Johnson Controls Inc (JCI) is a global diversified technology and multi industrial leader serving a wide range of customers in more than 150 countries, with over 117,000 employees, JCI creates intelligent buildings, efficient energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation transportation systems that work seamlessly together to deliver on the promise of smart cities and communities. Their commitment to sustainability dates back to their roots in 1885, with the invention of the first electric room thermostat. JCI is committed to helping their customers win and creating greater value for all of their stakeholders through strategic focus on their buildings and energy growth platforms. For additional information, please visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow them @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

As a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, JCI has one of the largest security portfolios in the world, growing exponentially, with recent acquisitions of advanced security systems and integration brands like Qolsys and Esotec. Together with its other intrusion brands: DSC (Digital Security Controls), Bentel, Sur-Gard, and Visonic, JCI Security offers everything from access controls to intruder prevention, from video surveillance to cybersecurity. They leverage the latest technologies to integrate their products and services into comprehensive, holistic solutions. They maximize safety, improve efficiency and ensure business continuity, while at the same time innovating continuously to offer leading-edge solutions.

The security business of JCI designs, manufactures and markets intrusion and access video security products for a global security market for both commercial and residential markets. It has 2,000 employees who are located in R&D engineering (largest design centre being in Toronto, Canada), supply chain, manufacturing and sales facilities in N. Ireland, UK, Italy, U.S., Canada, India and China. With globally recognized brands and quality security products to protect people and property, they have historically developed some of the world's most technologically advanced intrusion, video, access control, and real-time tracking solutions, providing a competitive advantage to the company when it comes to system integration.

The vision of Johnson Controls is a world that’s “safe, comfortable and sustainable”—and their broad set of innovative security products and services focuses on what is needed to make people, facilities and assets safe. Aligned with this umbrella vision of JCI, its Security business is dedicated to achieve the most current ISO quality assurance standards and superior product efficiency, performance and reliability. They continue to expand their global footprint and build on a comprehensive portfolio of patents to maintain their leadership position in the marketplace.

For more information, please go to the official website:

https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/security

What you will do
Johnson Controls is seeking an experienced and visionary Senior Software Director to lead the strategic direction, development, and delivery of our software solutions. As a key member of the leadership team, you will oversee multiple software engineering teams, drive innovation, and ensure that our technology initiatives align with the organization’s overall business objectives. The ideal candidate has extensive technical expertise, leadership experience, and a proven ability to deliver high-quality software at scale. We prefer to have this individual onsite at our Concord, ON, facility, but can also be based out of the Milwaukee, WI, region and/or Westford, MA, area.

How you will do it

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the software development strategy for our IoT-enabled building security products, including control panels, security sensors, life safety detectors, automation devices.

• Collaborate with executive leadership to prioritize and deliver on technology roadmaps.

• Work closely with product managers, hardware teams, cybersecurity experts, and other cross-functional teams to refine system requirements.

• Stay ahead of industry trends in IoT security, AI-powered surveillance, and cloud-based monitoring solutions.

Team Management and Development

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of software managers, architects, and engineers to achieve excellence.

• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• Recruit, retain, and develop top-tier talent, building a high-performing and diverse team.

Management and Delivery

• Oversee the planning, execution, and delivery of complex software projects on time and within budget.

• Implement best practices in agile methodologies, DevOps, and software development lifecycles.

• Promote agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) for rapid iteration and continuous improvement.

• Ensure robust quality assurance, testing, and deployment processes.

• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure software performance, security, and user experience.

Technical Oversight

• Provide architectural guidance for scalable, secure, and maintainable software solutions.

• Review and approve technical designs, ensuring alignment with industry standards and business requirements.

• Drive the adoption of cutting-edge tools, technologies, and frameworks.

• Design and develop scalable, secure, and real-time IoT security platforms, ensuring seamless integration between edge devices, mobile apps, and cloud infrastructure.

• Oversee the implementation of secure communication protocols (MQTT, Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave, including our proprietary PowerG protocol amongst other) for real-time alerts and remote monitoring.

• Optimize edge processing for real-time event detection, AI-powered anomaly detection, and intelligent automation.

• Drive best practices in DevOps, CI/CD, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and cloud orchestration.

• Implement industry-leading cybersecurity measures to protect against vulnerabilities like unauthorized access, data breaches, and hacking attempts.

• Lead efforts in secure OTA firmware updates, encryption, authentication, and role-based access controls.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Act as a key liaison between technical teams, product management, and business stakeholders.

• Communicate technical concepts and progress effectively to non-technical audiences.

• Manage relationships with external vendors, partners, and third-party providers.

Operational Excellence

• Establish and monitor KPIs to measure software performance, team productivity, and project success.

• Ensure compliance with regulatory and security requirements.

• Manage the software development budget, optimizing resources and investments.

What you will need
Required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

• 10+ years of experience in software development, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.

• Proven track record of managing large-scale software projects and distributed teams.

• Prior experience in developing and scaling building security or smart home automation products.

• Deep understanding of modern software development practices, tools, and technologies.

• Expertise in system architecture, embedded software, cloud computing, microservices, and APIs.

• Strong knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile methodologies.

• Deep expertise in IoT security platforms, including smart alarm systems.

• Programming experience in Linux, C, C++, Python, Java, for embedded systems and cloud applications.

• Hands-on experience with IoT cloud platforms (AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google Cloud IoT) and mobile app integration.

• Exceptional leadership and people management capabilities.

• Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills under pressure.

• Ability to inspire and drive organizational change.

• Ability to balance technical depth and business strategy to drive innovation and market success.

• Proven experience leading cross-functional software teams in IoT product development.

• Ability to balance technical depth and business strategy to drive innovation and market success.

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills for collaborating with executives, partners, and customers.

Preferred

• Experience in launching products that have embedded software in IOT space.

• Certifications in project management, cloud computing, or software architecture.

• Knowledge of Intrusion Security System environments including its regulation is an asset

• Knowledgeable in regulatory standards and its processes for certification such as; Wi-Fi, Zwave, Zigbee, Cellular, UL/ULc is an asset.

• Basic knowledge of analog and digital hardware, microcontrollers, microprocessors and DSP processors. 

• Product knowledge relating to security system.

• Experience with AI at the edge.