Director, Software Research and Engineering

We have an exciting opportunity for a Director, Software Research and Engineering at UL Research Institutes

The Director, Software Research and Engineering for the Digital Safety Research Institute (DSRI) leads the software research and development activities focused on creating frameworks for new, demonstrably safer digital products for consumers and for creating end-user digital safety auditing tools to support the scale and agility of commercial products used today. The Director forms partnerships with industry and the open-source community to determine DSRI’s role in creating safer digital products. The Director, Software Research and Engineering works closely with other leaders and colleagues across the UL research organizations to advance the growth of the institute.

Digital Safety Research Institute:

The Digital Safety Research Institute (DSRI) furthers UL Research Institutes’ public safety mission by addressing unresolved safety risks and emerging dangers in the world’s digital ecosystem. DSRI is committed to sharing digital safety insights, collaborating with key stakeholders, and offering extensive outreach and education to help support safer digital environments for people everywhere.

Underwriters Laboratories:

At UL Research Institutes (UL), we wake up every day with a common purpose: to make the world a safer, more secure and sustainable place. Science is in our DNA; we are endlessly curious and passionate about seeking and speaking the truth. We take delight in knowing that our work makes a meaningful contribution to society, and we are proud that our culture is centered on integrity, collaboration, inclusion and excellence. UL stands at the forefront of technological advancement, and we are continually challenged to find new ways to foster innovation and positive change. Satisfying? Yes. Exciting? Absolutely!

As the Director, Software Research and Engineering, you will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:

• Lead the research and engineering activities focused on building digital application frameworks that are demonstrably safer than existing frameworks.
• Establish partnerships in the open-source developer community to create components and frameworks for safer products. Collaborate with the safe digital product start-up community to assume that the developed frameworks can accelerate the creation of new safer digital products for consumers.
• Hire, lead, and develop a high-performing software research and development team to build the safer product frameworks in open-source.
• In collaboration with the Executive Director of DSRI, define key performance indicators (KPIs), focused on measurement adoption and its adoption by DevSecOps developers, from which the Threat Safety teams’ performance will be evaluated
• Manage the Digital Threats Research resources to ensure that deliverables, with desired KPIs, are implemented on time and within budget.
• Develop research proposals, budgets, and timelines for new projects that advance DSRI’s digital threat research mission
• Review proposals from research staff or from those applying for DSRI support and approve or reject them based on technical or analytical merit and feasibility of the project
• With our partners, deliver open-source safety measurement automation and measure the adoption rate of developers
• Communicate threat research findings to the public and other researchers in written and verbal forms, such as through published research papers or presentations at conferences
• Collaborate with DSRI leadership in strategic planning and the annual budget processes.

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:

• Expert knowledge in cloud and mobile application development, database management, and application testing automation.
• Practical knowledge of current DevSecOps and MLOps best practices to be applied to the product testing platforms and consumer tools the teams will develop.
• Problem solving skills with the ability to identify root causes, develop practical solutions, and work in collaboration with colleagues to address roadblocks to success.
• Leadership skills to create alignment and buy-in with multiple stakeholders and deliver results.
• Positive and collaborative attitude and interpersonal skills to work effectively with staff at any level across the organization.
• High degree of curiosity and a continuously learning mentality.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with enthusiasm to engage stakeholders with the mission and goals of the organization.
• Ability to operate at a strategic and operational level, including attention to detail, focus on quality, speed, and outcomes, and willingness to both lead the work and execute.

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, or other STEM discipline
• Minimum 10 years of experience with proven product engineering and deployment experience including experience in product testing.
• Experience managing and/or mentoring distributed software engineering teams including open-source developers

UL has COVID-19 protocols and policies in place to ensure the safety of our employees, customers and clients. Effective November 1, 2021, the company mandates that employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment (except where prohibited by law), subject to reasonable accommodation as required by law.

• Mission: For UL, corporate and social responsibility isn’t new. Making the world a safer, more secure and sustainable place has been our business model for the last 128 years and is deeply ingrained in everything we do.
• People: Ask any UL employee what they love most about working here, and you’ll almost always hear, “the people.” Going beyond what is possible is the standard at UL. We’re able to deliver the best because we employ the best.
• Interesting work: Every day is different for us here as we eagerly anticipate the next innovation that our customers’ create. We’re inspired to take on the challenge that will transform how people live, work and play. And as a global company, in many roles, you will get international experience working with colleagues around the world.
• Grow & achieve: We learn, work and grow together with targeted development, reward and recognition programs as well as our very own UL University that offers extensive training programs for employees at all stages, including a technical training track for applicable roles.
• Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagementare eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Additionally, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you can work with your manager on flexible working arrangements. We also provide employees with paid time off including vacation, holiday, sick and volunteer time off.

UL Research Institutes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.

Our wholly owned subsidiary, UL Solutions, advances our shared public safety mission. We fund our work through grants, the licensing of standards documents and the business activities of UL Solutions, which conducts testing, verification and certification, and provides training and advisory services, along with data-driven reporting and decision-making tools for customers around the world.

To learn more, visit our websites UL.org.