VP, Engineering & Technical Architect (Hybrid - Seattle, LA, or Denver)

Donuts Inc.•Bellevue, WA

45d•$277,000 - $340,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Identity Digital is seeking an innovative and strategic VP, Engineering & Technical Architect to lead the evolution of our next-generation technology. Backed by top-tier PE investors, we are moving quickly to leverage AI and agentic AI across our market leading DNS portfolio. This role will focus exclusively on building next-generation agentic infrastructure and emerging technologies, leading an independent function that collaborates with Identity Digital's core engineering organization. You will lead the platform engineering team, building from the ground up as the senior-most technical expert responsible for the platform's architecture, scalability, and integration strategy. You will partner with engineering teams, product leadership, and external collaborators to deliver and evolve this cornerstone technology. This role is highly strategic, requiring a blend of deep technical expertise and organizational leadership to translate vision into a sustainable, scalable reality. This role reports into the Identity Digital COO and will work closely with our GM to develop and implement strategic initiatives.

Requirements

10+ years of experience designing and delivering large-scale distributed systems and 5+ years people management experience.
Proven ability to hire, retain, and develop diverse talent while cultivating an inclusive, positive culture of excellence.
Deep understanding of cloud-native architectures, microservices, and APIs.
Expertise in identity and access management (OAuth2, OIDC, SAML).
Strong foundation in security architecture, PKI, and key management.
Working knowledge of DNS, DNSSEC, and certificate authorities.
Hands-on experience with:
Languages: Python, Go, or TypeScript/JavaScript
Databases: PostgreSQL or similar
Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Terraform, AWS (preferred)
Modern Development: AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Cline, or similar)
Proven experience in technical leadership, mentoring, and architecture governance.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
Strong ability to present and explain complex technical topics, problems, alternative solutions to others.

Nice To Haves

Experience architecting multi-tenant SaaS or high-scale systems.
Exposure to Web3, blockchain identity, or decentralized identifiers (DID).
Familiarity with IETF, W3C, or open standards development.
Background in domain registry, DNS operations, or related infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Strategy
Set vision and direction for platform engineering; define and evolve the long-term technical architecture for emerging AI technologies.
Oversee cloud-native system design (AWS or equivalent), microservices, and APIs.
Provide guidance on identity, authentication, and certificate management strategies.
Establish and enforce standards for security, compliance, and performance across all platform components.
Strategic Leadership
Serve as a strategic partner to executive leadership. Identify, plan, and execute strategic technical initiatives that drive platform evolution and business growth.
Partner with product, business, and engineering stakeholders to translate objectives into technical roadmaps and evaluate build-vs-buy decisions.
Hands-on Technical Contribution
Architect and contribute to solutions for complex technical challenges in identity infrastructure, scalability, and cross-platform integration.
Partner with development teams to ensure design quality, implementation excellence, and system reliability.
Team Leadership & Ecosystem Engagement
Hire, onboard, coach, and performance manage a high-performing team, foster a collaborative environment, and consistently model Identity Digitals values.
Mentor engineers and establish best practices for modern, AI-assisted development approaches.
Represent technical perspectives in vendor evaluations, standards bodies, and community discussions.

Benefits

US team members (and their spouses, domestic partners, and/or dependent children) are covered by generously subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance which includes company contributions to a Health Savings Accounts.
Team members are also covered by company-paid life and disability insurance and have the option of participating in employee-paid supplemental life, accidental death and dismemberment, critical illness, and accident insurance.
In addition, team members can enroll in the company's 401(k) plan with up to a 5% match.
You receive 15 days of paid vacation yearly, increasing to 20 days after one year.
Additionally, you get 5 days of paid sick leave, 13 paid holidays, and 20 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents, 12 weeks for others.
Also, there's an opportunity for tuition reimbursement for qualifying expenses.

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