VP, Functional Design Engineering

LPL Financial•Charlotte, TX

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Functional Design Engineering is where enterprise architecture intent becomes shippable Terraform. At LPL, you'll partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, and FinOps to translate big-picture designs into opinionated, well-architected reference patterns that engineers actually build. If you'd rather spend your time turning architects' diagrams into code, ADRs, and proof-of-concept platforms — and want a senior leadership role where you're as comfortable in a design review as you are in a pull request — this is your seat. As the VP, Functional Design Engineering, you lead the Functional Design Engineering & Strategy pod within the Foundations team in LPL's Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE). You partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, and engineering teams and pods across CCOE to translate enterprise architecture intent into implementable, well-architected, code-driven solutions. You take high-level designs from architects and produce detailed, opinionated, build-ready engineering specifications aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework and LPL's standards. You also curate the cross-CCOE reference pattern library — domain-tagged Terraform module bundles, reference architectures, anti-patterns, and architecture decision records (ADRs). LPL is an AWS-first CCOE: a multi-account landing zone with 100+ private reusable Terraform modules that enable 60+ AWS services, all delivered through Terraform Cloud and GitHub Actions. You are both a people leader for a small, senior team across the US and LPL's India GCC and a hands-on senior engineer who produces reference patterns, code, and proof-of-concept builds when ambiguity is highest.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive technical experience including 5+ years in cloud infrastructure or platform engineering leadership; Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline (or equivalent work experience)
5+ years of hands-on production AWS at scale in a multi-account landing zone, with 4+ years of authoring production Terraform in a private module ecosystem delivered through Terraform Cloud and GitHub Actions
5+ years experience as a direct people manager of engineering teams of 5+ engineers, including hiring, performance management, compensation, and difficult personnel decisions
5+ years experience leading and personally participating in 24x7 production on-call rotations in a fast-paced, security-conscious, regulated environment (financial services strongly preferred)
5+ years experience translating enterprise architecture intent into implementable engineering designs that downstream engineers actually build, with deep, current command of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and excellent technical writing (ADRs, design documents, reference architectures)
Operates as the credible "translator" between architects and engineers — equally at home in both rooms
Strong systems-thinking across security, network, container, data, finance, and developer experience before recommending a path
Bias for shipping reference patterns and code — not slideware
Calm, opinionated, and evidence-driven in design conversations
Player-coach who is comfortable in code reviews, architecture sessions, and people 1:1s in the same day
Continuous learner, especially in cloud-native, IaC, platform engineering, and applied AI
Sets vision and translates ambiguous strategy into executable engineering roadmaps
Bias for self-service, automation, and reducing toil for downstream internal customers
Builds high-trust relationships across the US and India organization and across functions (Architecture, Security, FinOps, Application Engineering, Network, Audit)
Calm, decisive incident commander; fosters a strong post-incident learning culture
Excellent written and verbal communication, executive presence, and ability to influence without direct authority
Thrives in matrixed, fast-paced, regulated environments with imperfect information

Nice To Haves

Experience as an internal architecture review board member or equivalent design-authority role
AWS Certified Security - Specialty (preferred for security-aligned design reviews)
AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate or Data Analytics - Specialty (preferred for data-aligned design reviews)
Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or MBA
Experience building, scaling, or leading globally distributed engineering teams across the US and India / GCC
Experience integrating agentic AI / GenAI tooling (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Bedrock, MCP) into platform, IaC, and engineering practice
Strong scripting / programming proficiency in Python, Bash, or PowerShell
AWS Solutions Architect - Professional
AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Associate
HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (004) or Authoring & Operations Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
Open-source contributions, public technical writing, or conference speaking on cloud, IaC, or platform engineering topics
Experience with Backstage or another Internal Developer Platform (IDP)
Experience with FinOps practices and cloud cost management at scale

Responsibilities

Lead the Functional Design Engineering & Strategy pod within the Foundations team in CCOE; partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, the other Foundations pods (Security & Governance, FinOps, Network Engineering, Monitoring), and the Platforms, Containers, Support, and Delivery teams to translate enterprise architecture intent into implementable, well-architected, code-driven solutions
Take high-level designs from architects and produce detailed, opinionated, build-ready engineering specifications aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework and LPL standards
Define and curate the cross-CCOE reference pattern library: domain-tagged Terraform module bundles, reference architectures, anti-patterns, and architecture decision records (ADRs)
Partner closely with the Principal Engineer, Cloud Strategy Lead so that tooling, IaC, and self-service platform strategy stay aligned with enterprise design direction
Lead design reviews, architecture review boards, and engineering deep-dives across all five CCOE teams (Foundations, Platforms, Containers, Support, Delivery) and the four peer Foundations pods (Security & Governance, FinOps, Network Engineering, Monitoring)
Champion the application of the AWS Well-Architected Framework across all six pillars (Operational Excellence, Security, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Cost Optimization, Sustainability) and drive measurable improvements against each
Hands-on contribute to reference patterns, Terraform modules, and proof-of-concept builds, especially in the highest-ambiguity areas where engineering is still discovering the right answer
Embed agentic AI capabilities into the team's engineering practice (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Bedrock, MCP servers, agentic IaC and review workflows) and into the platform's self-service experience for internal customers
Embed agentic AI capabilities into the design function: AI-assisted pattern generation, automated Well-Architected reviews, ADR drafting, cross-pattern impact analysis, and MCP-backed agents that surface existing patterns to internal customers
Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a globally distributed team of senior cloud engineers across LPL's US offices and India Global Capability Center (GCC)
Own all people-management responsibilities for the pod including hiring, onboarding, weekly 1:1s, performance management, compensation planning, career development, and certification-path execution per the CCOE certification matrix
Operate as a player-coach: spend meaningful time hands-on in Terraform code, design reviews, peer reviews, and incident response while leading people and delivery
Lead and personally participate in 24x7 on-call rotations as senior incident commander and technical escalation point for the pod
Partner with peer VPs across the Cloud Center of Excellence — the leaders of the five CCOE teams (Foundations, Platforms, Containers, Support, Delivery) and the leaders of the pods within Foundations (Security & Governance, FinOps, Functional Design Engineering & Strategy, Network Engineering, Monitoring) — to align roadmaps and remove cross-team and cross-pod blockers
Champion AWS Well-Architected Framework adoption across all six pillars and drive continuous improvement against operational, security, reliability, performance, cost, and sustainability outcomes
Contribute to and curate the private Terraform module library that powers self-service infrastructure for application teams, including module standards, versioning, deprecation, and contribution patterns
Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, standups, backlog grooming, retrospectives) and partner with the RTE and PMO on delivery commitments and dependencies
Represent the pod in executive forums, architecture review boards, internal audit, and customer engagements; communicate technical risk and trade-offs to non-technical executives