Director, Software Development Engineer - Loyalty

Expedia Expedia · Hospitality · CA

Director of Software Development Engineering for Loyalty at Expedia, leading multiple full-stack teams. The role involves defining and driving the technical vision for AI-empowered loyalty programs, focusing on intelligent engagement experiences using AI and agentic systems. Responsibilities include scaling technology and leadership, managing managers and senior engineers, and ensuring responsible AI deployment.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead and inspire engineering teams to deliver scalable, resilient, and high-quality software solutions across multiple domains.
  2. Define and drive the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for large-scale services and platforms, ensuring alignment with business goals.
  3. Provide strategic oversight on system design, API development, and data modeling to enable secure, maintainable, and performant systems.
  4. Foster a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement, and collaboration across engineering, product, and cross-functional teams.
  5. Safely integrate and operate AI/ML-enabled solutions that improve outcomes, championing best practices in responsible AI deployment.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field; or equivalent related professional experience.
  • 12+ years of relevant professional experience; with 5+ years managing teams.
  • Proven experience building, managing and scaling high-performing & distributed engineering organizations (50+ engineers), including managing managers and senior/principal-level engineers.
  • Experience building new teams from scratch and establishing clear operating models, rituals, and execution frameworks
  • Excellent communicator who can simplify complex AI concepts for executive and cross-functional audiences.
  • Proven track record of integrating AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows and applying AI/ML concepts to real world products.
  • Demonstrated ability to apply emerging AI capabilities to solve real customer problems and create differentiated product experiences
  • Strong coaching orientation; invests deeply in developing engineering managers and senior technical leaders
  • High ownership mindset with a bias for action.

Nice to have

  • Experience in loyalty, personalization, offers, growth platforms, fintech, or consumer-scale products is strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated success in leading engineering organizations through periods of high growth, change, or complexity.
  • Expertise in full stack engineering, with a proven ability to operate across multiple technical domains and platforms.
  • Track record of championing data-driven decision making and operational excellence for mission-critical systems.
  • Deep understanding of safely scaling AI/ML-enabled solutions, including risk mitigation and ethical considerations.

What the JD emphasized

  • managing managers
  • senior/principal engineers
  • simplify complex AI concepts for executive and cross-functional audiences
  • Proven track record of integrating AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows
  • Demonstrated ability to apply emerging AI capabilities to solve real customer problems
  • Deep understanding of safely scaling AI/ML-enabled solutions

Other signals

  • AI-empowered Loyalty charter
  • next-generation, intelligent engagement experiences powered by modern AI and agentic systems
  • integrating AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows
  • applying AI/ML concepts to real world products
  • apply emerging AI capabilities to solve real customer problems
  • safely integrate and operate AI/ML-enabled solutions
  • Deep understanding of safely scaling AI/ML-enabled solutions