Senior Lead Software Engineering

Head of Engineering / Senior Lead

Job Summary

As Head of Engineering / Senior Lead Emerging Technology & Software Engineering you will own the engineering vision and execution for AI-driven experiences within the Pearson Learning Studio (XL) platform an AI-first courseware ecosystem layering advanced intelligence on top of a modernized domain-driven services architecture.

You will lead a global metrics-driven organization of 100 engineers and data scientists across multiple scrum teams shaping the delivery of next-generation learning experiences including Student AI Mentor Personalized Insights & Recommendations and analytics powered by Learner Models Knowledge Graphs and shared platform services.

This role is for a grounded low-ego leader who wins through trust clarity and execution someone who builds strong teams partners deeply with product and business leaders and consistently turns emerging technology into real-world impact for students and educators.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering & Technology Leadership

• Define and execute the AI and GenAI engineering strategy aligned to Pearsons learning outcomes and business goals.

• Lead the design development and deployment of scalable AI solutions including conversational tutoring personalization engines and intelligent insights across the XL platform.

• Drive responsible adoption of Generative AI LLMs knowledge graphs and learner modeling frameworks to improve engagement retention and learning efficacy.

People & Culture

• Build and mentor a high-performing psychologically safe engineering culture grounded in humility ownership curiosity and results.

• Lead multiple distributed scrum teams developing future leaders and ensuring consistent execution excellence across geographies.

• Foster collaboration across product UX analytics content and commercial teams removing silos and aligning everyone to shared outcomes.

Metrics-Driven Delivery

• Establish clear success metrics across delivery velocity reliability quality adoption and learner outcomes.

• Create strong operating rhythms using OKRs agile metrics experimentation frameworks and business impact KPIs.

• Translate strategy into execution plans that consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at scale.

Platform & Operational Excellence

• Define standards for architecture data governance model lifecycle management and AI safety.

• Ensure all solutions meet strict standards for accuracy fairness compliance privacy security and reproducibility.

• Continuously improve engineering productivity through automation MLOps/LLMOps CI/CD pipelines and modern cloud practices.

Stakeholder Partnership

• Serve as a trusted partner to senior business product and academic leaders translating technical complexity into clear actionable decisions.

• Communicate insights and risks with clarity empathy and credibility.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Deep expertise in Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Generative AI LLMs and AI product engineering.

• Strong background in software engineering data engineering analytics platforms and Python-based ecosystems.

• Proven success leading large metrics-driven teams in high-growth complex environments.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills able to inspire listen influence and build trust without ego.

• Strong systems thinking with the ability to connect learner needs business strategy and technology architecture.

• Track record of applying emerging technologies pragmatically turning innovation into shipped products.

Qualifications & Experience

• Masters or PhD in Computer Science Data Science Engineering or a related field.

• 10 years in software engineering emerging technologies analytics and GenAI including 5 years leading organizations of 50 engineers across multiple agile teams.

• Demonstrated experience delivering AI-powered platforms in education SaaS or consumer-scale products.

• History of building teams that outperform on delivery quality and culture not through command-and-control but through clarity trust and accountability.

This is a hybrid work setup where the candidate will be required to work three days onsite at our Hoboken office.

Applications will be accepted through February 10. This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set level of experience and specific location. As required by the California Colorado Hawaii Illinois Maryland Minnesota New Jersey New York State New York City Vermont Washington State and Washington DC laws the pay range for this position is as follows:

The full-time salary range for this role is between $240000 - $260000

This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program and information on benefits offered is here

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