Director Of Software Engineering and Architecture

2U is a company dedicated to transforming lives through higher education, and they are seeking a hands-on Director of Software Engineering with extensive experience in cloud-native architectures and full-stack development. The role involves technical leadership, driving architectural strategies, and managing delivery across large-scale digital platforms.

Responsibilities:

• Own and drive the architecture and engineering strategy for scalable, cloud-native platforms across student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems
• Lead the design and evolution of systems using:
• Define and implement API-first, microservices, and event-driven architectures using modern design patterns
• Establish architectural standards across frontend, backend, and integrations, including scalability, resiliency, security, and performance optimization
• Drive build vs. buy vs. partner decisions, balancing speed, cost, and long-term platform ownership
• Ensure systems are designed for high availability, observability, and global scale
• Act as a hands-on technical leader across engineering and DevOps, owning how systems are designed, built, deployed, and operated
• Lead architecture and design reviews, code quality, and resolution of complex production issues
• Own end-to-end delivery and operations, including release cycles, system reliability, uptime, and performance
• Drive DevOps practices across:
• Lead and mentor teams, ensuring accountability for both delivery outcomes and production stability
• Enable and guide adoption of AI/ML capabilities, including:
• Establish strong execution discipline through:
• Work closely with engineering, product, partner operations, and data teams in Agile environments
• Translate long-term architectural vision into incremental, executable delivery plans
• Participate actively in PI planning, sprint reviews, and technical design forums
• Mentor senior engineers, tech leads, and solution architects

Requirements:

• 12–15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in leadership roles
• Proven experience as a hands-on technical leader across engineering and DevOps
• Strong expertise in at least one of the following in each area: Languages: Python, TypeScript (Ruby, Clojure, or Elixir a plus), Frontend: React ecosystem, Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, OpenAI API (GPT models, embeddings, function calling), Azure OpenAI Service, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI
• Deep experience with AWS cloud ecosystem, Docker & Kubernetes (EKS), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Argo), Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
• Experience designing and operating: Microservices architectures/Event-driven systems (Kafka or similar)
• Proven experience owning production systems, uptime, and operational excellence
• Own and drive the architecture and engineering strategy for scalable, cloud-native platforms across student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems
• Lead the design and evolution of systems using: Backend: Python, Ruby on Rails, Clojure, or Elixir, Frontend: React, TypeScript, or HTML/CSS, Data: MySQL, PostgreSQL
• Define and implement API-first, microservices, and event-driven architectures using modern design patterns
• Establish architectural standards across frontend, backend, and integrations, including scalability, resiliency, security, and performance optimization
• Drive build vs. buy vs. partner decisions, balancing speed, cost, and long-term platform ownership
• Ensure systems are designed for high availability, observability, and global scale
• Act as a hands-on technical leader across engineering and DevOps, owning how systems are designed, built, deployed, and operated
• Lead architecture and design reviews, code quality, and resolution of complex production issues
• Own end-to-end delivery and operations, including release cycles, system reliability, uptime, and performance
• Drive DevOps practices across: CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Argo, Containers: Docker, Kubernetes (EKS), Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Observability and monitoring
• Lead and mentor teams, ensuring accountability for both delivery outcomes and production stability
• Enable and guide adoption of AI/ML capabilities, including: Integrating AI services, APIs, and intelligent workflows into platforms, Leveraging AI for automation, personalization, and engineering productivity (e.g., code generation, testing, operational insights)
• Establish strong execution discipline through: Definition of Ready / Done, sprint rigor, and release governance, Metrics such as velocity, cycle time, deployment frequency, MTTR, and uptime
• Work closely with engineering, product, partner operations, and data teams in Agile environments
• Translate long-term architectural vision into incremental, executable delivery plans
• Participate actively in PI planning, sprint reviews, and technical design forums
• Mentor senior engineers, tech leads, and solution architects
• Experience in EdTech, Digital Media, eCommerce, or SaaS platforms
• Experience building or scaling high-traffic, customer-facing platforms
• Exposure to data platforms and event-driven data architectures
• Experience modernizing legacy systems into cloud-native architectures
• Experience working with global, distributed engineering teams
• Experience with Scaled Agile (e.g., SAFe), PI Planning, and driving delivery predictability across multiple teams