Engineering Director Jobs in Chicago, IL

Date: Aug 13, 2026

Location: CHICAGO, IL, US, 60661-4555

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Company: Grainger Businesses

Work Location Type: Remote

Req Number 333308

About Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. is a leading broad line distributor with operations primarily in North America and Japan. At Grainger, We Keep the World Working® by serving more than 4.6 million customers worldwide with maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and value-added solutions delivered through innovative technology and deep customer expertise. Known for its commitment to service and purpose-driven culture, the Company reported 2025 revenue of $17.9 billion. For more information, visit www.grainger.com.

Compensation

The anticipated base pay compensation range for this position is $180,200.00 – $300,300.00. This role is eligible for an incentive target of up to 25 % , based on the achievement of individual and company performance objectives in accordance with the current terms of the incentive program which are subject to change.

Rewards and Benefits

With benefits starting on day one, our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet team members' individual needs, including:

Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment and 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.
18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date) and 6 company holidays per year.
6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.
Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.

For additional information and details regarding Grainger’s benefits, please click on the link below:

https://experience100.ehr.com/grainger/Home/Tools-Resources/Key-Resources/New-Hire

Grainger Benefits

The pay range provided above is not a guarantee of compensation. The range reflects the potential base pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual base pay compensation will depend, in part, on factors such as geographic work location and relevant experience and skills.

The anticipated compensation range described above is subject to change and the compensation ultimately paid may be higher or lower than the range described above.

Grainger reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion at any time, consistent with applicable law.

Position Details

The Director, Product Software Engineering leads engineering teams responsible for delivering scalable, high‑quality product solutions in close partnership with Product and Architecture. This role drives engineering execution, develops strong engineering leadership, and ensures reliable delivery of customer and business outcomes through modern, sustainable technology practices.

You will lead a large, multi-team engineering organization responsible for managing tier 1 applications, customer identity, team member experiences, and complex data pipelines, all of which forms a foundational domain for Grainger and central to our strategy to know our customer better than anyone else.

This is a highly collaborative leadership role that partners closely with Product, Architecture, UX, ML, Data, and other Engineering domains.

Location

Chicago, IL is the preferred location with a hybrid work environment (2 days per week in the Merchandise Mart office). We will also consider highly qualified remote candidates who are willing to travel to Chicago for onboarding and occasional team meetings. Onsite onboarding will be required.

You Will

Lead and Develop Engineering Teams – manage and mentor; drive clarity and team charters, support hiring, onboarding and leadership development.
Drive Systems, Execution and Operational Excellence – establish strong engineering practices and operations reviews. Improve reliability, observability, and performance.
Operate as a Strategic Leader – partnering with other teams and stakeholders, facilitate cross-domain alignment.
Ensure shared understanding, alignment, and execution capability for domain objectives and decisions, and be a strong advocate for the right technology choices to optimize the tradeoffs between value and risk, optimizing for small feedback loops.
Nurture a culture of continuous improvement, using metrics and signals to identify opportunities.
Make forward progress in the face of ambiguity and organizational inertia.

You Have:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent, or equivalent experience required
10+ years engineering leadership experience, including managing managers required
Strong background in Agile, CI/CD, and cloud (AWS preferred)
Experience in data-intensive domains
Experience leading through change and modernization
Strong product thinking and experience working with product teams
Excellent communication and collaboration skills with both technical stakeholders (engineers, architects, managers) and non-technical stakeholders (product, UX, business)
Passion and a track record for developing leaders

Preferred:
Experience with governing data pipelines
History of building resilient systems, including team support and incident management processes

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.