Vice President, Head of Engineering Practice

Vice President, Engineering Practice

Overview

We are seeking a highly impactful engineering leader to serve as a Vice President, Head of Engineering Practice. This is a player coach role designed for someone who can operate at both strategic and hands-on levels, driving consistency and standardization across backend engineering teams.

This role focuses on building scalable engineering practices, establishing reusable frameworks, and enabling modern development approaches, including AI integration within the software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Standardization

• Establish and scale consistent backend engineering standards across teams
• Define and enforce API design principles, service patterns, and best practices
• Drive alignment and reduce fragmentation across distributed engineering teams

Framework & Platform Development

• Design and implement reusable frameworks and shared services using Java and Spring Boot
• Promote adoption of common tools, libraries, and engineering patterns
• Ensure scalability and maintainability across backend systems

Hands-On Technical Leadership

• Act as a technical thought leader across engineering teams
• Review architecture, code, and technical designs
• Provide real-time guidance to engineers and contribute to proof-of-concept work when needed

AI / GenAI Enablement

• Integrate AI and generative AI capabilities into engineering workflows
• Enhance developer productivity through AI-enabled tools and processes
• Identify opportunities to embed AI within platform capabilities and the SDLC

Cross-Team Influence

• Partner with architects and senior engineers across the organization
• Drive adoption of standards and frameworks through influence, not authority
• Foster a culture of collaboration, consistency, and engineering excellence

Required Qualifications

• Strong, recent hands-on experience with Java and Spring Boot
• Proven track record building reusable frameworks or shared services used across multiple teams
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a player coach, balancing leadership with hands-on contributions
• Deep expertise in backend development, including:
  • RESTful API design
  • Microservices architecture
  • SQL and NoSQL databases
• Experience driving engineering standardization across multiple teams or business units
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence senior engineers and architects

Key Focus Areas

Engineering Standardization

• Establish consistent patterns across backend services
• Reduce duplication and fragmentation across teams

Reusable Frameworks

• Build and scale shared libraries and frameworks
• Ensure adoption across engineering teams

Hands-On Credibility

• Confidently review and guide code and implementation decisions
• Provide real-time technical direction to teams

AI Integration

• Embed AI into development workflows and lifecycle processes
• Drive innovation through emerging technologies

Preferred Background

• Experience in regulated industries such as financial services or insurance
• Background as an Architect, Principal Engineer, or senior technical leader
• Experience operating within microservices-based environments
• Demonstrated ability to balance technical depth, influence, and delivery execution