Distinguished Engineer, Product Engineering

Planet Fitness•Boston, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Distinguished Engineer, Product Engineering leads the architecture, design, development, and delivery activities of multiple cross-functional engineering workstreams. Through a mix of strategic technical vision and cross-workstream leadership and coordination, the Distinguished Engineer drives the technical direction of multiple concurrent strategic initiatives. The Distinguished Engineer partners closely with Product and Design leaders to identify innovative solutions to user and business challenges using leading technology and delivery practices and domain expertise. They also work closely with Data, Security, Infrastructure, and Tech Operations leaders to reimagine methodologies and ways of working. As a senior member of a growing team, the Distinguished Engineer plays a crucial role in shaping and defining the team's culture through indirect delivery leadership and direct people management. They thrive in a fast-paced environment where teamwork, technical excellence, business understanding, and cross-functional collaboration are paramount. This role follows a hybrid schedule and requires regular, in-person work at our Boston, MA or Hampton, NH office. Our hybrid model is M/T/W in office and TH/F are optional work-from-home. Candidates must reside within commuting distance of one of these locations. Fully remote work is not available for this role.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field (Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Management Information Systems, etc.) or equivalent work experience
15+ years of software engineering experience and 5+ years of experience leading multiple cross-functional delivery teams
Significant breadth and depth of experience in the architecture, development, implementation, and testing of software products and services. This includes a proven track record of leading development leaders through strategic project phases and collaborating across multiple functional and technical teams to deliver an outcome
Expert experience using modern programming languages (Java, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python) and platforms (Spring, Node, Remix, Flask) for full stack development OR languages (Kotlin, Swift) and UI frameworks (Jetpack Compose, SwiftUI) for mobile development.
Experience with CI/CD pipeline development and AI-powered engineering tooling is a strong plus
Deep knowledge and practical experience with cloud architecture on platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). You should be skilled in designing and building scalable, reliable, and secure cloud-native solutions.
Experience using Generative AI (GenAI) user-facing software products or applications is also highly desirable
Expert in relational database design, non-relational database design, and enterprise integration patterns
Expert understanding of RESTful service design and be skilled in designing and building synchronous and asynchronous interfaces.
Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to tackle ambiguous problems and make data-driven decisions
Extremely detail-oriented, efficient, and organized with an exceptional ability to establish priorities and objectives
Exceptional presentation and communication skills along with the ability to communicate effectively across all levels of the organization, including executives
Able to establish and maintain effective, collaborative work relationships with diverse individuals, internally and externally
Creative, progressive, thought leadership with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization
Excellent leadership skills including the ability to build teams, motivate, guide, and mentor
Possess a results-driven entrepreneurial mindset, demonstrating initiative and creativity
Demonstrated strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and organizational leadership skills
Exhibits comfort, ease, and flexibility working in an extremely fast-paced ever-changing, deadline-driven environment
Cooperative team player with an upbeat, positive, “can-do” attitude!

Nice To Haves

Experience with GraphQL is also helpful but not required

Responsibilities

The Distinguished Engineer is the Technical Lead for multiple delivery Workstreams and Pods.
They set the technical direction for a specific business or functional area, ensuring architectural coherence across both.
They also coach Workstream and Pod Tech Leads while partnering with workstream Product, Design, and Program leaders.
Craft & Delivery Excellence: Drives multiple critical initiatives concurrently, providing technical expertise and oversight of architecture, design, delivery across multiple teams.
Defines repeatable approaches for writing, validating, and shipping high-quality software in new and innovative ways.
Drives adoption of modern engineering practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, observability, and cloud-native patterns.
Brings AI to development and delivery activities, establishing new patterns of engagement across cross-functional teams.
High-Quality Development & Delivery: Develops and reviews delivery plans that take advantage of cutting-edge technologies to deliver solutions that exceed expectations.
Launches new capabilities rapidly while managing risk continuously from inception through operations, focusing heavily on Strategic Planning and Discovery to validate prior to full-scale delivery.
Partners with Product and Design leaders to explore solutions that amaze users and drive business outcomes, driving any related partnerships.
Strongly advocates for customer-centric thinking while balancing technical feasibility and business priorities.
Coaches team on anticipating and mitigating risks early in the development cycle, ensuring scalable and resilient solutions.
Works across engineering, infrastructure, data, and security leaders to rethink methodologies, platforms, and delivery practices.
Technical Leadership: Defines and articulates the long-term technical vision and strategy across multiple workstreams.
Serves as a trusted technical advisor and decision-maker for complex architectural and design decisions.
Provides hands-on mentorship and guidance to the engineering team leaders, fostering skill growth, innovation, and effectiveness.
Acts as a technical ambassador, representing engineering to executive leadership and external stakeholders.
Defines and champions best practices in system design, development, testing, and deployment, including AI-powered engineering capabilities.
Team & Culture Building: Cultivates a high-performance engineering culture based on trust, collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability.
Mentors and grows the next generation of technical leaders within the organization.
Promotes a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and technical excellence.
Serves as a role model for engineering values, instilling ownership, craftsmanship, and pride in delivery.

Benefits

core medical, dental, vision, life and disability
supplemental accident, hospital and critical illness coverage options
generous time off program (including volunteer time)
childcare reimbursement
paid parental leave
pet care reimbursement
tuition reimbursement
free Black Card membership
learning and development programs
engagement activities
401(k) Plan with safe harbor employer matching
employee stock purchase plan
annual corporate bonus incentive program based on company financial and personal performance