Director, Software Development & Engineering (Portfolio Management Technology - AI Driven Transformation)
Your Opportunity
Your opportunity
At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us challenge the status quo and transform the finance industry together.
We believe in the importance of in-office collaboration and fully intend for the selected candidate for this role to work on site in the specified location(s).
Charles Schwab is hiring a Director, Software Development & Engineering to play a critical leadership role in transforming the Portfolio Management Technology (PMT) organization as part of our Broker‑Dealer Modernization (BDM) journey. This is not a traditional engineering leadership role, this leader is expected to fundamentally reset how software is built—moving the organization from a legacy, human‑heavy SDLC to a GenAI‑ and agentic‑AI‑driven development model. The industry, tooling, and economics of software development have changed. This role need to ensure PMT does not fall behind—and instead becomes a model for AI‑driven engineering at Schwab.
What This Leader Will Do:
AI‑Driven Engineering Transformation (Primary Accountability)
- Lead the transformation of an established engineering organization from legacy, manual development practices to a GenAI‑first, agentic SDLC.
- Treat AI as a core production capability, not a side experiment—used across design, development, testing, modernization, documentation, and operations.
- Create a multiplier effect where teams deliver materially more outcomes with fewer people, higher quality, and faster cycle times.
- Drive measurable productivity gains (capacity unlock), enabling new BDM initiatives without proportional headcount growth.
- Establish clear expectations: every engineer, tech lead, and architect must leverage GenAI daily to do their job.
Technology & Architecture Leadership
- Own the technology vision, roadmap, and outcomes for portfolio‑level Broker‑Dealer platforms, with a strong focus on Books & Records, transactional systems, and modernization.
- Lead the next phase of modernization—moving beyond refactoring into AI‑native architectures, automation, and intelligent workflows.
- Partner closely with Distinguished Engineers and architects to define clear, opinionated architecture standards supported and accelerated by GenAI.
- Ensure architecture, design documents, diagrams, and decision records are AI‑assisted, high‑quality, and produced quickly, not over long review cycles.
- Champion platform thinking that reduces fragmentation, simplifies legacy complexity, and accelerates delivery.
People Leadership & Delivery Accountability
- Build and lead high‑performing global engineering teams across the US and India, with a strong emphasis on AI‑era skills.
- Actively reshape team composition, roles, and expectations to reflect AI‑driven development realities.
- Build a strong leadership bench—Senior Managers, Tech Leads—who can lead through ambiguity and change.
- Hold teams accountable for outcomes, not activity, while maintaining trust and engagement.
- Create a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and execution with urgency.
Enterprise Influence & Collaboration
- Partner closely with Product, Architecture, Infrastructure, Security, and Operations to enable seamless modernization and delivery.
- Influence decisions across domains through credibility, clarity of thought, and execution—not hierarchy.
- Communicate complex technical and AI‑driven transformation topics in clear, compelling narratives for senior executives and engineering teams.
What Success Looks Like
- Engineering teams are smaller, faster, and more effective.
- GenAI is embedded into every stage of the SDLC.
- BDM delivery capacity increases materially without equivalent headcount growth.
- Leaders and engineers think differently about how work gets done.
- BDSE becomes a reference model for AI‑driven software engineering at Schwab.
What you have
Required:
- 10+ years of senior engineering leadership experience (Director or equivalent), including inherited teams and legacy environments.
- Demonstrated success leading large‑scale technology and cultural transformation, not just incremental improvement.
- Strong grounding in modern software engineering practices and architectures.
- Hands‑on experience with GenAI and agentic AI tools applied to real development workflows—not theoretical exposure.
- Proven ability to drive change with urgency while maintaining delivery and stability.
- Experience modernizing complex, mission‑critical, and regulated systems.
Preferred:
- Track record of resetting engineering mindsets—from legacy thinking to modern, automated, AI‑driven development.
- Systems thinker who understands people, process, architecture, and platform economics together.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity, but disciplined about execution and outcomes.
- Direct, transparent communicator who surfaces issues early and acts decisively.
- Recognized technical credibility—engineers trust your judgment and follow your lead.
- Experience or exposure to how top tech companies apply AI to software development at scale.
What’s in it for you
At Schwab, you’re empowered to shape your future. We champion your growth through meaningful work, continuous learning, and a culture of trust and collaboration—so you can build the skills to make a lasting impact. Our Hybrid Work and Flexibility approach balances our ongoing commitment to workplace flexibility, serving our clients, and our strong belief in the value of being together in person on a regular basis.
We offer a competitive benefits package that takes care of the whole you – both today and in the future:
- 401(k) with company match and Employee stock purchase plan
- Paid time for vacation, volunteering, and 28-day sabbatical after every 5 years of service for eligible positions
- Paid parental leave and family building benefits
- Tuition reimbursement
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
What you are good at
What you have
Required:
- 10+ years of senior engineering leadership experience (Director or equivalent), including inherited teams and legacy environments.
- Demonstrated success leading large‑scale technology and cultural transformation, not just incremental improvement.
- Strong grounding in modern software engineering practices and architectures.
- Hands‑on experience with GenAI and agentic AI tools applied to real development workflows—not theoretical exposure.
- Proven ability to drive change with urgency while maintaining delivery and stability.
- Experience modernizing complex, mission‑critical, and regulated systems.
Preferred:
- Track record of resetting engineering mindsets—from legacy thinking to modern, automated, AI‑driven development.
- Systems thinker who understands people, process, architecture, and platform economics together.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity, but disciplined about execution and outcomes.
- Direct, transparent communicator who surfaces issues early and acts decisively.
- Recognized technical credibility—engineers trust your judgment and follow your lead.
- Experience or exposure to how top tech companies apply AI to software development at scale.
Why Schwab?
At Schwab, “Own Your Tomorrow” embodies everything we do! We are committed to helping our employees unleash their potential and achieve their dreams. Our employees get to play a central role in disrupting a multi-trillion-dollar industry, creating a better, more modern way to build and manage wealth. We’re a modern financial services firm that stands apart from the industry, where you can go as far as your ambition takes you.
Hear from employees: What’s it like to work at Schwab!
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