Director, Software Development

Mississauga, ON

What we're about

IMAX is not your everyday entertainment experience, so it's not surprising that IMAX employees and their careers go beyond the ordinary. Our employees share a passion for quality in everything they do. Our Hollywood people are movie business insiders with years of production experience. Our technology experts are unashamedly geeky – people who can talk for hours, and be riveting, about color gamut and lasers. Our business people are consummate sales and marketing professionals who are spreading the IMAX word around the world.

Of course, we offer all the benefits you'd expect from a company with over 50 years of history. Yet, beyond this, we know everyone works differently and is motivated by different things. That's why we offer competitive pay and a wide assortment of benefits – to help you make the most of your life at work and away from it.

As the world's leading entertainment technology company, IMAX has revolutionized the way people experience movies. Specializing in immersive motion picture technologies, our employees are driven by a passion to take audiences around the world to places they've only dreamed of.

Come explore IMAX – where innovation, creativity and passion come together.

Who we need

As our new Director, Software Development, you will lead multiple software solution and application development teams and their "front-of-house, audience-facing" work. You will lead the design of software of all new in-theater products as well as overseeing our cloud-based media processing platform. Finally, you will ensure all back-end technology utilized is compatible with other initiatives such as mobile app and web site development.

If you share a passion for hands-on participation in software development (coding reviews, architecture influencing), continuous learning, mentorship, and project planning, our Director, Software Development role can offer you the best of all worlds.

What's in it for you

Inspiration. You are passionate about the art and science of movies and want a role at an organization that inspires, a place where you will be able to literally see the efforts of your work on the big screen.

Ignition. We are on the leading edge of the theatrical experience while at the same time expanding the boundaries of our brand into in-home entertainment and streaming as well as out-of-home live and interactive events. You want to take on the challenges of an ever-changing environment at an organization that is evolving to go beyond movies, expand your own knowledge, and nurture a team's skills.

Involvement. You want to bring your lived experience and insights to balance new and continuous improvement initiatives, including optimizing department processes, software data management systems and development tools. This is a progressive, highly visible role with the potential to shine as a genuine leader, influencing our present and our future as you grow and coach the next generation of IMAX engineers.[ME1]

What you'll be doing:

Spearhead. You will lead the work involving massively parallel cloud-agnostic architectures. You will identify and implement solutions to enhance software development tools. You will create requirement specifications, develop project plans, including estimations of time and resources, and support the team on delivery according to plan, following formal Agile and CI/CD methodologies. You will provide technical expertise and direction including creating an innovative work environment with a bias for action. You will create and maintain a culture of continuous improvement reaching across software deliverables, team accomplishments and collaboration, and individual performance and growth. You will foster a culture of mentorship, confidence and creativity that empowers your team to achieve their best, meet business objectives, and challenges the status quo.
Lead cross functional collaboration. You will partner with Hardware Development to manage software changes to support new and existing hardware-based products. You will coordinate with other teams (Hardware, DevOps, Manufacturing, QA, Technical Support and Installation) to resolve hardware, software and system issues. You will liaise with other managers to communicate information, resolve problems, and identify corporate priorities.
Manage software projects. You will track and report progress on a regular basis, provide guidance to teams, prioritize work, review tests and ensure deliverables and approvals. You will review products and processes to ensure the implementation of enhancements and prepare project analysis and recommendations. You will manage outsourcing contracts, including specifications, selection of contractors and service contracts as needed.

What we're looking for:

The passion. You have a love of blockbuster movies and the next stage of in-theater entertainment. You want to play a role bringing incredible IMAX experiences to life for global audiences.
The education and the experience. You have a university degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field. You have 10 + years of hands-on fullstack coding experience and 5+ years of managing a small – medium team of developers focused on fullstack application development and exceptional experience with code reuse, encapsulation and modularization. You have experience developing and deploying highly scalable cloud solutions and a proven history of utilizing CI/CD to improve efficiencies.
The knowledge. You have an in-depth understanding of, and experience with all phases of the software development life cycle in an Agile environment and the introduction of software products into Manufacturing or Internet-delivered global scale Production. You have extensive technical knowledge of:
The design and deployment of complex cloud-based systems preferably in AWS environments.
System architecture design, programming languages (C++, Node, Python, Java), formal software
design methodologies (OOP, MVC) and code validation techniques (white box, black box).
Software configuration management and revision control strategies and tools, i.e. git.
Computer and electronic hardware, specifically as related to the hardware/software interface.
The leadership. You are a strategic and analytical thought leader. You can expertly take a big picture approach to system and application design based on in-depth business requirements analysis without losing track of the short and long-term impact. You have experience managing projects from end-to-end, including evaluating vendors and partners, budgeting, resource allocation, setting up deliverables and communicating progress. You are results-driven, continuously seeking opportunities to optimize technical performance. You have outstanding decision-making skills and can pivot your approach based on metrics and changing needs. You understand the impact of technology (cost, timing, performance) on business theory, business processes, management, budgeting, and business office operations.
The interpersonal skills. You can inspire and guide the work of a team, providing insights and mentorship to elevate individual performance and group effectiveness. You can plan and present strategic recommendations to C-level audiences and effectively communicate with fast-paced, highly cross-functional teams with multiple stakeholders.

Our Commitment to you:

At IMAX you'll be part of a culture built on respect - one that recognizes the unique talents of everyone on the team. We're proud of the differences that make us all unique and we support unity, acceptance and equal rights for all. Diversity and inclusion among our employees are critical to our success as a global company.

If you feel you can make a contribution to our growth and success, and you have 70% of the qualifications we are looking for, we encourage you to apply. While we can't make any guarantees, we will review your submission in full. Express your interest here. We thank all applicants for their interest in IMAX but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Before you start with IMAX, all employment is subject to background and reference checks. Additionally, our US employees are subject to our mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policy.

IMAX is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.