Director Of Software Engineering and Architecture

2U•Crystal City, TX

13h•$232,100 - $264,200•Hybrid

About The Position

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless– and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives. 2U is looking for a highly technical, hands-on Director of Software Engineering with deep experience in modern cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, and full-stack platform development. This role combines technical leadership, architectural ownership, and delivery accountability across large-scale digital platforms supporting student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems. This is not a traditional management-only role. You will operate as a player-coach, actively engaging in system design, architecture reviews, and technical decision-making while leading globally distributed engineering teams. You will own both how systems are built and how they are delivered, ensuring scalable, secure, and high-performing platforms aligned with business outcomes. The ideal candidate has built and scaled complex systems, understands trade-offs deeply, and can drive end-to-end delivery with strong engineering rigor.

Requirements

12–15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in leadership roles
Proven experience as a hands-on technical leader across engineering and DevOps
Strong expertise in at least one of the following in each area:
Languages: Python, TypeScript (Ruby, Clojure, or Elixir a plus)
Frontend: React ecosystem
Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL
OpenAI API (GPT models, embeddings, function calling), Azure OpenAI Service, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI
Deep experience with AWS cloud ecosystem, Docker & Kubernetes (EKS), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Argo), Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
Experience designing and operating: Microservices architectures/Event-driven systems (Kafka or similar)
Proven experience owning production systems, uptime, and operational excellence

Nice To Haves

Experience in EdTech, Digital Media, eCommerce, or SaaS platforms
Experience building or scaling high-traffic, customer-facing platforms
Exposure to data platforms and event-driven data architectures
Experience modernizing legacy systems into cloud-native architectures
Experience working with global, distributed engineering teams
Experience with Scaled Agile (e.g., SAFe), PI Planning, and driving delivery predictability across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

Own and drive the architecture and engineering strategy for scalable, cloud-native platforms across student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems.
Lead the design and evolution of systems using: Backend: Python, Ruby on Rails, Clojure, or Elixir; Frontend: React, TypeScript, or HTML/CSS; Data: MySQL, PostgreSQL
Define and implement API-first, microservices, and event-driven architectures using modern design patterns.
Establish architectural standards across frontend, backend, and integrations, including scalability, resiliency, security, and performance optimization.
Drive build vs. buy vs. partner decisions, balancing speed, cost, and long-term platform ownership.
Ensure systems are designed for high availability, observability, and global scale.
Act as a hands-on technical leader across engineering and DevOps, owning how systems are designed, built, deployed, and operated
Lead architecture and design reviews, code quality, and resolution of complex production issues
Own end-to-end delivery and operations, including release cycles, system reliability, uptime, and performance
Drive DevOps practices across: CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Argo; Containers: Docker, Kubernetes (EKS); Infrastructure as Code: Terraform; Observability and monitoring
Lead and mentor teams, ensuring accountability for both delivery outcomes and production stability
Enable and guide adoption of AI/ML capabilities, including: Integrating AI services, APIs, and intelligent workflows into platforms; Leveraging AI for automation, personalization, and engineering productivity (e.g., code generation, testing, operational insights)
Establish strong execution discipline through: Definition of Ready / Done, sprint rigor, and release governance; Metrics such as velocity, cycle time, deployment frequency, MTTR, and uptime
Work closely with engineering, product, partner operations, and data teams in Agile environments.
Translate long-term architectural vision into incremental, executable delivery plans.
Participate actively in PI planning, sprint reviews, and technical design forums.
Mentor senior engineers, tech leads, and solution architects.