Director, Guest Engineering (Mobile & Web)

Director, Guest Engineering (Mobile & Web) Shelton, CT or Miami, FL

Ready to build what's next with one of the world's most iconic brands?

Why Join Subway?

At Subway, we are not standing still. We are building.

This is a business focused on what matters most: growing franchisee profitability, strengthening our brand and creating long-term value. The people who thrive here are the ones who want to make a real impact.

You will not just do the work. You will shape it.

We move fast. We think like owners. We make decisions that matter. We hold ourselves to a high standard because what we do directly impacts thousands of franchisees around the world.

If you bring energy, accountability and a bias for action, you will fit right in.

We take the work seriously, but we also know the best results come from teams that support each other, celebrate wins and show up ready to build something better every day.

This is your chance to be part of what's next.

About the Role:

The Director, Guest Engineering (Mobile & Web) is the technical and organizational leader for Subway's guest-facing front end - the mobile apps (iOS, Android) and web experiences that power ordering, loyalty, and account management for guests. Reporting to the VP of Guest Engineering, this Director owns end-to-end delivery across cross-functional mobile and web pods under a single roadmap, and partners with the platform and API teams that own the middleware layer. You are a deeply technical front-end leader who can set architectural direction, build and retain a high-performing organization of mobile and web engineers, and operate with significant autonomy in a complex, high-stakes consumer digital environment - with a genuine commitment to AI-assisted development practices.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic and organizational leadership across Subway's guest-facing mobile (iOS, Android) and web experiences - owning the multi-year front-end technical roadmap and platform strategy, and aligning it with Subway's guest experience and business priorities.

Lead, develop, and retain a team of Tech Leads, Sr. Software Developers, and Solution Architects across the pod model; build a high-trust, high-accountability engineering culture; own performance management, career development, and succession planning across the entire Guest Engineering organization.

Partner with the VP of Guest Engineering, product owners, and cross-functional stakeholders (Finance, HR, MarTech, Guest Ops) to define and deliver quarterly roadmap commitments; resolve cross-team dependencies end-to-end, including with the API and platform teams, and escalate blockers with clear recommendations.

Own production quality and reliability across mobile and web - release engineering for App Store and Google Play, crash and performance targets, on-call standards, and incident response protocols; drive root cause analysis and continuous stability improvement.

Champion AI-assisted development across the Guest Engineering organization - set tooling standards, model responsible use, and embed AI-augmented workflows into architecture reviews, code review, test coverage, and delivery practices across every pod.

Drive hiring strategy, headcount planning, job description design, and technical screen standards across all pods; own onboarding for FTE and staff augmentation engineers in partnership with HR and vendor partners.

Technical Skills

Deep front-end expertise (React Native, cross-platform mobile/web) sufficient to set architectural direction, challenge technical proposals, and earn credibility with senior engineers on every surface

Proven experience leading the delivery of high-traffic, high-availability consumer-facing digital platforms at scale - ordering, loyalty, or commerce applications preferred

Strong command of modern front-end architecture patterns (shared component libraries, state management, CDN/edge delivery, performance, and accessibility)

Working knowledge of client-side identity patterns (OAuth 2.0, social sign-in) and of consuming RESTful and event-driven APIs - enough to partner effectively with platform teams

Demonstrated commitment to AI-assisted development: active use of AI coding and architecture tools and the ability to set organizational standards and coach engineering teams on effective adoption

Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps), Akamai CDN, LaunchDarkly feature flag management, and release engineering across App Store / Google Play distribution

Leadership & Communication

10+ years of software engineering experience with 4+ years in engineering director or senior management roles leading multi-team organizations across iOS, Android, and web

Proven track record of building and scaling engineering organizations - including hiring, developing Tech Leads and Sr. Software Developers, managing performance, and building inclusive cultures across distributed teams

Exceptional cross-functional communication - able to translate technical complexity into business impact for VP, C-suite, and product stakeholders; equally comfortable in a vendor contract negotiation and an architecture review

Demonstrated ability to manage large, concurrent programs (platform migrations, multi-surface launches) with accountability for delivery outcomes

Comfortable operating with significant autonomy in a fast-paced, high-ambiguity environment; able to make high-quality technical and organizational decisions under uncertainty with appropriate escalation judgment

Collaborative leadership style - proactive partner to the VP and product counterparts; builds alignment across organizational boundaries without requiring top-down direction

Bonus Skills

Hands-on familiarity with Adobe Experience Platform (AEP), Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO), and Adobe Campaign (ACC)

Experience with large-scale identity or CDP migrations from the client side (for example AWS Cognito at 5M+ MAU)

Managing Up & Cross-functional Influence

Proactively manages upward - anticipates what the VP and CTO need before being asked, surfaces the right signal at the right altitude, and brings clear recommendations rather than lists of options

Translates technical complexity and delivery risk into business language for non-technical executives; does not bury risk or wait for problems to escalate

Protects the team by negotiating scope and priority with the business - able to represent the cost of mid-quarter changes clearly and advocate for sustainable delivery without becoming a blocker

Builds and maintains strong working relationships across organizational boundaries - product owners, Finance, HR, platform and API teams, and vendor partners - without requiring top-down direction to do so

Represents Guest Engineering credibly in contract negotiations, executive reviews, and cross-functional forums; earns trust as an organizational leader, not just an engineering manager

Measurement & Continuous Improvement

Defines and owns the measurement framework for the Guest Engineering organization - establishes leading and lagging indicators across delivery velocity, app quality and reliability, code quality, and guest experience impact, and ensures every pod has visibility into them

Treats data as a management tool, not a reporting exercise - regularly inspects metrics, identifies signals from noise, and uses observations to drive concrete adjustments to team structure, process, tooling, or technical direction

Closes the loop between what was built and what it delivered - partners with product and analytics to connect engineering output to guest outcomes, and uses that feedback to inform prioritization and architectural decisions

Creates a culture of learning from production - conducts blameless post-mortems, tracks reliability trends over time, and holds the organization accountable for measurable improvement rather than one-time fixes

Technology Stack

React Native, TypeScript, iOS/Android, Next.js/Web, AI Dev Tooling

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).

Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or MBA. Relevant certifications in mobile platforms or program management are a plus.

10+ years total; 4+ years in a Director-level or senior engineering management role

10+ years of software engineering experience in mobile and web development

4+ years leading engineering organizations at the Director level or equivalent, with direct accountability for multi-team delivery, headcount, and app reliability across iOS, Android, and web

Demonstrated experience delivering complex programs at scale - platform migrations, multi-surface launches, or major architectural changes

Proven track record managing blended teams (FTE + staff augmentation) and multi-vendor relationships, including nearshore engineering partners

Experience in QSR, retail, or consumer-facing digital commerce with high-volume ordering and loyalty systems preferred

Experience with React Native at scale across iOS, Android, and web surfaces

Experience partnering with product and design organizations in a squad- or pod-based agile delivery model

What do we offer?

Insurance Plans (Medical, Life)

401K

Competitive Bonus

Mobility Allowance

Tuition Reimbursement

Company Holidays

Volunteering time

And More...

Compensation: The base pay range for this role is $184,500 - 230,600 annually

Pay within this range will be determined in good faith based on job-related factors, which may include skills, experience, education/training, location, and internal equity.