Vice President of Architecture & AI Engineering Transformation

Appspace•Tampa, FL

1d•Remote

About The Position

Appspace is seeking an accomplished Vice President of Architecture & AI Engineering Transformation. This role will be central to Appspace’s engineering transformation as we scale beyond $150M, embedding AI into our development lifecycle, modernizing legacy systems, and raising the performance bar across the organization. As a strategic enterprise leader, you will bridge the gap between high-level business goals and technical execution. Your mandate is to define the architectural blueprints and engineering standards that empower our global teams to build faster, smarter, and more securely. You will act as a force multiplier, providing the clarity and technical guardrails necessary to transform our platforms into a world-class, AI-first ecosystem. Success in this role requires deep cross-functional collaboration. You will partner with leaders in Engineering, Security, Technical Operations, Product, and Innovation to ensure our technology remains resilient and future-proof. This is not just about oversight; it is about driving a culture of modernization and ensuring our solutions can support our next phase of exponential growth. We are looking for a visionary systems-thinker who thrives on solving complex technical puzzles and influencing change across the organization. You are a pragmatist at heart, someone who understands that true engineering excellence is found at the intersection of a bold, long-term technical vision and the immediate, disciplined needs of a high-growth business.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
15 or more years of progressive experience in software engineering, architecture, or platform development.
5 or more years of experience in senior technical leadership roles such as VP, SVP, Chief Architect, or equivalent.
Demonstrated success defining and governing enterprise architecture in complex, multi-product SaaS environments.
Deep technical expertise across modern software architecture, cloud platforms, DevOps practices, reliability engineering, and SDLC disciplines.
Proven experience driving technology modernization initiatives in growing or acquired organizations.
Experience supporting M&A technical due diligence and post-acquisition integration.
Strong understanding of security, compliance, and regulatory requirements in enterprise SaaS environments.
Experience working with globally distributed teams across multiple regions and cultures.
Possess deep technical expertise, enjoys being hands-on with code, while also possessing the business acumen necessary to effectively present and communicate with executive leadership.
Exceptional communication and influence skills with the ability to lead through partnership rather than direct authority.

Responsibilities

Architect and operationalize an AI native development environment across the engineering organization.
Redefine the software development lifecycle through AI enabled code generation, automated testing, documentation, observability, and incident response.
Establish measurable improvements in productivity, quality, and cycle time through responsible AI adoption.
Partner with Product leadership to embed AI capabilities into the Appspace platform as a core competitive differentiator.
Continuously assess technology trends and their relevance to Appspace’s long-term strategy.
Design systems and tooling that materially increase developer throughput and reduce time-to-production.
Build an engineering operating model optimized for $100M+ scale and beyond.
Introduce data-driven engineering KPIs (cycle time, deployment frequency, AI adoption rates, cost per feature, etc.).
Embed automation across the SDLC to reduce manual effort and improve predictability
Drive consistency and maturity across the software development lifecycle including development practices, testing, DevOps, observability, and reliability.
Establish architectural standards, principles, and reference designs that support scalability, reliability, security, and performance.
Serve as the primary escalation point for complex, cross-organizational technical and architectural decisions.
Guide modernization efforts across legacy and acquired platforms in alignment with business priorities.
Help rationalize platforms, services, and tooling to reduce complexity and long-term maintenance cost.
Ensure modernization initiatives deliver measurable improvements rather than isolated technical change.
Support technical due diligence for potential acquisitions.
Define and guide post-acquisition architectural integration strategies that balance speed, risk, and sustainability.
Partner with engineering leaders to integrate platforms, teams, and practices effectively.
Serve as a trusted technical advisor to the CTO.
Partner closely with Engineering, Technology Operations, Security, and Innovation to align technical direction and execution.
Elevate the technical bar across the organization and institutionalize engineering excellence.
Challenge legacy patterns and introduce modern, high-performance engineering practices.
Build a culture that embraces experimentation, rapid iteration, and responsible AI adoption.