Technology Lead

Horizontal Digital

About The Position

At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for Fortune 500 companies in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone. We use these values to fuel superior results: Lock arms We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good. Show hustle We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional. Embrace change From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next. Elevate empathy We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability. Never settle We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas. But enough about us. Let’s talk about you. As a Technology Lead in our Sitecore Practice, you own the technical implementation of client programs end to end — from discovery and solution definition through build, QA and release. Your measure of success is simple: satisfied clients, successful project delivery, and healthy project margins. We're looking for a hands-on player/coach who has shipped modern, composable Sitecore solutions on SitecoreAI (formerly XM Cloud) with headless Next.js front ends hosted on Vercel or Netlify. You'll lead a blended team of front-end and back-end developers, partner closely with project management, strategy and UX/creative, and bring a pragmatic, AI-assisted approach to how we design, build and deliver.

Requirements

7+ years of hands-on web development experience, including 5+ years delivering enterprise Sitecore solutions.
Recent, hands-on SitecoreAI / XM Cloud experience: headless architecture, Content SDK (or JSS), Experience Edge and GraphQL, Pages/component builder, SXA headless, and serialization-based DevOps.
Strong Next.js, React and TypeScript skills, including App Router, rendering strategies (SSG/ISR/SSR), middleware, and performance optimization.
Experience deploying and operating headless front ends on Vercel and/or Netlify: environments, preview deployments, edge/serverless functions, caching and CI/CD with Git.
Working knowledge of .NET / C# for Sitecore back-end customization and integrations, plus REST/GraphQL API integration experience.
3+ years leading development teams using Agile/Scrum, including estimation, sprint planning and code review.
Solid grounding in accessibility, SEO, web performance and security best practices.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders and present solutions to clients.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Some travel required.

Nice To Haves

Practical use of AI-based development tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code or similar) and familiarity with Sitecore's AI capabilities (e.g., Sitecore Stream / agentic workflows).
Experience with other DXP / headless CMS platforms such as Optimizely, or Contentstack.
Experience with the broader Sitecore composable stack: Sitecore Search, Personalize/CDP, Content Hub.
Migration experience moving Sitecore XP/XM (MVC) solutions to SitecoreAI headless.
Current Sitecore certifications (e.g., SitecoreAI / XM Cloud Developer) and/or Vercel, Azure or AWS certifications.
Agency or consulting experience.

Responsibilities

Own technical delivery: accountable for quality, timeline and budget of the technical solution across one or more client engagements, in partnership with the Project Manager.
Lead technical discovery: run discovery sessions, technical assessments and audits, and translate business goals and creative/UX artifacts into functional and technical specifications.
Define the architecture: shape headless solutions on SitecoreAI — content modeling, component design, rendering strategy (SSG/ISR/SSR), integrations, search, personalization, and the hosting, CI/CD and environment strategy on Vercel or Netlify.
Plan the work: lead sprint breakdown and estimation, identify technical dependencies and risks, and define the technology approach and toolset.
Guard quality: perform solution and code reviews, enforce Helix-aligned and front-end best practices, and approve features for hand-off to QA. Ensure solutions meet performance (Core Web Vitals), accessibility (WCAG), SEO and security standards.
Drive QA and release: partner with the QA lead on test plans and UAT, triage defects, own deployment run-books and rollback plans, and oversee production releases.
Be the technical face to the client: support technical decision-making, handle escalations, and communicate status, risks and opportunities clearly to client and internal stakeholders.
Lead and grow the team: assign and oversee daily work, clear blockers, and act as the technical escalation point.
Coach and mentor: support developers' career growth through feedback, performance reviews and training, and partner with Talent Acquisition on interviewing and hiring.
Champion AI-assisted engineering: help the team adopt AI development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) responsibly to improve velocity and quality.
Support business development: contribute to solution proposals, estimates and client presentations as requested by the Group Technology Director.
Grow accounts: identify ongoing client needs and engage the right internal resources for new opportunities.
Strengthen the practice: contribute to internal standards, accelerators, reusable components and thought leadership, and stay current on Sitecore, headless and AI trends.