Director of Content Engineering

College Board

12h • $80,000 - $140,000 • Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a Director of Content Engineering who combines strong people leadership with hands-on expertise in DITA-based structured authoring. This is a player/coach role; you will guide and grow a multidisciplinary team of content engineers while contributing directly to the evolution of content models, authoring workflows, metadata structures, and publishing systems. Your leadership will focus on modernizing and strengthening our DITA ecosystem, engaging with an established XDocs user community, and broadening adoption where it provides clear value. At the same time, you will steward a diverse set of content systems, including Drupal-based CMS workflows, headless content APIs, and item authoring platforms. This is a practical, operational leadership role focused on team excellence, system stewardship, and close collaboration with partners across the organization.

Requirements

• Knowledge of Drupal, decoupled CMS architectures, or content-delivery APIs.
• Deep, hands-on expertise with DITA and DITA-based authoring systems (e.g., XDocs or similar).
• Experience designing, maintaining, and evolving structured content models.
• Experience supporting active author communities on diverse digital platforms.
• Proven ability to lead, transform and mentor teams of content engineers or similar technical/content-focused roles.
• Strong ability to translate ambiguous workflow and content challenges into structured, scalable solutions.
• Demonstrated success collaborating across design, engineering, and content disciplines.
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience with metadata standards, taxonomies, or content lifecycle governance.
• A strategic and inclusive leadership style: you set clear priorities, build effective team structures, plan for future needs, and foster a culture of belonging.
• A proven ability to drive performance and growth: you set high expectations, deliver real-time, evidence-based feedback, and coach team members to take smart risks, stretch their skills, and achieve meaningful impact.
• A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success
• Residence in the USA & Authorization to work in the United States for any employer

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of six content engineers working across Drupal, DITA/XDocs, headless/decoupled content APIs, and item-authoring systems to develop content structures and processes supporting product teams and goals.
• Provide guidance that respects the diversity of tools and models the team supports, ensuring each engineer develops expertise appropriate to their domain.
• Grow the team’s skills in structured content modeling, metadata design, content workflows, and content-system integrations, without assuming all workflows are DITA-based.
• Support team members in navigating different authoring environments and content pipelines, helping them build transferable skills across systems.
• Create clarity around ownership, workflows, and best practices for each content system the team supports.
• Foster a collaborative culture where engineers learn from one another and contribute to shared patterns, tooling, and documentation.
• Set vision and priorities for the team, track and manage progress to goals, and provide coaching and support to ensure team members meet and exceed goals, remain engaged, and contribute meaningfully to our mission.
• Cultivate an inclusive and high-achieving culture that enables all team members to live out College Board’s Operating Principles effectively.
• Bring proven leadership experience and consistently embody College Board’s Manager Expectations in your work.
• Serve as the organization’s hands-on expert in DITA and modular structured authoring.
• Work directly within College Board’s DITA/XDocs environment to improve topic structures, reuse patterns, constraints, specializations, and publishing workflows.
• Expand usage of the current system to include new content and to publish for a wider set of platforms and audiences.
• Evaluate current content structures and propose thoughtful, safe evolutions that support greater reuse and flexibility.
• Partner with the product team to prototype new content structures and authoring approaches before driving broader rollout.
• Expand usage of DITA and XDocs, aligning changes with product needs and broader content engineering practices.
• Partner with design systems, frontend engineering, product designers, and content creators to ensure structured content aligns with component-driven UI systems and product needs.
• Collaborate with engineering teams on the transformations, APIs, and integrations that connect authoring systems to downstream consumers.
• Provide clear, actionable guidance and documentation that helps teams adopt structured content practices.

Benefits

• Annual bonuses and opportunities for merit-based raises and promotions
• A mission-driven workplace where your impact matters
• A team that invests in your development and success

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed