Director, Guest Engineering
Shelton, CT - USA
Job Summary
Director Guest Engineering
Franchise World Headquarters LLC
Shelton CT or Miami FL
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 whats next.
Position Overview
The Director Guest Engineering is the single technical and organizational leader for Subways full guest-facing digital stack mobile (iOS Android) web kiosk and the middleware/API platform layer that powers ordering loyalty identity and guest data across every channel. Reporting to the VP of Guest Engineering this Director owns end-to-end delivery across a full-stack pod-based engineering organization spanning four cross-functional pods each combining mobile web and middleware engineers under a single roadmap. This is a new role requiring a deeply technical leader who can set architectural direction across front-end and back-end domains build and retain a high-performing multi-disciplinary organization of 20 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 all guest-facing surfaces (iOS Android web kiosk) and the middleware/API platform (Fresh APIs Digital APIs Identity MarTech integration) own the multi-year technical roadmap and platform strategy end-to-end and align surface and platform evolution with Subways guest experience and business priorities.
Lead develop and retain a team of Sr. Development Managers Tech Leads and Solution Architects across the full-stack 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 spanning surface delivery and the underlying API platform; resolve cross-team dependencies end-to-end and escalate blockers with clear recommendations.
Own production operations and platform reliability across all guest-facing surfaces and the middleware layer establish on-call standards incident response protocols and SLA targets; serve as engineering executive sponsor for the AWS Cognito identity platform and 3PD partner integrations (DoorDash UberEats Grubhub Walmart); 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.
Qualifications
Deep expertise across both front-end (React Native cross-platform mobile/web) and back-end (API platform engineering RESTful and event-driven architectures AWS Lambda API Gateway EventBridge SQS) domains sufficient to set architectural direction challenge technical proposals and earn credibility with senior engineers across every surface and the middleware layer.
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) alongside identity and access management patterns (OAuth 2.0 social sign-in large-scale CDP/identity migration such as AWS Cognito).
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) AWS infrastructure Akamai CDN LaunchDarkly feature flag management and release engineering across App Store / Google Play / kiosk distribution and production API environments.
10 years of software engineering experience with 4 years in engineering director or senior management roles leading multi-team organizations of 20 engineers across mobile web and backend/API disciplines.
Proven track record of building and scaling full-stack engineering organizations including hiring developing Sr. Development Managers and Tech Leads managing performance and building inclusive cultures across distributed teams.
Exceptional cross-functional communication able to translate technical complexity across front-end and platform domains 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 partner integrations) with accountability for delivery outcomes and SLA compliance.
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.
Data-driven leader: defines and owns the measurement framework for the full Guest Engineering organization establishes leading and lagging indicators across delivery velocity platform reliability and guest experience impact and uses metrics to drive concrete adjustments to team structure process and technical direction.
Bachelors degree in Computer Science Software Engineering or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
10 years total software engineering experience spanning both mobile/web development and API platform integration or backend systems engineering; 4 years leading engineering organizations at Director level or equivalent with direct accountability for multi-team delivery headcount and platform reliability.
Demonstrated experience delivering complex platform programs at scale migrations convergences Adobe stack consolidations CDP/identity replacements 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.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with React Native at scale across iOS Android and web surfaces paired with hands-on backend/API platform delivery.
Background managing 3PD marketplace integrations (DoorDash UberEats Grubhub or equivalent) at the API level.
Experience with AWS Cognito or a comparable identity platform at 5M MAU scale.
Hands-on familiarity with Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) and Adobe Campaign (ACC).
Background delivering kiosk or embedded Android applications in a retail or hospitality environment.
Masters degree in Computer Science Engineering or MBA; relevant certifications in AWS mobile platforms API design or program management are a plus.
What do we offer
Insurance Plans (Medical Life)
Pension/401K/RSP (country specific)
Competitive Bonus
Mobility Allowance
Tuition Reimbursement
Company Holidays
Volunteering time
And More..
Required Experience:
Director