Director of Engineering, NPG & PIM (Hybrid - Seattle, WA)

Nordstrom•Seattle, WA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Nordstrom is seeking a visionary Director of Technology to lead two of their highest-impact engineering domains: Nordstrom Product Group (NPG) and Product Information Management (PIM). This role involves shaping the technology foundation for Nordstrom's private label business and leading the development of a next-generation, AI-native product information platform. NPG is responsible for designing, developing, and bringing to market all proprietary brands, with a goal to double revenue by 2030. The technology leader for NPG will partner with various teams to build systems that accelerate speed-to-market, optimize assortment decisions, and enable data-driven product development. PIM governs how item data is created, enriched, validated, and syndicated across all channels. Nordstrom is actively building the next generation of its PIM platform with deep AI capabilities. The Director will lead this transformation, modernizing a mission-critical capability that powers discovery, conversion, and trust across millions of items. Reporting to Nordstrom's VP, Technology for Merchandising, this Director will lead a high-performing organization of engineers and engineering managers, partnering closely with product management, data science, business stakeholders, and external vendors. The ideal candidate possesses technical depth, product instinct, and organizational leadership.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in technology product development at a retail, e-commerce, or consumer goods company, with domain expertise in one or more of: product information management, private label / vertical brand operations, merchandising systems, or catalog platform engineering.
5+ years of experience leading and developing high-performing engineering organizations, including managers and senior individual contributors, in a complex, fast-moving environment.
Proven track record building or significantly transforming a PIM, MDM, Content Management System or a similar platform at scale — including experience with AI/ML-driven enrichment, content automation, or taxonomy management.
Strong understanding of private label product development workflows — including the intersection of design, sourcing, vendor management, compliance, and commercialization — and how technology accelerates each stage.
Experience with AI/ML strategy and deployment in a production engineering context — capable of partnering with data scientists and ML engineers to translate models into reliable, scalable product features.
Demonstrated ability to build and execute multi-year technology roadmaps in partnership with business stakeholders, balancing strategic vision with pragmatic near-term delivery.
Strong executive communication skills — able to frame complex technical investments in business outcome terms and build alignment across engineering, product, and senior business leadership.
Experience leading teams through large-scale platform modernization or organizational transformation, with a demonstrated ability to maintain engagement, velocity, and quality through change.
A collaborative, outcomes-oriented leadership style with a track record of working effectively across organizational boundaries to deliver shared results.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Experience in omnichannel retail environments with exposure to catalog, supply chain, or merchandising systems at scale.

Responsibilities

Champion NPG's Growth Agenda: Partner with NPG merchants, product leaders, and supply chain teams to build technology solutions that accelerate private label growth — from concept through commercialization.
Drive systems that enable faster speed-to-market, better assortment decisions, and tighter integration between design, development, and sell-through data, in direct support of Nordstrom's goal to double NPG revenue by 2030.
Lead Next-Gen PIM Delivery: Own the strategy and execution of Nordstrom's AI-powered Product Information Management platform.
Architect and deliver capabilities including intelligent attribute enrichment, automated content generation, taxonomy and hierarchy management, and real-time data quality validation — enabling faster, richer, and more accurate product experiences across every Nordstrom channel.
Drive AI-First Engineering: Champion AI adoption across both domains — from AI-assisted product data creation and enrichment in PIM to demand-signal-driven assortment modeling for NPG.
Define the team's AI strategy in partnership with Nordstrom's data science and platform engineering organizations, ensuring responsible, measurable, and production-ready AI deployment.
Build Trust with Executive Stakeholders: Partner with senior leaders across Merchandising, NPG, Technology, and Data Science to establish and socialize a multi-year technology roadmap grounded in business outcomes.
Translate complex engineering capability investments into clear ROI narratives that win alignment and resource commitment at the executive level.
Think Strategically Across the Portfolio: Evaluate build-vs-buy decisions, vendor partnerships, and platform architecture choices for both NPG and PIM domains.
Anticipate scale, integration, and governance challenges before they materialize — delivering a cohesive technology strategy rather than a collection of siloed solutions.
Make Informed, Data-Driven Decisions: Foster a culture of measurement and evidence-based decision-making.
Establish clear success metrics for platform investments, track adoption and quality outcomes, and use data to continuously refine priorities, technology choices, and team performance.
Lead Organizational Efficiency & Modernization: Drive the continued evolution of team operating models — including Nordstrom's AI-enabled Pod model — to improve delivery velocity and reduce cycle times.
Forecast talent needs across both domains and build a team structure that scales with NPG's growth ambitions and the PIM platform's expanding scope.
Communicate with Clarity and Conviction: Represent both domains in cross-functional forums, executive reviews, and vendor negotiations.
Synthesize technical complexity into compelling narratives that inform and inspire stakeholders at every level — from engineering teams to C-suite audiences.
Manage Risk & Governance: Ensure both domains operate with the appropriate rigor around system reliability, data governance, vendor accountability, and responsible AI practices.
Proactively identify and mitigate delivery risks, dependency conflicts, and technical debt that could jeopardize business outcomes.
Lead Change Across Boundaries: Drive change management for the business and technology transformations underway in both NPG and PIM — building coalitions, managing resistance, and maintaining momentum through the inherent complexity of large-scale platform modernization in a retail environment.
Build High-Impact Teams: Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering and leadership talent.
Create a culture of ownership, technical excellence, and continuous learning — with a particular emphasis on AI and data fluency — across a diverse team spanning multiple capability areas.
Stay Ahead of the Curve: Monitor emerging trends in private label technology, product information management, AI/ML, and retail platform engineering.
Continuously reassess Nordstrom's technology investments against the evolving landscape to ensure both domains remain at the forefront of what is possible.