Director Engineering

Socket.dev; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 269,000 - 373,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Equity package

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Chime is seeking a Director of Engineering for the AI & App Experience (AAX) organization to lead the team building Jade, Chime’s AI-powered assistant, and the AI platform. You’ll own multi-quarter strategy, translate priorities to scalable plans, and lead a bench of tech leaders while partnering with Product, Design, Data Science, and Risk to shape roadmaps.

You will set the technical bar for AI-native products, grow engineering leaders, and drive a culture of safe, scalable innovation across

Qualifications

• 10+ years software engineering experience, including 5+ years managing managers or leading multi-team engineering organizations.
• Proven track record building and scaling AI/LLM-powered consumer products.
• Experience hiring, developing, and retaining engineering leaders (TLMs and Staff+ ICs).
• Strong fundamentals across React Native, Python, Ruby on Rails, GraphQL and distributed systems.
• Ability to translate company/product strategy into multi-quarter engineering plans and adapt org design as priorities evolve.
• Excellent executive communication skills connecting org strategy to business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Own multi-quarter strategy for AAX engineering and translate priorities into roadmaps across consumer AI experiences, AI Platform, App Journey, and Design System.
• Build, lead, and hire a high-caliber leadership bench and foster a builder mindset.
• Set technical direction for the org and ensure architectural alignment across AI experiences, platform, app journey, and design system.
• Drive AI-native engineering culture and safe scalable deployment of LLM-powered features.
• Partner with Product, Design, Data Science, and Risk to shape roadmaps and unify platform/value into plans.
• Represent AAX and engineering in cross-functional/executive forums and align with company strategy.
• Cultivate a high-performing culture with strong talent, performance, and career development practices.
• Ensure strong operational practices across on-call, monitoring, and incident response for all services.
• Contribute to engineering initiatives as a member of Chime’s leadership team.

Skills

AI/LLM

Leadership

Executive comms

React Native

Python

Ruby on Rails

GraphQL

Distributed systems

Strategy planning

Tools

AI Platform

Job description

About the role

Chime is looking for a Director of Engineering to lead our AI & App Experience (AAX) organization — the team building the next generation of the Chime member experience. AAX owns Jade, Chime’s AI-powered financial assistant, our AI platform infrastructure as well as the core app experiences and shared design system.

In this role, you’ll own the multi-quarter strategy for AAX engineering, translating company priorities into scalable plans across these teams. You’ll build and lead a bench of TLM (tech leader managers) and senior technical staff, set the technical bar for how Chime builds AI-native, member-facing products, and partner with Product, Design, Data Science, and our Risk team to shape where AAX invests next.

This is a role for a leader who is equally comfortable setting long-range technical vision and staying close enough to the details to guide hard architectural calls — someone who has helped build or scale AI/LLM-powered consumer products and knows how to grow the engineering leaders around them.

The base salary offered for this role and level of experience will begin at $269,000.00 and up to $373,000.00. Full-time employees are also eligible for a bonus, competitive equity package, and benefits. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

In this role, you can expect to

• In partnership with our product team you will own the multi-quarter strategy for AAX engineering, translating company and product priorities into our roadmap plans across consumer facing AI experiences, AI Platform, App Journey, and Design Systems.
• Build, lead, and hire a high-caliber leadership bench of highly technical leaders/IC’s as well as building a team culture that exemplifies a builder mindset.
• Partners with your team to set technical direction for the org, driving architectural alignment across our consumer facing AI experiences, AI Platform, App Journey, and Design System.
• You will continue to drive our AI-native engineering culture: setting the bar for how LLM-powered features get shipped safely at scale.
• Own engineering’s strategic role in product direction, partnering with Product, Design, Data Science, and Risk leadership to shape roadmaps, challenge assumptions, and integrate platform and member value into long-range plans
• Represent AAX and engineering more broadly in cross-functional and executive forums, connecting the org’s work to company-wide strategy and outcomes
• Cultivate a high-performing culture across the org, modeling Chime’s values and ensuring strong talent, performance, and career development practices on every team
• Ensure the org maintains strong operational practices — on-call, monitoring, and incident response — for every service/experience the team owns
• Contribute to overall engineering initiatives as a member of Chime’s engineering leadership team

To thrive in this role, you have

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years managing managers or leading multi-team engineering organizations
• A track record of building and scaling AI/LLM-powered consumer products, with the technical depth to guide future investments and technical direction.
• Experience hiring, developing, and retaining engineering leaders (TLM’s and Staff+ ICs), and building leadership pipelines and succession plans
• Strong technical fundamentals across relevant parts of the stack (e.g., React Native, Python or Ruby on Rails, GraphQL, distributed systems) and the judgment to know where to go deep
• Demonstrated ability to translate company and product strategy into multi-quarter engineering plans, and to adapt org design as priorities and scale evolve
• Excellent executive communication skills — you can craft a compelling narrative that connects org strategy to business outcomes for senior leaders and cross-functional partners
• Experience partnering closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and Risk/Compliance functions in a regulated or high-trust environment (fintech experience a strong plus)
• AI-native fluency and a genuine interest in AI-native ways of working, with a track record of fostering that practice across teams rather than treating it as someone else’s job
• The desire to make a huge difference at a growing company, and the ability to motivate teams through delivery on aggressive schedules and goals

#LI-JC1 #LI-Onsite

A little about us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime—a financial technology company, not a bank*—on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user-friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it's starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we're proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We're a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out-hustle and out-execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner's mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress.

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people's trust—so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren't just words on a wall—our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don't—who will?

*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What we offer for our full-time, regular employees

• Our in-office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company-wide events depending on location. Whether you’re coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you’ll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• Benefits that support your work and life, including backup child, elder, and pet care and subsidized commuter benefits for eligible employees.
• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits designed to support you at every stage of life.
• Generous vacation policy and company-wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birthing parents
• Access to family planning reimbursement
• A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can’t be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: [e-mail]

To learn more about how Chime collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please see the Chime Applicant Privacy Notice.