Vice President, Software Engineering

Job Description We are looking for a talented and entrepreneurial Vice President of Software Engineering to join our growing technology team. The VP of Software Engineering will lead the company's software development strategy, technical architecture, engineering execution, and development standards. This individual will work closely with the CEO, product leadership, and cross-functional teams to establish a strong technical foundation, prioritize development initiatives, and guide the evolution of our technology platform. This role is ideal for an experienced engineering leader who thrives in an entrepreneurial environment, enjoys building from the ground up, and can balance strategic leadership with hands-on technical contributions. The successful candidate will help shape the engineering culture, mentor developers, and build a roadmap that supports product innovation and long-term growth. This is an equity-only, fractional role, ideal for someone who thrives in fast-moving, high-growth environments. Department: Technology & Product Reports to: Chief Innovation Officer, Location: Chicago, Illinois Who We Are Our team's digital inventiveness and mobile location expertise creates brand stories that produce results. We are seasoned professionals who have worked in marketing, technology, mobile, and beyond. Our skills include Micro-fencing, mobile strategy, data analytics, and more. Key Responsibilities THIS POSITION WILL ENTAIL: Develop and execute software engineering strategy in alignment with company goals and product priorities.Define technical architecture, development standards, coding practices, and engineering best practices.Guide the design and development of scalable, secure, reliable, and maintainable software systems.Evaluate emerging technologies, frameworks, and tools to improve development efficiency and product capabilities.Establish a technical roadmap that supports current requirements and future business growth.Oversee the full software development lifecycle, including planning, design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance.Provide technical guidance across backend services, APIs, cloud infrastructure, databases, mobile applications, and frontend systems as appropriate.Promote modern software engineering practices, including code reviews, automated testing, continuous integration, continuous deployment, and effective version control.Ensure software solutions integrate effectively with location-based technology, data services, and third-party platforms.Champion security, performance, reliability, scalability, and data integrity throughout the development process.Mentor, develop, and guide software engineers and technical contributors.Foster a collaborative, accountable, and innovative engineering culture.Partner with the CEO and product stakeholders to translate business objectives into technical requirements and deliverable milestones.Support technical recruiting, candidate evaluation, onboarding, and the development of future engineering talent.Encourage knowledge sharing, documentation, and clear communication across distributed teams.Establish realistic development timelines, priorities, milestones, and delivery expectations.Identify technical risks, dependencies, and opportunities for process improvement.Implement practical project management and engineering reporting practices to maintain visibility into progress.Contribute hands-on to architecture, code reviews, technical problem-solving, or development when needed. Desired Skills Qualifications What You Bring: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field; a master's degree is a plus.10+ years of professional software engineering or software development experience, including substantial experience designing and delivering production software.5+ years of engineering leadership experience, such as leading engineering teams, managing technical projects, or directing software development initiatives.Demonstrated experience designing scalable software architectures and guiding complex development projects from concept through deployment.Strong understanding of modern software development methodologies, system design, APIs, databases, cloud platforms, and DevOps practices.Experience with contemporary programming languages and frameworks, such as JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, Node.js, React, or comparable technologies.Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and services, including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.Experience with Agile development practices, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, source control, and code quality standards.Strong problem-solving, communication, organizational, and cross-functional leadership skills.Ability to work independently, establish priorities, and deliver results in a startup or early-stage company environment. Preferred Qualifications Experience in location intelligence, geospatial technology, mapping, geolocation services, or location-based applications.Background in SaaS platforms, data-driven products, mobile applications, or enterprise software.Experience integrating third-party APIs, data platforms, analytics tools, and cloud-based services.Experience building engineering teams and establishing technical processes within a startup or high-growth organization.Familiarity with security best practices, privacy-by-design principles, and responsible data management.Experience working with geographically distributed or international teams.Previous experience as a VP of Engineering, Director of Engineering, CTO, or senior technical leader. What You Get Equity-based opportunity to build and lead the global talent engine at Digital Factory.Strategic seat at the table, shaping how we grow and who we bring into the business.Partnership with executive leadership on workforce design and scaling strategy.A creative, inclusive culture that values innovation, clarity, and purpose. Compensation This is an equity-only, fractional opportunity. There is no salary or hourly compensation at this time. At Digital Factory, we’re committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Digital Factory believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. Digital Factory is an Equal Opportunity Employer