Director, Engineering

As the Director of Engineering at Prodigy Education, you'll lead multiple engineering teams to deliver high-quality products aimed at enhancing the learning experience for children. Your key responsibilities include maintaining a culture of innovation, coaching and mentoring engineering managers, and collaborating with Product and Design teams. Additionally, you will focus on balancing short and long-term project roadmaps and proactively utilizing DevOps practices to drive continuous improvements, ensuring timely and effective delivery of educational solutions.

To qualify for the Director of Engineering role at Prodigy Education, you should have over 10 years of software engineering experience, including at least 5 years in leadership positions. A strong technical background is essential, alongside skills in coaching, agile methodologies, and a proactive problem-solving approach. Familiarity with educational technology or gaming would be beneficial, but a willingness to learn and grow is equally important to us.

Prodigy Education fosters a vibrant work culture by promoting a growth mindset among all employees, empowering them to grow alongside the company. The Total Rewards Program reflects the organization’s commitment to employee well-being, offering support for financial, mental, and physical health. Prodigy's culture encourages innovation, celebrates diversity, and seeks to build an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, especially in leadership roles like the Director of Engineering.

As the Director of Engineering at Prodigy Education, you'll engage with a cutting-edge tech stack, primarily leveraging AWS with a cloud-native architecture. Back-end services are built using TypeScript and Python, while front-end development utilizes React interfacing with GraphQL APIs. You'll also work with monitoring tools like Datadog and Sentry, along with data engineering tools such as Databricks and Airflow, enabling proactive and data-driven decision-making in product development.

The Director of Engineering plays a crucial role in influencing how millions of students interact with educational content. By leading engineering teams, you will help to deliver engaging learning experiences that empower students and support teachers and parents. Your decisions regarding technology choices and team dynamics will directly impact the quality and effectiveness of Prodigy's educational products, ultimately fostering a love for learning in children across the globe.

An effective management style for a Director of Engineering balances collaboration with accountability. It's essential to empower team members to make decisions while providing clear guidance and support. Emphasizing a growth mindset and encouraging open communication fosters a culture where innovation thrives and everyone feels valuable.

In my previous roles, I have implemented Agile methodologies effectively by promoting iterative development and fostering cross-functional team collaboration. Emphasizing daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives helped teams remain aligned and focused on continuous improvement, enhancing overall product delivery quality.

Prioritizing features over technical debt requires a delicate balance. I advocate collaborating with product teams to assess the impact of both on user experience while also employing metrics to track technical debt. Regularly addressing technical debt ensures long-term sustainability without sacrificing immediate user needs.

I believe in hands-on mentorship combined with providing leadership opportunities through real project ownership. Regular feedback sessions and open communication channels help to identify growth areas while fostering a climate of trust and support, empowering engineering managers to lead effectively.

Addressing conflicts within engineering teams requires a proactive approach. I emphasize open communication, allowing team members to express their views. Mediating discussions and focusing on shared goals helps resolve conflicts amicably and reinforces teamwork and collaboration.

To ensure high-quality deliverables, I implement robust code review processes along with automated testing practices. Encouraging a culture of quality ownership within teams and maintaining a high bar for coding standards ensures our products meet user expectations consistently.

My approach to continuous improvement involves regularly reviewing performance metrics and gathering team feedback. Implementing retrospectives allows department-wide discussions on both successes and areas for further development, fostering an environment where everyone is motivated to learn and iterate.

Staying current with emerging technologies entails dedicating time to professional development through conferences, workshops, and online courses. Additionally, participating in tech communities and engaging with fellow leaders helps me gain insights into industry trends that can benefit our engineering teams.

A Director of Engineering has a vital role in fostering diversity by actively promoting inclusive hiring practices and encouraging diverse perspectives within teams. By creating a culture that embraces diversity, we enhance innovation and better reflect the demographics of the communities we serve.

Approaching budget planning involves aligning resource allocation with business goals and project priorities. I analyze historical data to forecast expenses accurately, identify cost-saving opportunities, and ensure that funding is distributed strategically to optimize the success of engineering initiatives.