Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Innovation

Your Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing engineering team (and potentially managers) to deliver scalable applications/services using cutting-edge technologies and best-in-class methodologies.
• Own delivery excellence across architecture, design, implementation, code reviews, automated testing, and production readiness; ensure alignment to Innovation's vision and Enterprise Architecture standards.
• Be hands-on when needed to accelerate outcomes—design and build POCs, drive Vibe Coding sessions, and create Spec-to-Code demonstrations using Java/JVM, Python (Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP), or TypeScript/Next.js (React, server components).
• Plan and execute on the domain roadmap: anticipate tech needs, evaluate emerging tools, and map them to business outcomes for guests, associates, and franchisees.
• Help Transform SDLC → AI-DLC: embed AI across planning, design, coding, test, security, and operations; deliver measurable gains in speed, quality, resilience, developer experience, and cost.
• Operational excellence: ensure high availability, reliability, and performance through world-class monitoring, alerting, SLOs/SLIs, error budgets, and self-healing practices; lead root-cause/learning reviews.
• Security & compliance: safeguard systems and data; promote PCI/SOX compliance and participate in audits; codify controls via policy-as-code and automated checks.
• Program & portfolio leadership: plan, organize, and deliver multiple complex initiatives with cross-functional partners (Product, Architecture, PMO, Business stakeholders).
• Talent & culture: hire, onboard, coach, and grow engineers and managers; foster engagement, psychological safety, and a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Standards & patterns: influence and establish best practices, reference architectures, reusable components, and guardrails; champion design patterns, quality metrics, and automation.
• Production leadership: own incident readiness and response, post-incident learning, and long-term remediation; drive continuous improvement of operational runbooks and DR guides.

  Your Experience, Skills & Competencies

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline (required); Master’s degree (preferred).
  • 8+ years building high-volume, mission-critical applications; 5+ years technical leadership; 2+ years people management.
  • Proven success delivering secure, scalable, highly available systems and modern architectures.
  • Exceptional grasp of SDLC and agile practices (coding standards, reviews, source control, CI/CD, testing, operations) and experience embedding AI into the lifecycle (AI-DLC).
  • Proficiency in one or more modern stacks: Java/JVM (e.g., Spring Boot) for service/platform engineering, or Python (e.g., Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP) for services, AI-assisted workflows, and rapid interactive apps, or TypeScript/Next.js (React, server components, edge/runtime) for modern web experiences and full-stack delivery.
  • Strong grasp of RESTful and event-driven architectures; experience with SQL & NoSQL databases and distributed data design.
  • Strong communication & stakeholder management; able to translate technical decisions into business value for guests, associates, and franchisees.
  • Able to mentor technical talent, evangelize designs, and drive cross-functional collaboration.
  • Demonstrates key competencies: Strategic Dexterity, Collaboration & Influence, and Technical Excellence.

    This is a leadership role that will report to the Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture. You will have direct reports and collaborate regularly with Product, Architecture, PMO, and Business stakeholders.