Director Of Software Engineering and Architecture

2U is a company dedicated to making learning limitless and is seeking a hands-on Director of Software Engineering with deep technical expertise. This role involves leading the architecture and engineering of scalable platforms while engaging in system design and overseeing globally distributed engineering teams.

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