Director of Research & Development Enterprise Software Platforms

Overview

We are seeking an accomplished Director of Research & Development to lead the execution of our next-generation Engineering Intelligence Platform and drive the transformation of our engineering organization. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of building high-performing software engineering organizations, leading pod-based concurrent engineering teams, and delivering innovative enterprise software products while successfully executing ambitious product roadmaps and New Product Introduction (NPI) milestones within challenging market timelines.

Keysight is at the forefront of technology innovation, delivering breakthroughs and trusted insights in electronic design, simulation, prototyping, test, manufacturing, and optimization. Our ~16,800 employees create world-class solutions in communications, 5G, automotive, energy, quantum, aerospace, defense, and semiconductor markets for customers in over 100 countries. Learn more about what we do.

Our award-winningculture embraces a bold vision of where technology can take us and a passion for tackling challenging problems with industry-first solutions. We believe that when people feel a sense of belonging, they can be more creative, innovative, and thrive at all points in their careers.

Responsibilities

About the role

Keysight’s Engineering Data Management (EDM) business is seeking an experienced R&D Director to lead the development and evolution of enterprise software products serving engineering workflows.

This role requires a leader with demonstrated success building and delivering customer-facing enterprise software across desktop/client and web-based platforms. You will lead an engineering organization responsible for complete products, spanning user interfaces, application services, APIs, data management, integrations, and software delivery.

The successful candidate will bring a sustained record of Director-level leadership, successful new product introductions, execution of ambitious product roadmaps, and measurable engineering organization transformation. Experience in semiconductor, electronic design automation (EDA), or closely related engineering software is strongly preferred.

What you will own

• Lead end-to-end engineering for enterprise software products, from technical strategy and architecture through development, validation, launch, customer deployment, and ongoing product evolution.
• Partner with product management and business leadership to translate customer needs and business priorities into executable roadmaps, clear investment decisions, and successful releases.
• Lead full-stack engineering across desktop/client applications, web frontends, backend services, APIs, data platforms, and integrations.
• Deliver new products from initial concept through first customer release and subsequent adoption, making effective tradeoffs among scope, schedule, architecture, quality, and staffing.
• Build and lead a strong engineering management team, with clear ownership, effective organizational structure, succession planning, and accountability for results.
• Assess and transform engineering organization design, skills, processes, and technical practices to improve delivery predictability, product quality, and execution capacity.
• Balance investment in new capabilities with architecture modernization, technical debt reduction, security, reliability, and support for existing customers.
• Own engineering outcomes and communicate progress, risks, tradeoffs, and corrective actions clearly to executive and cross-functional stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required experience

• At least 5 years of experience at Director level or equivalent organizational scope leading enterprise software product engineering, including direct management of engineering managers and multiple development teams.
• Substantial experience delivering customer-facing enterprise software products, with leadership experience spanning both desktop/client and web-based applications.
• Technical leadership across the full application stack, including frontend development, backend services, APIs, data persistence, integrations, and application architecture.
• End-to-end engineering accountability for a complete product or product portfolio, including architecture, development, release readiness, production or customer-deployed quality, and post-launch evolution.
• Demonstrated success leading at least one significant 0-to-1 enterprise software product or platform launch, from concept through external customer release, with evidence of adoption or business impact.
• A sustained record of delivering ambitious product roadmaps, including examples of resolving major technical, organizational, resource, or execution challenges.
• Demonstrated experience restructuring or transforming an engineering organization, with clear evidence of the changes personally led and the resulting improvements.
• Strong partnership with product management, customer-facing teams, and business leadership to connect engineering decisions to customer and business outcomes.

Experience primarily in embedded software, firmware, board-level or device software, telecom/network infrastructure, DevSecOps, internal developer platforms, or centralized engineering services does not, by itself, meet the enterprise software product ownership requirements of this role.

Preferred experience

• Direct experience developing software products for semiconductor design, EDA, or semiconductor engineering workflows.
• Experience with engineering data management, design data management, design collaboration, or other enterprise platforms used by technical engineering teams.
• Experience supporting complex engineering datasets, versioning, traceability, access control, and integration with engineering tools.
• Experience evolving established desktop/client products alongside web-based capabilities and connected enterprise services.
• Experience leading distributed engineering organizations and delivering products to demanding enterprise customers.

What to demonstrate in your application

Please make the following evidence explicit in your resume or accompanying application:

• Product ownership: The products you led, their users, the application stack, your engineering scope, team size, and management responsibilities.
• 0-to-1 delivery: A product you took from concept to external customer launch, your personal accountability, and the resulting adoption or business impact.
• Roadmap execution: A demanding roadmap or major new product introduction you delivered, including the obstacles and decisions that shaped the outcome.
• Organization transformation: A restructuring or transformation you personally led, explaining what changed and the measurable results.
• Domain relevance: Any experience with semiconductor, EDA, engineering data, or closely related technical software workflows.

Where exact metrics are confidential, approximate ranges or other concrete evidence of outcomes are welcome.

#LI-MO1

Santa Clara, CA: MIN $211,000.00 - MAX $351,000.00

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Note: For other locations, pay ranges will vary by region.

This role is eligible for Keysight's Variable Pay Bonus Program

US Employees may be eligible for the following benefits:

• Medical, dental and vision
• Health Savings Account
• Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life, Accident, Disability insurance
• Business Travel Accident and Business Travel Health
• 401(k) Plan
• Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays
• Paid Family Leave
• Discounts, Perks
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Adoption Assistance
• ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan)
• Restricted Stock Units

Careers Privacy Statement***Keysight is an Equal Opportunity Employer.***