Vice-President, Engineering

About Us

Softdrive is a VC-backed startup putting the PC into the cloud. Our mission is to enable incredible computer interaction, prioritizing end user-experience over all else. We’re solving the pains of legacy VDI without the complexity or cost that has defined the industry for decades.

Our solution is 5x faster, 50% less expensive, and deploys 80% faster than legacy industry players. We deliver the lowest total cost of ownership in the market, handle GPU- and CPU-intensive workloads at scale, and eliminate the burden of physical hardware. We build and stream VMs to any device, across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments, so teams can stay productive from anywhere without being constrained by their hardware. We’re proud to build in partnership with Oracle, NVIDIA, and Autodesk.

Joining Softdrive means working on hard infrastructure problems that actually matter, at a company early enough that your work shapes the product, the team, and the culture. We move fast, operate with high ownership, and are building something the industry's biggest players haven't been able to crack.

About the Role

Softdrive is at an inflection point. We have a working product, a growing enterprise customer base, and a lean but capable engineering team. The market for virtual computing is growing fast, and we are well-positioned to capture it. What we need now is the technical leader who can help us figure out how to win: what to build, in what order, and how to build it well.

Softdrive is looking for a VP of Engineering to own technical leadership across our four engineering teams. You will set the technical direction, shape the long-term roadmap, and ensure the teams are aligned and executing effectively.

This role requires genuine technical depth across all layers of our product, from remote desktop protocols and management plane to virtualization, and across the underlying infrastructure: networking, storage, compute, and security. You will make architecture calls, drive build-vs-buy decisions, and be the technical authority the team rallies around.

Strategic Leadership Responsibilities

• Define and own the long-term technical roadmap, including evaluating and recommending strategic directions such as app delivery and expanded deployment models
• Serve as a thought partner to the CEO and PM on prioritization, especially for complex or contentious decisions
• Translate business and product goals into a coherent technical plan; surface trade-offs and resource constraints clearly
• Lead vendor and technology evaluations; make or recommend build-vs-buy decisions in partnership with the CEO
• Lead, retain, and grow the engineering org; own hiring for technical roles
• Drive engineering velocity and reliable delivery: own the cadence, processes, and bottleneck removal that keep the team shipping consistently
• Represent the engineering perspective with conviction, but know how and when to disagree and commit

Technical Leadership Responsibilities

• Connect the dots across our four engineering teams: Remote Desktop Protocol, Management Plane, Virtualization, and Infrastructure
• Make architecture calls and be the final decision-maker when there is technical tension or misalignment across teams
• Ensure our technical foundations – networking, security, storage, compute – are sound and scalable, both on cloud and in the data centre
• Own the engineering security and compliance posture for current and future certifications, ensuring the product and infrastructure meet enterprise customer requirements
• Set engineering standards: code review practices, guidelines, and technical culture
• Own technical documentation and architecture decisions; contribute to knowledge sharing
• Be present and hands-on during critical incidents or production issues, engaging technically, not just managing from a distance

About You

Requirements & Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience designing and scaling cloud infrastructure and distributed systems, including significant time in a senior technical leadership role
• Background in industries where real-time, low-latency, high-performance delivery is a core requirement, such as VDI, Gaming, Media & Entertainment, or live streaming
• Deep expertise in cloud and data centre infrastructure, spanning networking, storage, compute, and security
• Proven ability to define technical strategy and translate it into execution at an engineering org level
• Proven track record of scaling engineering infrastructure and teams in early-stage startups through significant growth
• Demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and retain high-performing engineering team
• Experience evaluating and managing relationships with technology vendors, cloud providers, and infrastructure partners
• Experience with enterprise security and compliance frameworks, including SOC 2, GDPR, and PCI DSS

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with virtual desktop and app virtualization technologies and architectures
• Experience managing distributed or remote-first engineering teams
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, including executive and commercial audiences
• Familiarity with enterprise sales cycles and the ability to engage credibly with customers and prospects on technical topics
• Existing network within the Canadian technology ecosystem
• Exposure to HIPAA, CMMC, or FedRAMP frameworks