Director, Engineering

Goodwin; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 325,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Life and disability insurance

Retirement & Savings Plan

Paid vacation, sick time off, and holi

Professional development opportunities

Employee discounts and perks

Job summary

Goodwin seeks a Director of Engineering to lead a high-performing team delivering AI-enabled systems and full‑stack services. You will shape the technical vision, ensure architectural integrity, and drive production-grade, secure solutions across the firm.

You will bridge business strategy with engineering execution, champion continuous learning, and partner with product, security, and talent teams to align roadmaps with enterprise goals.

Qualifications

• Deep understanding of modern AI system architectures and distributed full-stack development.
• Track record scaling engineering teams and developing technical leaders.
• Ability to translate high-level business needs into executable sprints.
• Excellent communication skills with executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership to an expanding engineering organization and mentor top talent.
• Define technical roadmap and architectural blueprints for AI-enabled systems.
• Oversee design, development, and deployment of AI-driven applications and services.
• Track metrics like DORA, latency, and cost efficiency to improve operations.
• Manage agile resource allocation and prioritize cross-functional initiatives.
• Partner with security/compliance for policy adherence and data privacy.
• Translate vision into executable technical roadmaps with stakeholders.
• Foster innovation through engineering guilds and Communities of Practice.
• Collaborate with recruiting to build a strong engineering pipeline.

Skills

AI system architectures

LLM orchestration

LangChain / LlamaIndex

vector databases

secure API design

distributed full-stack

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Engineering

8+ years of engineering experience

3+ years in engineering leadership

Job description

Join Goodwin’s Global Operations Team, and make a real impact on a global scale. At Goodwin, we work with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors in the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology and financial industries, and where they converge. As part of the Global Operations Team – all business professionals at the firm – you’ll collaborate with colleagues from varied backgrounds and experiences, fostering an environment where cross-functional learning, networking, and collaboration are at the core of what we do.

Here, we’re not just supporting a law firm; we’re partnering with attorneys and clients to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation and dispute resolution, world-class regulatory compliance and advisory services, and complex transactions. Our commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition drives us, and we’re proud to have been recognised as the “Best Business Team” by The American Lawyer.

This is your opportunity to grow professionally in a dynamic, global environment, surrounded by forward-thinking peers.

The Director of Engineering will provide strategic and operational leadership to a high-performing team of engineers and full-stack developers. This role is responsible for driving the technical vision, architectural integrity, and execution of scalable, secure, and production-grade AI-enabled systems. As a key engineering leader, you will bridge the gap between complex business strategy and robust technical execution, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and engineering excellence.

What You Will Do

• Provide direct, empathetic, and growth-oriented leadership to an expanding engineering organization. Attract, mentor, and retain top-tier talent while fostering a high-accountability, inclusive, and collaborative team culture.
• Define the technical roadmap, engineering standards, and architectural blueprints for AI-enabled systems and backend services. Ensure all solutions are scalable, maintainable, resilient, and seamlessly aligned with enterprise architecture.
• Oversee the lifecycle design, rapid development, and production deployment of AI-driven applications and full-stack services, ensuring robust integration between modern AI frameworks and core backend infrastructure. Champion rigorous development practices—including advanced CI/CD pipelines, robust automated testing, thorough code reviews, and comprehensive operational readiness—to guarantee the highest standards of code quality and system reliability.
• Establish, track, and optimize key engineering metrics (e.g., DORA metrics, system latency, model inference performance, and infrastructure cost efficiency) to drive continuous operational improvement
• Supervise agile resource allocation, sprint prioritization, and capacity planning across multiple cross-functional initiatives to balance velocity with engineering health.
• Partner with security and compliance teams to ensure all AI system deployments adhere to stringent corporate policies, security protocols, data privacy standards, and evolving regulatory requirements.
• Act as a strategic liaison between engineering, product management, and business stakeholders to translate organizational vision into executable technical roadmaps.
• Drive internal innovation by spearheading engineering guilds or communities of practice focused on emerging AI paradigms, agentic workflows, and modern backend architectures.
• Partner with recruiting to build a highly competitive hiring pipeline, design technical evaluation frameworks, and lead onboarding strategies for incoming engineering talent.

Who You Are

• Deep, hands-on understanding of modern AI system architectures, LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex), vector databases, secure API design, and distributed full-stack application development.
• A tracking record of scaling engineering teams and developing technical leaders (Managers and Principal/Staff Engineers) within fast-paced environments.
• Exceptional ability to translate ambiguous, high-level business requirements into structured, phased, and executable engineering sprints.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the proven ability to articulate complex technical architectures to non-technical executive stakeholders and align diverse teams toward a unified technical vision.
• Typically requires a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, alongside 8+ years of progressive engineering experience, with 3+ years in a dedicated engineering management or leadership capacity.
• Occasional travel.

Benefits And More

At Goodwin, you will discover your next career opportunity with a rewarding compensation package and comprehensive benefits, including:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement & Savings Plan
• Emergency back-up child and adult care
• Paid vacation, sick time off, and holidays
• Professional development and career advancement opportunities
• Employee recognition and reward programs
• Employee wellness and assistance programs
• Employee discounts and perks

This position is eligible for overtime: No

The Target Salary Range For This Position Varies By Location And Is Commensurate With Relevant Experience: $225,000.00 - $325,000.00