Associate Director / Lead Engineer, GenAI

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Rockville (MD); Vor Ort; USD 131.000 - 238.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

FINRA seeks an Associate Director / Lead Engineer for Generative AI in Rockville, MD, to lead a small team delivering data pipelines, embedding models, and retrieval systems for a cutting-edge generative AI platform.

This role blends hands-on technical involvement with strategic planning, stakeholder communication, and mentoring, with a hybrid work environment that supports collaboration across teams and speed of delivery.

Qualifikationen

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field.
• 5+ years of managing technical programs and budget responsibilities.
• Experience across strategy, software development, operations, information security, or compliance.

Aufgaben

• Set the technical vision and architectural direction for knowledge framework integrations, including data ingestion and retrieval systems.
• Manage and develop a small team of software engineers, fostering ownership and collaboration.
• Own the team roadmap and translate business requirements into technical plans; track progress and risks.
• Collaborate with product, platform engineering, and agent development teams to align priorities.

Kenntnisse

Team leadership

Architecture direction

Data pipelines

Stakeholder communication

Ausbildung

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Jobbeschreibung

## Associate Director / Lead Engineer, GenAIApplylocations: Rockville, MD (Job Posting): Tysons, VA (Job Posting)time type: Full timeposted on: Posted Todayjob requisition id: R-009973The Associate Director / Lead Engineer leads a small team of software engineers responsible for designing and delivering the data pipelines, retrieval systems, and knowledge integrations that power a generative AI platform. This role combines technical leadership with people management — setting architectural direction, removing blockers, and ensuring the team delivers high-quality, scalable solutions. The Associate Director /Lead Engineer balances hands-on technical involvement with strategic planning, stakeholder communication, and team development.**Essential Job Functions:*** Directly manage team(s) focused on delivering high quality project results within one or more major technology disciplines: strategy, software development, operations, engineering, development services, information security, and compliance.* Focus on team leadership, delivery of business value, risk mitigation, cost optimization and return on investment.* Deliver results based upon FINRA annual goals, department goals and management requests.* Direct and coordinate organization's financial and budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, and increase efficiency for a project(s).* Ensure technology best practices are being implemented and improved within team(s).* Analyze information and evaluate results to choose the best solutions and solve problems.* Support the evaluation of new technologies, techniques, and tools.* Report status and issues to senior Technology management team.* Work directly with outside vendors to negotiate services and product agreements* Willingness to lead, take responsibility and offer options.* Serve as a backup to more senior level management as needed.* Develop constructive and cooperative working relationships with peers both within and outside of Technology, and maintain them over time.* Establish and maintain external relationships with strategic product/service vendors and industry forums (government & private councils, standards bodies, product forums, etc.), as appropriate.* Contribute to the establishment, evolution and continued compliance with standard practices and processes within the disciplines.* Assist with adherence to technology policies and comply with all security controls.* Ensure all work products meets/exceeds FINRA standards and risks are effectively managed.* Participate in periodic Disaster Recovery (DR), Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) testing and reporting.Resource Management:* Identify and hire resource/skills needed within their organization.* Responsible for staff performance management and training.* Coordinate assignment of subordinate staff.* Demonstration of FINRA’s values.* Collaboration, both in-person and virtually, in furtherance of FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.Key Responsibilities:Technical Leadership & Architecture· Set the technical vision and architectural direction for knowledge framework integrations, including data ingestion, embedding pipelines, and retrieval systems· Make key design decisions on pipeline architecture, data modeling, and search strategies, balancing quality, performance, and delivery timelines· Evaluate and recommend technologies, frameworks, and approaches for knowledge integration challenges· Maintain sufficient hands-on involvement to provide credible technical guidance and unblock the team on complex problems· Demonstrate solid understanding of systems and processes within the domain and recommend improvementsTeam Leadership & People Management· Manage, mentor, and develop a small team of software engineers, fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement· Conduct regular one-on-ones, provide constructive feedback, and support career growth for direct reports· Plan and prioritize team workload, balancing feature delivery, technical debt, and operational responsibilities· Recruit, onboard, and ramp new team members as the team scales· Champion collaborative resolution of defects and lead internal process improvement initiativesEngineering Excellence & Quality· Establish and enforce engineering standards for code quality, testing, documentation, and peer review across the team· Guide the team in best practices for data pipeline development, retrieval system design, and test