency, and mean time to recovery (MTTR) to drive continuous improvement (DORA performance metrics). Core Platform Ownership: Backstage.io • Own the strategy and implementation of Backstage.io as the central "single pane of glass" for all developer workflows. • Manage the Backstage Services Catalog to accurately reflect all microservices, APIs, and components. • Design and implement interactive developer assistance and self-service capabilities within Backstage to guide engineers through complex processes (e.g., security review, systems and tools access, etc.). • Drive the adoption of Backstage Templates for service creation, streamlining the process workflow from idea to deployment. Development Lifecycle Automation • Repository (Repo) Management: Establish and enforce best practices, standards, and tooling for code repository management (e.g., naming conventions, branch protection rules, automated auditing). • CI/CD Pipeline Templating and Management: Design, build, and maintain reusable CI/CD pipeline templates (e.g., using GitHub ) that standardize build, test, security scanning, and deployment steps across the organization. • Oversee the automation and governance of the entire deployment process, minimizing manual steps and ensuring compliance checks are integrated into the pipeline. Infrastructure Automation and Requisitioning • Infrastructure Templating: Own the strategy for Infrastructure as Code (IaC), ensuring robust, standardized, and reusable modules for infrastructure components (e.g., Terraform modules, Pulumi components, HELM templates). • Develop a self-service infrastructure requisitioning process in backstage.io, enabling developers to provision development and staging environments quickly and safely, with guardrails and cost controls in place. • Manage the tooling and automation necessary to maintain consistency between declared infrastructure templates and the running environment state. Required Qualifications • 7+ years of experience in software engineering, DevOps, Platform Engineering, or a related field. • 3+ years of experience in a technical leadership role (Manager or Director) leading platform or developer tools teams. • Deep, hands-on experience with Backstage.io including plugin development, catalog integration, and template creation. • Proven expertise in designing and managing automated CI/CD pipelines and templating solutions at scale. • Expertise in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi, HELM) and cloud service providers (AWS, Azure, or GCP). • Strong understanding of modern software architecture principles, including microservices, containers (Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes). • Highly proficient in DNS and registry governance and management. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical strategy to both engineering teams and executive leadership. Preferred Qualifications • Prior experience in a Developer Relations (DevRel) or internal developer advocacy role. • Experience implementing a FinOps or cloud cost management strategy within developer workflows. • Familiarity with governance and security tools integrated into the SDLC (e.g., static analysis, vulnerability scanning). • A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field. Employee Benefits at Gradera At Gradera, we’re committed to supporting our team. Here’s how we invest in your well-being, growth, and future: Comprehensive Health Coverage — 100% Company-Paid We take care of your health so you can focus on what matters. Gradera covers 100% of your medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums. No hidden fees. No fine print. Just full coverage. Paid Time Off We believe in rest and recharge—paid holidays and PTO are part of the package. Remote-First Flexibility Work from wherever you feel most productive. As a remote-first company, we champion flexibility, autonomy, and a healthy work-life balance. Your desk is wherever you want it to be. 401(k) Retirement Savings Your future matters. We offer access to a 401(k) retirement plan to help you build long-term financial security—starting now. Compensation: The final salary for this role will be determined based on a combination of factors including relevant experience, performance during interviews, and results from applicable assessments. This position is bonus eligible. Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) Statement Gradera provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Application Instructions & Deadline • How to Apply: To be considered, please complete the job application for the role you're interested in via our careers page. • Deadline: Applications are accepted until role is filled. • Questions: Contact us at tward@gradera.ai If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, just let us know—we’re happy to assist. Apply tot his job Apply To this Job