VP, eCommerce R&D

Descartes Unites the People and Technology that Move the World
The need for efficient, secure, and agile supply chains and logistics operations has become ever more critical and complex. By combining innovative technology, powerful trade intelligence and the reach of our network, Descartes helps get goods, information, transportation assets, and people where they're needed, when they're needed.

We're one of the most broadly deployed logistics and supply chain technology companies in the world. More than 22,000 customers around the globe use our cloud-based solutions to transform the way they move inventory and information to enhance productivity, better serve customers, thrive competitively, keep pace with evolving regulations, and respond to rapidly changing market conditions. Descartes is publicly traded (Nasdaq:DSGX, TSX:DSG) with headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and offices and partners around the world. With record financial performance for more than 16 years, we lead the industry in innovation investment. Every day, logistics service providers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and other logistics-intensive businesses of all sizes rely on our scale, stability, and comprehensive solution footprint to move what's most important to them. Learn more at

We're growing fast and invite you to join our amazing team.

Reporting to the EVP Information Systems, our Innovations team is seeking a Vice President, Software Development to lead an international team of talented developers building our eCommerce solutions. This is an exciting opportunity to drive our direction as you become entrenched in the subject matter and provide the development team with staff management, mentorship, and oversight. Owning the technical strategy, delivery, and quality, you will ensure client expectations are met, executive leaders are aware of project milestones, identify key business opportunities, and provide overall business development and operational support through planning, budgeting, and key reporting.

You are a thorough and thoughtful communicator who keeps stakeholders informed. You are highly organized, have a strong track record for hiring, high performance standards, nurturing and retaining great engineering teams.

What's in it for you

Exposure and influence: You are looking for an opportunity to join a growing company solving global problems with cutting-edge solutions. You will be the primary leader for the development of Descartes' eCommerce solutions.

• Real-World Impact: You will directly impact the lives of our customers by solving real-world problems. The global logistics landscape is fraught with outdated, fragmented technology and your work directly helps ecommerce merchants compete, survive and thrive.

• Exposure and Influence: You are the driving force for ecommerce product development. We have no shortage of opportunities and challenges to tackle - integrating acquired products, introducing new products, centralizing shared services to reduce overhead and scale efficiently. You will be a conduit of change.

• Do it at scale: We help customers move billions of dollars of products around the world. For our customers, performance is not an option, it is an expectation. You will delight customers with high quality, performant products and have the opportunity to do it at true scale (and we're just getting started!).

• Professional advancement. At Descartes, we value the contributions that each of our employees makes towards achieving our corporate goals. We strive to ensure that each team member has the tools and support they need to make valuable contributions. You will have the chance to collaborate with, learn from, and be an active contributor amongst globally recognized industry leaders who pride themselves in delivering quality services and market-leading innovations.

What you will do:

Build and manage a world class development team at all levels. Oversee multiple product lines and development teams. Help engineering managers, team leads and individuals grow their skills and experience. Measure and improve the happiness, quality and delivery of the R&D team.

Lead the execution of strategic initiatives. You will apply your in-depth knowledge and skills to provide technical oversight across systems and applications, prioritizing our product development strategy. You will manage resources and technological objectives to deliver on business and financial goals. You will ensure all development engagements are completed as proposed and quality is achieved.Advise senior leaders. You will be the first point of contact, operate at a group and enterprise-wide level, and serve as a specialist with insights and analytics to inform and guide decision-makers and stakeholders.

• Continuous improvement. You will assess our current state, Agile processes, and tools, to recommend automations, improvements, updates, and re-align our development strategies with the organizational goals. You will stay on top of technology trends and developments, and market position.

• Manage our agile product development processes. You will work with the Product Managers and Principal Architects to help plan product roadmaps and delivery schedules. You will review and analyze proposed technical solutions for projects. You will manage multiple application development teams to accomplish established goals and conduct personnel duties for the teams.

What you bring:

• The education and experience. You have a degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or the equivalent work experience. You have 10 years of progressive experience in software development and delivery, leading and working with an Agile team on cloud-based solutions across the SDLC.

• The technical skills. You have hands-on experience with tools like Azure DevOps, GIT, Azure pipelines, .NET, .NET Core, PHP, SQL, XML, JSON, HTML, JavaScript, and REST/SOAP web services.

• The drive. You are tenacious and have finely tuned troubleshooting abilities, diving into problems, analyzing situations, and innovating solutions. You continuously pursue new technologies and can quickly learn new tools. You have exposure to Artificial Intelligence tools and development.

• The people leadership. You can coordinate work for a cross-functional team,remove roadblocks, manage conflict, and identify gaps in skills and resources to effectively manage the team's work. You practice active listening and empathetic engagement across diverse perspectives.

• The interpersonal skills. You have excellent oral, written, and presentation skills. You can build strong internal and external relationships and can engage stakeholders at all levels, translating technical concepts into nontechnical language.

Salary Range: $150,000 to $160, 000 USD plus short and long term Incentive plan "Compensation information provided is a good faith estimate for this position only. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include your specific skills as well as the years of experience you have. Similar positions located in different geographic regions will not necessarily receive the same compensation."

Location: This is an opportunity open to applicants authorized to work in Canada or United States. #LI-Remote

Join Us
As we scale, we're looking for new doers, collaborators and innovators to join Descartes in uniting the people and technology that move the world as the Global Leader in Logistics and Supply Chain Technology. We're entrepreneurial, hardworking, geeky-in-a-good way problem solvers. Guided by our values, we nurture a TEAM focused culture that invests in people and creates opportunities for advancement across a broad spectrum of career paths. We prioritize work-life balance and foster an environment with the space to take ownership, to be heard, and to carve a path for your individual accomplishments to help drive our success.

Descartes also has a deep sense of environmental responsibility. Learn more about how we helped our customers save over 552,000 metric tons of CO2 in 2020 by reducing fuel and paper consumption: .Join a team that's committed to working with customers to conserve resources and enhance sustainability.

At Descartes, everyone has a voice and the best idea wins, regardless of who makes it. We offer competitive compensation, great benefits, remote and flexible work hours, and the opportunity to join a company on an awesome mission with a great existing team and trajectory. If you feel you have 70% of the qualifications we are looking for, and Descartes sounds like the team and the mission you want to be part of, apply now. We can't promise it will be a fit, but we do promise to consider your experience.

Through COVID-19, we implemented a virtual hiring process and continue to interview and onboard candidates by video using Microsoft TEAMS. We record interviews and use them strictly for quality assurance, training and general record keeping purposes. Should you have any questions about this process, please connect with our hiring team in advance of scheduled interviews. We value the safety of each member of our community because we know we're all in this together.

We are an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please review our , , . Descartes participates in the E-Verify program. Please click below to learn more about the E-Verify program. .
Descartes is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. Applicants in North America with a disability who require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process can email us at hrna@descartes.com. Provide your name and contact information along with the accommodation needed to assist you with the application process. Your request will be responded to as soon as possible. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.