2NDNATURE | Director of Engineering (Player-Coach) | Santa Cruz, CA | ONSITE
About the role
2NDNATURE is a small SaaS company providing stormwater management software to municipalities and corporations. We have a mature product grounded in science, a solid customer base, and are at a technical inflection point. We are looking for our Director of Engineering to be a true "player-coach"—a hands-on leader who loves writing code (60% of the role) and mentoring a small team of developers. You will lead our transition into an AI-first platform, helping us adopt modern tools like Claude Code and Copilot to scale our capacity. The Role: Lead by example: Write code, review PRs, and establish engineering best practices (testing, CI/CD, SOC2). Collaborate: Work directly with the CEO and CPO. We value transparent decision-making over isolated technical dictation. Teach: Mentor our team on modern practices, system architecture and AI-assisted development. Requirements: -7+ years in software engineering with leadership experience. -Be in the Santa Cruz office 3 days per week. (office is a block from the beach). -Pragmatic builder who understands SaaS for regulated industries. How to Apply: Send resume and thoughtful cover letter to careers@2ndnaturewater.com. See full job description on careers page of our website www.2ndnaturewater.com