automation· Ensure comprehensive test coverage including unit testing, integration testing, and retrieval quality evaluation· Drive adoption of test-driven development (TDD) practices and automated quality gatesPlanning & Delivery· Own the team's roadmap and delivery commitments, translating business requirements into actionable technical plans· Break down complex integration initiatives into well-scoped work items with clear acceptance criteria· Track progress, identify risks early, and adjust plans to meet deadlines without sacrificing quality· Provide regular status updates and delivery forecasts to leadershipStakeholder Collaboration· Partner with product, platform engineering, and agent development teams to align knowledge integration priorities with broader platform goals· Communicate complex or technical information at the appropriate level for diverse audiences including leadership, peers, and external partners· Represent the team in cross-functional planning sessions, architecture reviews, and prioritization discussions· Build strong working relationships across the organization to facilitate collaboration and shared accountabilityGenerative AI & Emerging Technologies· Stay informed of advances in RAG architectures, embedding models, retrieval optimization, and knowledge management approaches· Evaluate emerging technologies and techniques for applicability to the team's work, making build-vs-buy recommendations· Drive innovation within the team by creating space for experimentation and proof-of-concept workSecurity & Compliance· Ensure all team deliverables meet or exceed organizational standards for secure development practices· Oversee secure handling of sensitive domain data throughout the ingestion and retrieval lifecycle· Assist with adherence to technology policies and ensure the team complies with all security controls· Participate in threat modeling and security discussions for data pipeline and infrastructure components**Education/Experience Requirements:*** Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related discipline with at least five (5) years of related experience, or equivalent training and/or work experience; Master’s degree and past Financial Services industry experience preferred.* Minimum of 3 years of managing technical programs and/or processes including staff management of at least four (4) resources and budget of at least $1 million annually.* Knowledge of business, technology and management principles involved in strategic planning, organizational change management, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, and coordination of people and resources.* Experience must include direct project experience in one of the following areas: strategy, software development, operations, engineering, development services, information security, and/or compliance.* Extensive knowledge of industry leading technology best practices including familiarity with technology methodologies including at least one of ISO-9000, ITIL, Agile and iterative.* Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills.* Demonstrated ability to develop effective working relationships and leverage those relationships to improve the quality of work products.* Must be able to identify, evaluate and recommend processes, tools, technologies and/or products to meet business and budgetary requirements.* Should be well organized, thorough, and able to handle competing priorities.* Ability to maintain focus and develop proficiency in new skills rapidly.* Ability to work in a fast paced environment.**Work Conditions:*** Hybrid work environment, with defined in-person presence requirements.* Occasional travel and extended hours may be required.For work that is performed in CO, FL, TX, IL, PA, MA, MD, VA, Washington, DC, NY and NJ, please refer to the chart below for the salary range for the corresponding location. FINRA complies with all state and local pay transparency laws and regulations requiring the disclosure of salary ranges for the position. In addition to location, actual compensation is based on various factors, including but not limited to, the candidate’s skill set, level of experience, education, and market considerations. CO/FL/TX: Minimum Salary $114,200, Maximum Salary $207,200IL/PA: Minimum Salary $125,900, Maximum Salary $228,000 MA/MD/VA/Washington, DC: Minimum Salary $131,200, Maximum Salary $238,300NY/NJ: Minimum Salary $131,200, Maximum Salary $248,700#LI-Hybrid**To be considered for this position, please submit an application.** **Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.***The information provided above has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work of the position. It is not a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required.****Please note: If the “Apply Now” button on a job board posting does not take you directly to the FINRA Careers site, enter www.finra.org/careers into your browser to reach our site directly.***Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Non-exempt employees are also eligible for overtime pay in accordance with federal, state, or local law. As part of its dedication to employee wellness, FINRA provides comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance. Additional insurance includes basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, supplemental life, spouse/domestic partner and dependent life, and spouse/domestic partner and dependent accidental death and dismemberment, short- and long-term disability, long-term care, business travel accident, disability and legal. FINRA offers immediate participation and vesting in a 401(k) plan with company match and eligibility for participation in an additional FINRA-funded retirement contribution, tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, and other benefits that support employee wellness, such as adoption assistance, backup family care, surrogacy benefits, employee assistance, and wellness programs.