AVP of Digital Engineering & Platforms

Mariner Finance; Maryland; Hybrid; USD 151,000 - 196,000; Full time

Job summary

Mariner Finance seeks a senior leader to head Digital Engineering and Quality Assurance, overseeing the development, delivery, and operation of our customer-facing digital platforms, including online lending, customer accounts, mobile apps, APIs, and related capabilities.

You will partner with senior technology and business leaders to translate strategy into engineering roadmaps, drive modernization of the SDLC with automation and AI-assisted practices, and build a high-performing, scalable

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or related field.
• 10+ years in software engineering or digital engineering with 5+ years in leadership.
• Experience leading large-scale, customer-facing digital platforms.
• Strong experience in web and mobile apps, APIs, cloud-native architectures, and automated testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead Digital Engineering and Quality Assurance, ensuring delivery quality and platform reliability.
• Shape engineering standards, prioritize technology roadmaps, and modernization efforts.
• Translate strategy into short- and long-term engineering plans and delivery commitments.
• Drive modernization of SDLC with automation and AI-assisted development.
• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, Security, and Ops to enable digital initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/IS or related field

Tools

AWS

GitHub

CI/CD

API platforms

Job description

Base Salary Range

USD $150,674.69 - USD $195,950.45 /Yr.

Join Mariner Finance!

Candidates located within 60 miles of our Baltimore, Plano, or Eagan locations will be expected to be in the office Monday-Thursday; otherwise, the role can be remote.

Since 1927, the Mariner Finance family of companies has provided customers with creative, flexible, and convenient lending options. Headquartered in Baltimore, Mariner Finance operates coast-to-coast with physical locations in over half the states. With a growing number of employees, superior customer service remains the cornerstone of our business, and we pride ourselves in delivering a variety of loans with an enhanced focus on exceptional service. We work with customers to find options that are beneficial to their specific needs, which is why we are recognized by our customers as one of the community’s consumer finance companies of choice.

Benefits:

For information regarding our benefits, please visit: https://www.marinerfinance.com/careers/benefits/

All full time employees are provided with a generous benefits package in addition to their monetary compensation. Learn more about it today.

Job Details

In this role, you will...

Lead the Digital Engineering and Quality Assurance functions responsible for the development, delivery, quality, modernization, and ongoing operation of the company’s customer-facing digital platforms, including online lending, customer account experiences, mobile applications, APIs, and supporting digital capabilities.

Serve as a senior-level subject matter advisor on digital engineering, software delivery, quality engineering, and platform operations. Partner with senior technology and business leaders to translate organizational strategy and product priorities into actionable engineering plans, standards, and roadmaps that improve delivery, reliability, scalability, security, and customer experience.

