Senior/Staff Engineering Director College Board - Technology
Location: This is a remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). All CB employees are required to occasionally travel to meet in person for business purposes.
Type: This is a full-time position
About Technology at College Board We are a mission-driven engineering team building and evolving the technology that powers and protects the future of learning. Our systems support highly trusted education programs used by millions of students each year, operating at significant scale and public responsibility. Today, we are focused on designing and delivering a critical new initiative that extends our platform in meaningful ways: blending foundational system work with thoughtful experimentation as we adapt to emerging technologies and new learner needs. We combine modern, cloud-native engineering practices with years of platform modernization, security hardening, and large-scale digital delivery, operating as an experiment factory that tests assumptions and iterates based on evidence rather than tradition. What makes this team distinct is the rare combination of meaningful public impact, platform-scale technical challenges, and the freedom to shape how mission-critical systems are built and evolved.
About the Team The Core Assessment Platform is a group of cross-functional teams responsible for building and evolving shared platform capabilities that support assessment-related systems used by institutions at scale. The work spans a range of assessment contexts, from routine evaluation to more complex, high-stakes environments, where accuracy, consistency, and trust are essential. Teams collaborate across engineering, product, design, data, and operations to build reliable capabilities that can be reused and adapted over time. What makes this group special is its focus on continuous learning, experimentation, and steady improvement, with success driven by thoughtful collaboration, iteration, and careful decision-making in environments where reliability and quality matter.
About the Opportunity As the Senior / Staff Engineering Director, you will provide senior organizational and technical leadership within the Core Assessment Platforms group, with responsibility for multiple teams led by experienced engineering managers. This role operates at the platform level, shaping multi-team roadmaps and aligning execution across highly interconnected systems. Working closely with peer directors, principal and staff engineers, and cross-functional partners, the Senior/Staff Engineering Director ensures teams deliver meaningful progress while keeping long-term platform goals front and center. The role requires strong technical judgment and the ability to guide complex decisions across teams with competing needs. You'll help identify and prioritize near-term improvements that unlock momentum or reduce risk, while ensuring those wins reinforce longer-term architectural and strategic objectives. Success is measured by the coherence of the platform over time, the strength of collaboration across teams, and the durability of both the technical foundations and the leadership bench you help build.
In this role, you will: Provide Technical Leadership to the Team (45%) - Provide senior technical leadership for a defined area of the Core Assessment Platforms, ensuring alignment across multiple highly interconnected systems.
- Guide Engineering Managers, Principal and Staff Engineers in evaluating solution options, making architectural tradeoffs, and managing technical risk and debt across teams.
- Identify and prioritize near-term technical improvements that unlock momentum or reduce risk, while reinforcing longer-term platform strategy and architectural coherence.
- Establish and uphold shared engineering standards for system design, reliability, security, and operational excellence within your platform area.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex, cross-team technical decisions and platform-level risks, applying strong technical judgment.
- Stay informed on relevant technologies and platform practices, using that insight to guide platform evolution.
Build a highly engaged, and high-performing team (30%) - Lead multiple engineering teams through experienced Engineering Managers, building consistent leadership practices and strong collaboration across teams.
- Partner with Engineering Managers to ensure teams are appropriately staffed, aligned, and able to deliver sustainably.
- Foster a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement across interdependent teams.
- Actively support diversity, equity, and inclusion through hiring, talent development, and inclusive leadership practices.
- Mentor Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders, helping build a durable leadership bench and clear growth paths.
Interface with business partners and technology colleagues (25%) - Partner closely with Product, Design, Data, Security, and peer Technology leaders to shape and align multi-team roadmaps.
- Develop a strong understanding of assessment business needs and platform consumers to inform technical priorities and sequencing.
- Balance competing demands across teams and stakeholders, clearly communicating tradeoffs while maintaining platform cohesion.
- Communicate complex technical concepts, risks, and recommendations effectively to cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders.
- Ensure delivery progress across teams is coordinated, visible, and aligned with both near-term outcomes and long-term platform health.
- Collaborate with peer Engineering Directors to ensure consistency and alignment across the broader Core Assessment Platforms group.
About you, you have: - 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, including significant experience leading leaders (Engineering Managers, Senior Engineers, or equivalent).
- Proven experience setting technical direction and overseeing the delivery of large-scale, cloud-based applications and platforms, preferably using AWS and modern web technologies.
- A strong background in software architecture and system design, with the ability to guide teams toward scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions without being prescriptive.
- Demonstrated success building, mentoring, and retaining diverse, high-performing engineering teams at scale.
- Experience operating at the intersection of technology and business, with the ability to align engineering investments to organizational goals and customer impact.
- Exceptional communication skills, with a track record of influencing senior executives, product leaders, and cross-functional partners.
- Strong operational mindset, including experience managing budgets, vendor relationships, delivery risk, and long-term technical health.
- A leadership style grounded in trust, inclusion, and accountability, with a commitment to developing future engineering leaders.
- Ability to travel 3-5 times per year to NYC or Reston, VA.
- Authorization to work in the United States.
All roles at College Board require: - A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
- Authorization to work in the United States for any employer
- Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
- Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
- A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
- A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
- A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success.
About Our Process - Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
- While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.
What We Offer At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck, we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.
A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation - The hiring range for this role is $170,000 - $200,000
- Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.
- We aim to make our best offer upfront-rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.
- We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.
You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.
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