Director, Engineering

atlanticmedia; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 185,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

The Atlantic is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead the Reader Experience and Interactive engineering teams in Washington, DC. You will oversee managers and senior engineers across multiple product areas, shaping how readers discover, engage, and experience our journalism.

In this role you will recruit top talent, partner with product, design, editorial, and business stakeholders, and set clear ownership, priorities, and technical direction.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience leading engineering teams through managers.
• 4+ years in engineering leadership roles with responsibility for multiple teams or a broad product area.
• Strong technical background in modern web application development and architecture.
• Demonstrated experience recruiting, developing, and retaining engineering talent.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams through full product development cycles.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering across Reader Experience and Interactive, including managing engineering managers and senior technical leaders across multiple teams and product areas.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing engineering organization.
• Partner with Product, Design, Editorial, and other stakeholders to plan, scope, and deliver impactful work.
• Set clear expectations and support managers and engineers in growing toward their goals.
• Build clarity around ownership, prioritization, and decision-making across teams with overlapping systems and dependencies.
• Improve knowledge sharing and reduce single points of failure by establishing durable practices for documentation, architectural communication, and cross-team learning.
• Represent teams' work in broader engineering and cross-functional conversations.

Skills

Software engineering

Engineering leadership

Web application development

Team leadership

Job description

The Atlantic is looking for an experienced and technically grounded Director of Engineering to lead Engineering in our Reader Experience and Interactive engineering missions. We aim to support a more thoughtful American public by powering and expanding our Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism - and we want the products we ship to be worthy of that mission.

In this role, you will lead the teams responsible for Reader Experience and Interactive, including the systems and experiences that shape how readers discover, consume, and engage with The Atlantic across read, listen, watch, community, discovery, edit tooling, games, AI, and labs-style experiences.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience leading engineering teams through managers
• 4+ years in engineering leadership roles with responsibility for multiple teams or a broad product area
• Strong technical background in modern web application development and architecture
• Demonstrated experience recruiting, developing, and retaining engineering talent
• Demonstrated experience leading teams through full product development cycles
• Strong judgment in prioritization, staffing, organizational design, and cross-team execution

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading engineering for consumer-facing digital products at scale
• Experience with editorial tooling, interactive products, content platforms, subscriptions, advertising systems, or audience-facing experimentation
• Experience working closely with Product, Design, Editorial, and business stakeholders
• Experience improving knowledge sharing, team operating cadence, and cross-team technical decision‑making
• Experience in a media or publishing environment

As a Director of Engineering at The Atlantic , you will:

• Lead engineering across Reader Experience and Interactive, including managing engineering managers and senior technical leaders across multiple teams and product areas
• Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing engineering organization
• Partner closely with Product, Design, Editorial, and other stakeholders to plan, scope, and deliver impactful work
• Set clear expectations and support managers and engineers in growing toward their goals
• Build clarity around ownership, prioritization, and decision‑making across teams with overlapping systems and dependencies
• Stay close enough to the work to weigh in on technical direction, organizational tradeoffs, and execution risks
• Improve knowledge sharing and reduce single points of failure by establishing durable practices for documentation, architectural communication, and cross‑team learning
• Represent your teams' work and needs in broader engineering and cross‑functional conversations
• Contribute to engineering‑wide standards, hiring, and organizational planning as a peer to other engineering leaders
• Participate in incident response leadership and reliability practices to help improve system resilience, response quality, and operating expectations across the organization.

The role will at times include night, early‑morning, and weekend work.

As a Director of Engineering at The Atlantic , you are:

• A people‑first leader : You care genuinely about the growth and wellbeing of the leaders and engineers on your teams
• A strong communicator : You distill complex technical and organizational issues clearly for a diverse set of stakeholders, and you advocate effectively for your teams across the organization
• Technically credible : You have a strong engineering background and can engage meaningfully on architecture, systems, quality, and technical tradeoffs
• AI‑fluent : You have strong judgment about how AI tools and AI‑powered product features should shape engineering execution, team practices, and technical decision‑making. You help leaders and teams use these tools effectively without outsourcing critical thinking, quality standards, or accountability.
• A collaborator: You build trust across Engineering, Product, Design, Editorial, and business teams, and you navigate competing priorities without creating friction
• A pragmatic planner : You can break large, ambiguous initiatives into ordered, executable work while balancing short‑term delivery with long‑term team health and technical quality
• Adaptable : You are energized by variety. Shifting priorities, evolving team needs, and organizational change invigorate you
• An interest in the pursuit of truth : You recognize the fundamental importance of journalism and are genuinely excited to build the products and experiences that support it

Salary minimum: $185,000; Salary maximum: $215,000

This role is based in Washington, D.C.

About The Atlantic:

The Atlantic has, for more than 160 years, advanced ideas that matter and sparked global conversation on the most important issues of our time. We aim to bring clarity and original thinking to questions of consequence, on topics ranging from politics, the economy, and global affairs to technology, science, and cult