Drive a high-performing engineering organization focused on speed, quality, predictability, accountability, and continuous improvement, including modernization of the software development lifecycle through automation, modern engineering practices, and AI-assisted and agentic development capabilities.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Lead the Digital Engineering and Quality Assurance functions, with accountability for engineering delivery, application quality, production readiness, platform reliability, and overall functional performance and results.
• Shape functional strategy, engineering standards, technology priorities, and modernization roadmaps for Digital Engineering and Quality Assurance in collaboration with senior leadership.
• Partner with senior leaders in the development of functional strategy, engineering standards, operating practices, technology priorities, and modernization roadmaps that support the company’s digital capabilities and broader technology objectives.
• Translate organizational strategy, business priorities, and product roadmaps into short-and long-term engineering plans, priorities, resource requirements, and delivery commitments.
• Serve as a senior-level subject matter advisor to technology and business leaders on digital engineering capabilities, platform performance, delivery risks, technical investments, and emerging technologies.
• Oversee the development, enhancement, modernization, and ongoing support of customer-facing web and mobile applications, APIs, integrations, and supporting digital platforms.
• Evaluate software architecture, technical design, and engineering practices; partner closely with Enterprise Architecture to ensure solutions are scalable, secure, resilient, maintainable, supportable, and aligned with enterprise standards.
• Influence cross-functional leaders and teams across Product, Architecture, Information Security, Infrastructure and Operations, Compliance, and other business and technology functions to establish priorities, resolve dependencies, and support successful delivery of digital initiatives.
• Establish and reinforce engineering standards and practices across software development, quality engineering, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, release management, and production operations, promoting full lifecycle ownership across engineering teams.
• Establish, monitor, and report key performance indicators related to delivery predictability, cycle time, throughput, quality, reliability, automation, productivity, and platform performance, and drive actions to improve results.
• Develop short-and long-term plans for engineering capabilities, organizational capacity, talent, sourcing, technical practices, and platform modernization in alignment with business demand and departmental priorities.
• Assess team capabilities and performance, identify skill and capacity gaps, and develop appropriate hiring, development, sourcing, and organizational strategies.
• Lead and optimize blended delivery models incorporating internal, offshore, vendor, and partner resources while maintaining appropriate technical leadership, quality, security, accountability, and performance expectations.
• Advance quality engineering and automation throughout the development lifecycle to improve test coverage, release quality, platform reliability, and production outcomes.
• Lead modernization of the software development lifecycle through the practical adoption of generative AI, AI-assisted engineering, and agentic development practices, establishing measurable outcomes for productivity, quality, delivery capacity, and cycle time.
• Foster strong working relationships with internal teams and external partners to drive a culture of collaboration, accountability, technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Promote the professional growth and development of team members by sharing knowledge, mentoring, establishing clear expectations, and providing consistent, actionable feedback.
• Responsible for managerial matters such as performance appraisals and goal setting, promotions, salary recommendations, staffing, and organizational planning in accordance with company hiring processes, personnel policies, and budget requirements.
• Stay current on industry standards, emerging technologies, software engineering practices, security considerations, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• May perform additional functions depending on business needs.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field; additional applicable experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive software engineering, digital engineering, application development, or related technology experience, including at least 5 years of relevant experience leading engineering teams, technical functions, and complex technology delivery.
• Minimum of 5 years of people leadership experience, including experience leading managers, technical leads, or senior engineering professionals.
• Demonstrated experience leading the development and operation of large-scale, customer-facing digital platforms.
• Strong technical foundation in modern software engineering, including web and mobile applications, APIs and microservices, cloud-native architecture, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, and production operations.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate software architecture, technical designs, engineering practices, delivery approaches, and engineering talent.
• Experience modernizing legacy platforms while simultaneously delivering new digital capabilities.
• Experience managing blended delivery models incorporating internal, offshore, vendor, and third-party engineering teams.
• Demonstrated success improving engineering execution, delivery predictability, software quality, platform reliability, and organizational accountability.
• Experience implementing modern DevOps or DevSecOps practices and automated software delivery capabilities.
• Practical knowledge of generative AI, AI-assisted engineering, and emerging agentic software development approaches.
• Strong executive communication, leadership, decision-making, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to influence leaders and stakeholders across technology and business functions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading digital engineering within consumer financial services, lending, fintech, banking, or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience with modern JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystems, React or React Native, Node.js, RESTful APIs, event-driven architectures, and AWS.
• Experience with identity and access management, API platforms, SaaS integrations, and complex enterprise integration patterns.
• Experience with modern engineering toolchains, including GitHub, automated CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, automated testing, and observability platforms.
• Experience with AI-assisted engineering platforms or agentic development workflows.
• Experience leading significant digital-platform modernization or replacement initiatives.

Hours of Work:

Work hours will depend on the business hours of the time zone serviced. To the extent permitted by law, the Company may, in its sole discretion, change the work schedule to address business needs.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit for extended periods; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to twenty (20) pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

EEO:

Mariner Finance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, familial or caregiver status, citizenship status, status as a victim of domestic violence, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, or status as a disabled or Vietnam era veteran.Employee must be able to perform the essential duties/functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential duties/functions of their job, absent undue hardship.Drug/Alcohol/Smoke-free workplace.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time or without notice.