Director, Experience Engineering (Front End, Content, Mobile) (Denver)

At VF, we strive to foster a culture of belonging based on respect, connection, openness, and authenticity. So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture - visit VF Careers or . What will you do?A day in the life of the Director Experience Engineering at VF looks a little like this. The Director of Experience Engineering is a senior technology leader responsible for the strategy, architecture, and delivery of all consumer-facing digital experiences across VF’s multi-brand portfolio. This role owns the frontend engineering stack spanning brand ecommerce platforms native and hybrid mobile applications, headless content management systems, and emerging answer-engine and social commerce surfaces.You will lead a high-performing, cross-functional engineering organization that builds content-rich, brand-differentiated digital experiences at scale across all three of VF’s operating regions. You will champion an AI-first engineering culture, embedding generative AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation into how VF builds, tests, personalizes, and optimizes its digital storefronts and content pipelines—from The North Face’s performance-driven product storytelling to Vans’ culturally connected youth experiences to Timberland’s heritage-rooted brand presence.This is a transformational leadership role for someone who is deeply passionate about the convergence of commerce, content, and technology—and who sees AI not just as a tool but as a foundational capability that will reshape how consumers discover, experience, and purchase outdoor, active, and lifestyle products globally.Let’s break down that day-in-the-life a bit more. STRATEGIC MANDATENext-Generation Commerce & Content Experiences Across VF’s Brand Portfolio• Define and execute a multi-brand frontend engineering vision that delivers differentiated, high-performance digital experiences for all VF brands across web, mobile, social commerce, and AI-powered answer engines (e.g., Agentic Checkout on Google AI, ChatGPT Shopping, Perplexity).• Architect and evolve a composable, headless commerce frontend leveraging modern frameworks (Vue/React/Next.js, React Native) and MACH architecture principles (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) that enables rapid brand-specific customization on a shared platform foundation.• Drive the adoption of structured content, semantic markup, and product knowledge graphs that make VF’s brand and product content discoverable, rank-able, and consumable by both traditional search engines and AI answer engines - a critical imperative as consumer discovery patterns shift.• Pioneer rich, interactive product storytelling experiences—including virtual try-ons for footwear, shoppable adventure content for The North Face, AI-generated editorial for Vans’ cultural campaigns etc. - that elevate each brand’s unique identity and drive conversion.AI-First Engineering Culture• Embed AI and Gen AI capabilities across the frontend and content engineering lifecycle, including AI-assisted development (Copilot, Claude), automated testing, intelligent content generation.• Partner with VF’s Data teams to integrate real-time personalization, recommendation engines, visual search, conversational commerce, into all consumer-facing surfaces -tailored to each brand.• Lead the development of AI-native content pipelines that automate product description generation, image optimization, alt-text creation, social copy, and multi-language localization at scale.• Evaluate, pilot, and scale emerging AI technologies (LLMs, multi-modal models, agentic AI workflows) to create competitive advantage in the consumer experience.Multi-Brand Platform Scalability & Regional Reach• Build and maintain a frontend platform and multi-brand component design system that enables teams to launch, iterate, and customize experiences rapidly while preserving brand distinctiveness.• Establish a content-as-a-platform strategy with centralized CMS, reusable modules, and brand-specific templating that supports rapid content creation across ecommerce, social (TikTok Shop, Instagram, Pinterest), email, and emerging channels.• Ensure digital experiences are localized, performant, and culturally resonant across VF’s regions and drive operational efficiency through shared services, reusable libraries, and platform automation that reduce duplication without compromising the creative flexibility each brand requires.KEY RESPONSIBILITIESEngineering Leadership & Team Development• Lead, mentor, and grow a globally distributed team of 50+ engineers across frontend web, mobile, and content engineering disciplines. Also Recruit and retain top-tier engineering talent with deep expertise in modern frontend architectures, mobile development, headless CMS platforms.• Foster a culture of engineering excellence through quality standards, architecture reviews, technical mentorship, career development, and continuous learning programs aligned with VF’s values.• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion within the engineering organization, and building teams that mirror the global diversity of VF’s consumers.Technical Strategy & Architecture• Own the frontend and content technology roadmap, aligning platform investments with VF’s brand strategies and emerging technology trends and drive architectural decisions around performance optimization, accessibility, internationalization, and security compliance.• Lead the evolution of legacy frontends to modern, composable architectures with clear separation of concerns, robust API contracts, and CI/CD automation across VF’s brand and application portfolio.• Establish and enforce engineering standards for structured data, schema.org markup, Open Graph, and content APIs that maximize discoverability on search, social, and answer engine platforms.Product & Cross-Functional Collaboration• Partner closely with Product Management, UX Design, Brand Marketing, Merchandising, and Data teams to align technology delivery with consumer experience and commercial objectives.• Collaborate with VF’s commerce engineering, infrastructure, and DevOps teams to ensure seamless integration, reliability, and scalability of the full commerce stack across all brands and regions.• Work with Digital Marketing and SEO/AEO teams to optimize content delivery, page speed, and structured data for organic and paid performance.Delivery & Operational Excellence• Drive agile engineering practices at scale, including sprint planning, release management, feature flagging, A/B testing, and progressive rollout strategies across VF’s brands and regions.• Establish SLAs, observability, and performance monitoring for all frontend and mobile surfaces - owning incident response and rapid resolution for consumer-facing platform issues.• Manage engineering budgets, vendor relationships (CDN, CMS, Mobile), and build-vs-buy decisions for the frontend technology ecosystem, optimizing for VF’s cost transformation goals.What do you need to succeed?We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your years of experience and professional achievements. The foundation skills you will need in this position are: • 12+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in senior engineering leadership roles (Director or above) managing large, globally distributed teams.• Track record of driving engineering culture change, particularly around AI adoption and developer experience improvements.• Hands-on experience with LLM integration, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and AI agent frameworks in production systems.• Deep technical expertise in modern frontend technologies: Vue, React, Next.js, Node.js, GraphQL, headless CMS platforms (Coremedia, Contentful, or equivalent).• Proven experience building and scaling native mobile applications (iOS/Android) using React Native.• Strong track record of delivering high-performance, content-rich ecommerce experiences at scale within multi-brand, multi-region, or marketplace environments.• Demonstrated experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into consumer-facing products, including personalization, recommendation systems, conversational AI, or generative content workflows.• Expertise in composable/MACH architecture patterns, API-first development, micro-frontend strategies, and headless commerce platforms (Shopify Hydrogen, Salesforce Commerce Cloud).• Experience with structured content strategy, SEO technical optimization, and emerging answer engine / AI search platform requirements.• Strong understanding of web performance optimization, accessibility standards, and cross-browser/cross-device testing methodologies.• Excellent communication and executive presence, with the ability to influence C-suite and brand president-level stakeholders and translate technology strategy into business outcomes.• Familiarity with social commerce platforms (TikTok Shop, Instagram Checkout, Pinterest Shopping) and their technical integration requirements.• Experience with design systems at scale (e.g., Storybook, Figma-to-code pipelines, token-based theming across multiple brands).• Understanding of global ecommerce logistics, localization, and compliance requirements across VF’s key markets.• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.Now WE have