Director of Engineering

Whataburger; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base compensation

25% bonus potential

5 weeks paid time off

Health insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Job summary

A leading fast-casual restaurant chain is seeking a Director of Engineering to lead its digital technology efforts, managing the design and execution of web and mobile applications. This role requires a strong leader with over 10 years of experience in engineering and a focus on delivering high-quality digital experiences. Key responsibilities include overseeing engineering teams, enforcing best practices, and managing vendor relationships. This position offers competitive compensation, bonus potential, extensive PTO, and a strong benefits package.

Qualifications

• 10+ years leading and managing engineering teams
• 5+ years hands-on engineering experience
• Experience managing third-party engineering vendors
• Leadership of an API platform or API engineering org: standards, tooling, security, lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of scalable web and mobile digital ordering experiences
• Drive API-first strategy and oversee API platform
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices
• Define and track engineering KPIs

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Technical strategy

Cloud-native architectures

Agile development

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

API management tools

CI/CD tools

Job description

Join to apply for the Director of Engineering role at Whataburger

Location: The Individual can live Austin metro area but will be required to report to the San Antonio Home Office with regularity. The details will be discussed during the interview process.

About the Company

Since 1950, Whataburger has been serving bold flavors and warm hospitality. We’re modernizing our digital platforms so guests can order, pay, and enjoy Whataburger—anywhere, anytime—while keeping restaurant operations simple and reliable.

About the Role

The Director of Engineering will lead the technical direction, engineering execution, and digital delivery for Whataburger’s Digital Technology organization, supporting the expansion and modernization of our digital ecosystem. This includes consumer-facing web ordering, mobile apps (iOS/Android React Native), digital payments, loyalty, and integrations with third-party service and delivery partners.

Reporting to the Head of Digital Engineering, this role oversees engineering managers and cross-functional teams to build scalable, resilient digital experiences that support Whataburger’s growth and customer-first mission.

What You’ll Do

• Leads design and development of highly scalable web and mobile digital ordering experiences for Whataburger guests.
• Drives an API-first strategy, including oversight of the API platform, governance, standards, versioning, and overall API lifecycle management.
• Establishes and enforces engineering best practices, development standards, code quality guidelines, reliability patterns, and operational excellence.
• Defines, tracks, and continuously improves engineering KPIs: velocity, quality, uptime, technical debt, incident response, system performance, and delivery predictability.
• Oversees integrations with the eCommerce engine, loyalty systems, POS, payments, delivery service providers, and other third-party platforms.
• Partners with Product, UX, Security, Data, Infrastructure, Restaurant Tech, and business stakeholders to align on priorities, shared roadmaps, and delivery outcomes.
• Ensures strong engineering operations, including CI/CD, release automation, environment management, observability, alerting, and root-cause analysis.
• Strengthens vendor relationships with engineering partners, implementation firms, and cloud providers to ensure consistent and high-quality delivery.
• Manages departmental budgets, resource planning, timelines, delivery risks, and reporting for leadership.
• Evaluates new technologies and features, providing strategic and ROI-driven recommendations to support Whataburger’s digital roadmap.
• Assumes additional responsibilities as assigned.

What You’ll Bring

Education

• BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.

Experience

• 10+ years leading and managing engineering teams; 5+ years hands-on engineering experience.
• Proven experience scaling eCommerce web and mobile applications, ideally in high-volume or retail/restaurant environments.
• Demonstrated leadership of an API platform or API engineering organization, including standards, tooling, security, and lifecycle management.
• Deep understanding of agile development, system integrations, cloud-native architectures, and mobile/web ecosystems.
• Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder engagement, and technical strategy skills.
• Experience managing third-party engineering vendors and implementation partners

Whataburger Perks

This position offers competitive base compensation, 25% bonus potential, 5 weeks paid time off to start, and additional benefits such as health, dental, vision, and 401(k). Most importantly Whataburger is growing and that means growth opportunities for you and your team, and a culture that feels like family. You’ll be part of a team that’s passionate about food, service, and making a difference in the communities we serve.

Seniority Level

Director

Employment Type

Full-time

Job Function

Information Technology

Restaurants

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Additional Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k)