Senior Director, R&D & Platform Engineering

Senior Director, R&D & Platform Engineering 

The Opportunity 

We are seeking a high-caliber technical leader to join a global multinational at the forefront of the AI era. As the Senior Director of R&D & Platform Engineering, you will be a pivotal figure in the leadership team, responsible for overseeing multiple engineering sub-teams and driving the evolution of a core product into a sophisticated, cloud-native platform. 

This is a strategic role that demands a rare blend of deep technical expertise in cloud/AI domains and the leadership maturity to scale an organization through rapid innovation. You will own the roadmap for a global portfolio, balancing long-term technical vision with predictable, high-quality delivery. 

Core Responsibilities 

1. Strategic Organizational Leadership 

• Team Scaling: Lead, mentor, and grow a multi-layered engineering organization, including Engineering Managers and Senior Staff Engineers. 

• Cultural Excellence: Foster a high-performance culture rooted in ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement. 

• Talent Strategy: Own the hiring, onboarding, and career development frameworks to build a world-class R&D presence. 

2. Platform & AI Innovation 

• Technical Vision: Drive the transition toward a unified Platform-as-a-Service model, ensuring scalability and architectural consistency across the portfolio. 

• AI-Centric Product Development: Lead the strategy and execution to develop AI-centric products, ensuring advanced machine learning capabilities are at the core of our value proposition. 

• AI Integration: Determine the tools and processes that will define the future of the development lifecycle, ensuring AI-powered efficiency across all engineering domains. 

• Infrastructure & Reliability: Oversee the delivery of scalable, cloud-native services (multi-cloud), ensuring elite standards in performance and observability. 

3. Execution & Cross-Functional Alignment 

• Delivery Ownership: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of technical domains, ensuring the translation of business requirements into executable, low-risk technical plans. 

• Strategic Partnership: Act as a key peer to Product Management and Architecture leaders to shape the long-term product portfolio roadmap. 

• Process Optimization: Influence technology and leadership decisions beyond your immediate group, driving initiatives that improve engineering velocity and quality. 

Candidate Profile 

• Experience: Proven track record as an R&D Manager or Engineering Director within a high-growth, large-scale technical environment. 

• Technical Mastery: Deep experience in cloud-native architectures (AWS/Azure/GCP) and a forward-thinking approach to AI/ML implementation. 

• Management Style: An energetic leader who thrives in "Engineering + Management" hybrid environments, capable of managing high-level organizational responsibilities. 

• Communication: Exceptional English communication skills, with the ability to represent technical domains in senior global leadership forums.