Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Innovation

Choice Hotels International

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About The Position

Choice Hotels, one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, has an exciting new opportunity as our Senior Manager, Software Engineering for our Advanced Technology Activation Team (AT‑AT) in the Innovation Team. The Innovation Team pioneers next‑generation technology solutions, explores emerging trends, and activates advanced capabilities to transform the experience for guests, associates, and franchisees. We bring bold ideas to life—generative AI, cloud‑native platforms, and agent‑based architectures. As a key member of our Innovation Team, you will lead the charge in delivering scalable, high‑impact software solutions that shape the future of hospitality technology for all our customers. Are you a visionary leader with deep software engineering expertise, a passion for cloud, AI, and AI development, and a knack for inspiring teams to achieve excellence—while staying hands‑on when it matters? We invite you to apply today for our Senior Manager, AT‑AT role and #MakeItYourChoice.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline (required); Master’s degree (preferred).
• 8+ years building high‑volume, mission‑critical applications; 5+ years technical leadership; 2+ years people management.
• Proven success delivering secure, scalable, highly available systems and modern architectures.
• Exceptional grasp of SDLC and agile practices (coding standards, reviews, source control, CI/CD, testing, operations) and experience embedding AI into the lifecycle (AI‑DLC).
• Proficiency in one or more modern stacks: Java/JVM (e.g., Spring Boot) for service/platform engineering, or Python (e.g., Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP) for services, AI‑assisted workflows, and rapid interactive apps, or TypeScript/Next.js (React, server components, edge/runtime) for modern web experiences and full‑stack delivery.
• Strong grasp of RESTful and event-driven architectures; experience with SQL & NoSQL databases and distributed data design.
• Strong communication & stakeholder management; able to translate technical decisions into business value for guests, associates, and franchisees.
• Ability to mentor technical talent, evangelize designs, and drive cross-functional collaboration.
• Demonstrates key competencies: Strategic Dexterity, Collaboration & Influence, and Technical Excellence.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree (preferred).

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high‑performing engineering team (and potentially managers) to deliver scalable applications/services using cutting-edge technologies and best-in-class methodologies.
• Own delivery excellence across architecture, design, implementation, code reviews, automated testing, and production readiness; ensure alignment to Innovation’s vision and Enterprise Architecture standards.
• Be hands-on when needed to accelerate outcomes—design and build POCs, drive Vibe Coding sessions, and create Spec‑to‑Code demonstrations using Java/JVM, Python (Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP), or TypeScript/Next.js (React, server components).
• Plan and execute on the domain roadmap: anticipate tech needs, evaluate emerging tools, and map them to business outcomes for guests, associates, and franchisees.
• Help Transform SDLC → AI‑DLC: embed AI across planning, design, coding, test, security, and operations; deliver measurable gains in speed, quality, resilience, developer experience, and cost.
• Operational excellence: ensure high availability, reliability, and performance through world-class monitoring, alerting, SLOs/SLIs, error budgets, and self-healing practices; lead root-cause/learning reviews.
• Security & compliance: safeguard systems and data; promote PCI/SOX compliance and participate in audits; codify controls via policy‑as‑code and automated checks.
• Program & portfolio leadership: plan, organize, and deliver multiple complex initiatives with cross-functional partners (Product, Architecture, PMO, Business stakeholders).
• Talent & culture: hire, onboard, coach, and grow engineers and managers; foster engagement, psychological safety, and a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Standards & patterns: influence and establish best practices, reference architectures, reusable components, and guardrails; champion design patterns, quality metrics, and automation.
• Production leadership: own incident readiness and response, post‑incident learning, and long-term remediation; drive continuous improvement of operational runbooks and DR guides.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance
• Financial benefits for retirement and health savings
• Employee recognition programs
• Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees