Director of Engineering

Cognitiv•New York, NY

6d•$200,000 - $280,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you ready to revolutionize the advertising industry? At Cognitiv, we are not just another AdTech company—we are industry trailblazers redefining media buying with our Deep Learning Advertising Platform. Since 2015, we have harnessed the power of cutting-edge deep learning technology and data science to transform how brands connect with their customers. Our mission? To bring intelligence to advertising and deliver unparalleled precision, relevance, and impact at scale. With our innovative platform, advertisers enjoy unprecedented flexibility—whether it is activating Dynamic Deals through their preferred DSP, leveraging our managed service DSP, or utilizing our industry-first ContextGPT product. As a part of Cognitiv, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven advertising solutions, driving change and achieving remarkable growth in a rapidly evolving industry. Now, we’re growing! The Mission This role serves as the engineering leader and primary representative for Engineering in New York, where Cognitiv’s CEO, CMO, President and key commercial leaders are based. The Director of Engineering will act as a trusted partner to senior leadership, translating business strategy into technical execution, representing engineering priorities, and ensuring strong alignment across departments. This role is designed with significant ownership, executive visibility, and the mandate to shape engineering execution and influence across the business. Your Impact You will lead a team of engineers responsible for some of the most business-critical products and services at Cognitiv. This scope includes the data and reporting platforms that measure internal and external performance across our entire book of business, the Insights product that powers client-facing performance experiences, and the systems that transform petabyte-scale data into clear, actionable intelligence. Beyond day-to-day execution, you will set the technical and product vision for how these platforms evolve—taking them to the next level in scale, reliability, and insight—to better serve our clients and empower teams across Cognitiv. The platforms owned by this team inform decisions across nearly every function at Cognitiv, every day. This is a role for a leader who thrives on ownership, influence, and responsibility, not just people count.

Requirements

Engineering Leader. You bring deep engineering experience and have led teams through complex, high-impact technical work in fast-moving environments.
People Builder. You have a strong track record of developing engineers, team leads and/or managers, creating clarity, accountability, and momentum while raising the bar for performance.
Backend and Data Systems Expert. You have a strong background in backend systems, data architecture, or data engineering, with the ability to design scalable, reliable platforms.
Reporting and Insights Builder. You have experience building or supporting reporting, analytics, or insights platforms that enable better decision-making across the business.
Technical Operator. You have a deep understanding of modern SDLC practices, engineering workflows, and scalable system design.
Executive Partner. You are proven in partnering with senior business stakeholders, translating technical tradeoffs into clear business impact, and influencing decisions at the leadership level.

Nice To Haves

Ad Tech Practitioner. You have exposure to ad tech, programmatic advertising, or other highly data-intensive platforms and understand the pace and complexity of these environments.

Responsibilities

Be the face of Engineering to our New York HQ and executive leadership team
Shape how engineering priorities are understood, communicated, and executed across the business
Influence product direction, data strategy, and technical investment decisions
Build trust, clarity, and momentum in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment
Lay the foundation for future team and scope expansion as the organization scales
Serve as the primary engineering leader embedded in the New York office
Represent Engineering in executive, commercial, and cross-functional discussions
Act as a trusted thought partner to the President, CEO, CMO, and senior stakeholders
Proactively surface risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities with clarity and credibility
Translate complex technical topics into clear, business-relevant insights
Navigate challenging conversations with confidence, empathy, and sound judgment
Build strong, durable relationships across Product, Data, Sales, Marketing, and Operations
Ensure alignment between business goals and engineering execution
Provide leadership across backend systems, data architecture, and reporting platforms
Partner closely with data and analytics teams on insights, measurement, and reporting datasets
Guide technical decision-making related to scalability, reliability, and performance
Ensure engineering solutions support Cognitiv’s ad tech platform and real-time systems
Lead and develop engineers within your scope
Foster a culture of accountability, high standards, and continuous improvement
Partner with senior engineering leadership on org design and future hiring plans
Grow team scope and ownership over time as business needs evolve