Vice President Engineering

Vice President of Engineering

At Flagship Financial Group, we strive to make a positive impact on our customers' lives through responsible auto financing and on our employees' careers through continuous learning and advancement opportunities. Following our recent acquisition and the appointment of a new CEO, we are entering an exciting period of transformation, shifting toward a high-growth, technology-forward, and operationally excellent future.

We are seeking a Vice President of Engineering to lead our Engineering organization and help shape the next generation of technology solutions that power our customer, dealer, and operational experiences. Reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer, this executive leader will own engineering strategy, software delivery, platform modernization, AI-enabled development practices, and organizational effectiveness across a globally distributed team. This role partners closely with Product, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Data, and executive leadership to translate business priorities into scalable technology solutions that drive growth, efficiency, and exceptional customer experiences.

What You'll Do

• Lead and scale the Engineering organization, overseeing application, platform, quality, and engineering management functions.
• Establish the long-term engineering strategy, architecture direction, and technology roadmap aligned with company objectives.
• Drive modernization initiatives across customer-facing applications, backend platforms, APIs, integrations, and cloud technologies.
• Partner with Product and business leaders to deliver innovative solutions that improve customer experiences, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.
• Build and develop high-performing engineering teams, coaching leaders and creating clear career development paths.
• Own engineering operating practices including software delivery, quality standards, incident response, release management, and performance metrics.
• Establish and maintain scalable engineering processes that improve reliability, speed, and predictability of delivery.
• Lead globally distributed teams across onsite, nearshore, and offshore environments while fostering a unified engineering culture.
• Advance the organization's use of AI-assisted software development and agentic technologies to improve engineering productivity and business capabilities.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies while balancing innovation, security, compliance, and operational risk.
• Collaborate with Information Security, Risk, and Compliance teams to ensure systems and processes meet regulatory and governance requirements.
• Manage vendor relationships, technology partnerships, and engineering investments to maximize value and organizational effectiveness.
• Drive continuous improvement across software quality, customer experience, platform reliability, and engineering performance.

Who You Are

The Visionary Leader

You define and communicate a clear technology vision that aligns engineering investments with business strategy, balancing innovation with execution.

The Builder of Teams

You develop leaders, build strong engineering cultures, and create environments where talented professionals can thrive and grow.

The Strategic Technologist

You understand how technology, architecture, AI, and cloud platforms can create competitive advantages while supporting long-term business objectives.

The Transformational Operator

You have successfully led modernization efforts, improved engineering performance, and delivered measurable business outcomes through technology.

The Trusted Partner

You build strong relationships across the organization, influence executive decision-making, and effectively translate technical concepts into business value.

Qualifications

Experience

• 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience building and operating enterprise-scale technology solutions.
• 8+ years of leadership experience managing engineering leaders and large technical organizations.
• Proven success leading global teams across onsite, nearshore, and offshore delivery models.
• Experience overseeing customer-facing digital applications, enterprise platforms, integrations, APIs, and cloud-based systems.
• Demonstrated success developing engineering strategies, operating models, and technology roadmaps that support business growth.
• Experience leading technology modernization initiatives, cloud transformation efforts, and large-scale engineering programs.
• Strong experience implementing engineering best practices related to software quality, security, reliability, scalability, and operational excellence.
• Hands-on experience leveraging AI-powered development tools and emerging AI technologies to improve engineering effectiveness and business value.
• Experience partnering with executive stakeholders to prioritize investments, manage resources, and deliver strategic objectives.
• Financial services, consumer finance, banking, fintech, or other regulated industry experience preferred.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field required.
• Master's degree or MBA preferred.

Skills & Abilities

• Deep understanding of modern software engineering, architecture, cloud platforms, and enterprise technology ecosystems.
• Experience with cloud environments, preferably AWS, including infrastructure, CI/CD, containerization, and platform engineering concepts.
• Knowledge of AI-assisted development tools, agentic systems, generative AI platforms, and AI governance practices.
• Strong understanding of software development methodologies, Agile delivery frameworks, and engineering performance metrics.
• Experience leading architectural decisions and balancing technical debt, modernization, and business priorities.
• Knowledge of security, compliance, governance, and risk management requirements within regulated industries.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to align technology investments to measurable business outcomes.
• Ability to influence, collaborate, and drive execution across multiple teams and functions.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment undergoing transformation and growth.

Location & Work Environment

Location: Hybrid opportunity based in Tempe, AZ.  

Schedule: Full-time exempt position with standard business hours and flexibility to support a distributed global engineering organization.

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of technology at Flagship Financial Group during a transformative period of growth and innovation. As Vice President of Engineering, you will play a critical role in defining our technology strategy, driving modernization initiatives, advancing AI-enabled development practices, and building high-performing teams that deliver exceptional products and experiences. If you're excited by the opportunity to lead at scale, influence enterprise-wide technology decisions, and create meaningful impact in a rapidly evolving organization, we'd love to hear from you.