Vice President of Engineering (VP Engineering)

Position Overview

We are seeking an accomplished and visionary Vice President of Engineering (VP Engineering) to lead and scale the engineering organization, drive technical strategy, and ensure the successful delivery of high-quality, scalable, and secure software products. This role is responsible for overall engineering execution, team leadership, architecture oversight, and alignment of technology initiatives with business goals.

The ideal candidate is a proven engineering executive with deep technical expertise, strong leadership experience, and a track record of building and scaling high-performing engineering teams in fast-paced, product-driven environments.

Location Requirement

To support executive leadership collaboration and organizational alignment, candidates must currently reside in one of the following metropolitan areas in the United States:

• Dallas

• Houston

• Austin

• Atlanta

• Jacksonville

• Miami

• Nashville

• Charlotte

• Phoenix

Candidates outside of these locations will not be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute the overall engineering vision, strategy, and roadmap

• Align engineering priorities with company business objectives and product goals

• Lead architecture direction for scalable, secure, and high-performance systems

• Establish engineering standards, processes, and best practices across teams

• Drive technical excellence, innovation, and long-term platform evolution

Team Leadership & Organizational Scaling

• Lead, mentor, and grow engineering teams across multiple domains

• Hire, develop, and retain high-performing engineering talent

• Build organizational structure, including Engineering Managers, Staff Engineers, and Senior Engineers

• Foster a strong engineering culture focused on ownership, accountability, and excellence

• Drive performance management, coaching, and leadership development

Software Delivery & Execution

• Oversee end-to-end software development lifecycle (SDLC)

• Ensure timely and high-quality delivery of engineering projects

• Improve engineering velocity, efficiency, and predictability

• Establish metrics for engineering performance and delivery health

• Manage trade-offs between scope, quality, and timelines

Architecture, Infrastructure & Scalability

• Guide system architecture decisions for distributed, cloud-native systems

• Ensure scalable, reliable, and secure infrastructure design

• Oversee cloud strategy across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP

• Collaborate with Platform, DevOps, and SRE teams on infrastructure evolution

• Ensure systems are designed for high availability and performance at scale

Security, Compliance & Reliability

• Ensure engineering practices align with security and compliance requirements

• Promote secure-by-design principles across all engineering teams

• Oversee system reliability, uptime, and operational excellence initiatives

• Partner with Security teams on risk management and governance

• Ensure adherence to industry standards (SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST, etc.)

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Product, Design, Data, Security, and Business leadership

• Translate business strategy into technical execution plans

• Collaborate with executive leadership on company-wide priorities

• Participate in board-level and executive discussions on technology strategy

• Communicate engineering progress, risks, and opportunities to stakeholders

Innovation & Technology Strategy

• Drive adoption of modern technologies and engineering practices

• Lead AI, cloud, and platform transformation initiatives where applicable

• Identify opportunities for automation and operational efficiency

• Oversee research, experimentation, and innovation programs

• Shape long-term technical vision and enterprise architecture direction

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

• 12+ years of software engineering experience

• 5+ years in engineering leadership roles (Director, Senior Director, or VP-level)

• Proven experience leading large, distributed engineering teams

• Strong technical background in software architecture and distributed systems

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

• Deep understanding of software development lifecycle and agile methodologies

• Strong leadership, communication, and executive presence

• Experience scaling engineering organizations in high-growth environments

• Must currently reside in one of the approved locations listed above

Preferred (Nice-to-Have)

• Experience in SaaS, fintech, enterprise software, or high-scale consumer platforms

• Background in platform engineering, DevOps, or infrastructure leadership

• Experience leading AI/ML, data engineering, or cloud transformation initiatives

• Familiarity with modern architectures (microservices, event-driven systems, serverless)

• Experience with regulatory or highly secure environments

• Track record of successful large-scale system modernization efforts

• Experience working with executive teams and board-level stakeholders

• Strong financial acumen for budgeting, forecasting, and engineering investment planning

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Engineering Execution

• On-time and high-quality delivery of engineering initiatives

• Engineering velocity and predictability metrics

• Reduction in production incidents and system failures

• Technical debt reduction and system modernization progress

Organizational Performance

• Engineering team growth, retention, and engagement

• Hiring velocity and talent quality

• Leadership development and team maturity

• Organizational scalability and structure effectiveness

System Performance & Reliability

• System uptime and availability

• Performance, scalability, and latency improvements

• Incident response effectiveness (MTTR, MTTD)

• Infrastructure stability and resilience metrics

Business Impact

• Alignment of engineering output with business objectives

• Revenue impact and product delivery contribution

• Cost optimization and engineering efficiency gains

• Successful execution of strategic initiatives

Reporting To

• Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

• Chief Operating Officer (COO)

• Board of Directors (in some organizations)

Employment Type & Work Setup

• Full-Time

• Remote (Candidates must reside in approved locations)

• Hybrid opportunities may be available depending on organizational needs

• Occasional travel for executive meetings, planning sessions, and leadership offsites

• Executive-level responsibilities with high visibility across the organization

Work Environment & Conditions

• Executive leadership environment with high strategic impact

• Responsibility for large-scale engineering organization performance

• Close collaboration with C-level executives and board stakeholders

• Fast-paced, growth-oriented, and transformation-driven organization

• Strong focus on scalability, innovation, execution, and operational excellence

• Opportunity to shape company-wide technology direction and engineering culture