About Bound

We believe an athletic director's job is one of the most critical in a community: to shape the lives and experiences of student-athletes. But as we listened, we learned that with dwindling budgets and growing responsibilities, they’ve had no choice but to spend more time managing logistics than leading their teams and programs. After countless conversations, we gained a deep understanding of their challenges, from handling transactions to managing schedules and tracking results.

This insight was the catalyst for Bound. We created an all-in-one platform to give ADs back their time. With our OneSchedule Technology at its core, our platform integrates essential tools like Activity Registration, Tickets and Passes, and 20+ additional solutions. Today, Bound empowers schools across the country to manage every aspect of their athletics and activities, all within a single, unified solution.

We're not just a software company; we are a team made up of former athletic directors, administrators, coaches, parents, and fans. We all share one core belief: in the power of youth sports and activities to positively impact communities and the people who live in them.

About the Role

We are looking for a Director of Engineering to lead critical areas of our platform, including internal

systems and foundational platform services that support everything our customers do.

This is not a maintenance role. This is a build, scale, and systemize role.

Bound is growing quickly, and this position will play a major role in shaping how our platform evolves over

the next 3–5 years—both in terms of technical architecture and engineering organization.

You will work directly with the Engineering team leadership to define and execute platform strategy, while

building and leading multiple engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Organizational Build-Out

• Lead and grow a high-performing team of engineers across key areas of the platform
• Design and evolve team structure—from a small group into a multi-team organization
• Own hiring strategy, recruiting, and onboarding as we scale
• Set clear expectations, accountability, and performance standards
• Mentor engineers and emerging leaders to build internal leadership depth
• Help attract and retain high-caliber builders who want to create something meaningful

Product & Platform Ownership

• You will own critical areas of the platform that power how our customers operate, including:
• Administrative and internal systems
• Event, scheduling, and operational workflows
• Registration and activity management
• Platform services that support data, workflows, and integrations
• Your focus will be to:
• Build scalable, flexible systems across a wide range of use cases
• Improve usability, reliability, and configurability
• Partner closely with product and operations teams to solve real customer problems

Platform & Systems Thinking

• Design systems that are extensible and configurable, not one-off solutions
• Balance flexibility with simplicity—our users have complex needs, but the product must remain intuitive
• Ensure data integrity and consistency across the platform
• Build systems that scale across organizations, regions, and use cases

Technical Strategy

• Partner directly with the Engineering team leadership on architecture and long-term technical direction
• Help drive key initiatives, including:
• • Microservices architecture evolution
  • AWS infrastructure scaling
  • Docker / Kubernetes adoption
  • PostgreSQL and data platform evolution
• Make decisions that improve long-term maintainability, scalability, and performance

Execution & Delivery

• Ensure teams are shipping consistently and at a high level
• Remove blockers, simplify complexity, and maintain momentum
• Hold a high bar for quality, reliability, and system correctness
• Balance speed with long-term sustainability

Required Qualifications

• Experience leading and scaling engineering teams (ideally multiple teams)
• Strong systems thinking—you’ve built platforms, not just features
• Ability to operate at both high-level strategy and low-level detail
• Proven track record of delivering in a growing or scaling environment
• Experience with modern backend architectures (microservices, cloud infrastructure, distributed systems)
• Strong collaboration with product, operations, and executive leadership
• High ownership mindset—you take responsibility for outcomes, not just output

Work Hours & Flexibility

Bound does not operate on a traditional “routine” workweek. When work needs to be done, we collaborate to get it done — whether that’s in the morning, afternoon, evening, or occasionally on weekends.

At the same time, Bound supports flexibility for personal needs, family events, appointments, and time to recharge. Employees are trusted to manage their schedules while meeting deadlines and delivering high‑quality work.

Work Location

Bound supports in-office, remote and hybrid work. Some roles may require on‑site presence depending on team needs and responsibilities. Location expectations for this role: Ames, IA / Hybrid

Why Join Bound?

Bound Core Values:

• Moments Matter – We work for moment creators.
• Hands On. Hands In. – We live these problems and live to solve them.
• You Are Unusual – Everyone was given remarkable gifts. We want to see those in action.
• We Figure It Out – We don’t dwell on a problem or issue, we work together and figure it out.
• Learn It Alls – We are learn it alls, not know it alls

Benefits:

• Flexible work hours
• Flexible time off / PTO as needed
• 11 Holidays annually
• Retirement savings - up to 3% match
• Medical, dental and vision with employer contribution

Bound is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status.  Bound is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us.