Director Engineering

We are looking for a strategic, people-first leader to guide one of our three key Engineering Pods through a transition to an AI-Native operational model.

You won’t be operating in isolation. You’ll be supported by a dedicated group of domain experts, including a Portfolio/FinOps Lead, Quality Engineering Lead, Architecture Lead, other Directors, and the VP team.

Your mandate is to bridge the gap between engineering potential and “business reality.” You will be the driving force that ensures our engineering teams don’t just “build tech,” but effectively deliver value through our AI-Native Strategy. You possess an AI Mindset, understanding that AI is not just a tool, but a new way of operating, and you have the strategic drive to push projects over the finish line.

What You’ll Do Here

1. Strategic Execution & “Getting Things Done”

• The Execution Engine: Your goal is to eliminate friction. You ensure that strategic initiatives (like moving to Agentic AI) don’t get stuck in “analysis paralysis” or endless PoCs, but move swiftly to production.
• Getting Things Moving
• Your focus is on keeping momentum and helping things progress. You support strategic initiatives (like moving toward Agentic AI) in moving beyond exploration and into real-world use, without teams getting stuck in over-analysis or endless PoCs.
• Problem Solving: You are the person who unblocks the team. When a project stalls due to cross-departmental misalignment or lack of resources, you proactively solve it.

2. Championing the AI Mindset & Culture

• AI Evangelism: You don’t need to know how to train a model, but you must understand what AI can do. You will challenge the status quo, asking: “Why are we doing this manually?” and “How can AI agents handle this workflow?”.
• People-First Leadership: You’ll support and coach Engineering Managers, promoting a “fail fast, fail forward” approach that encourages learning through experimentation, while maintaining strong ownership for delivery and ensuring knowledge scales beyond individuals.
• Change Management: You understand that AI transformation is 10% tech and 90% people. You will lead the organization through the cultural shift, managing fears of automation and turning them into excitement for high-value work.

3. AI Factory Economics & Governance

• Portfolio Management: Treat engineering initiatives as an investment portfolio. You will decide where we double down and where we cut losses based on data, not sentiment.
• FinOps & Value: You will own the “unit economics” of your Pod. It is your job to ensure that while we innovate, we are not burning cash unnecessarily. You will align technical costs with business value generated.
• Strategic Alignment: You are the translation layer between our vision and the engineering backlog.

What You’ll Bring to Us

• The “Finisher”: You have a proven track record of driving complex initiatives to successful completion. You thrive on structure and clarity.
• AI Mindset, Not Just Skillset: You are passionate and excited about the future of AI. You follow trends, you use AI tools daily to boost your own productivity. You see the big picture of where the world and industry are going.
• Strategic Thinker: You can zoom out to see the 3-year horizon and zoom in to solve a bottleneck today. Ideally, you understand business models, ROI, and competitive advantage.
• People-Oriented Leader: You lead through influence and empathy. You know how to motivate highly technical teams without needing to be the “smartest engineer in the room.” You value talent development and coaching.
• Background: We value strong strategic leadership alongside an understanding of technical environments. If you have the vision to lead technical teams through transformation, we welcome a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

Why This Role? We are looking for a strategic leader to build systems and teams, not code. You do not need deep software engineering expertise to succeed here. If you bring the vision and execution drive, we provide the technical support through top-tier domain experts. This is your opportunity to lead a defining industry transformation where your ability to learn, adapt and deliver value is prized far above your ability to write syntax.

At Emplifi, we are committed to creating a workplace where everyone is valued, respected, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. We welcome applications from individuals of all ages, races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, and LGBTQ+ communities. 

Emplifi offers a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment where every employee has the opportunity to thrive and is encouraged to be who they are.

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