Director, Software Engineering (Core Money Transfer)

Western Union; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 290,000 - 310,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Short-term incentives

Health insurance options

Parental Leave

401K plan

Job summary

Western Union is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to guide multiple teams delivering Core Money Transfer capabilities. You will shape the platform strategy, drive modernization, and ensure reliable, secure, high-performing systems while coaching engineers across regions.

The role requires 12+ years in software leadership, strong collaboration with Product and Operations, and expertise in Java/Spring Boot, cloud-native architectures, and CI/CD pipelines.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or related field; 12+ years of professional experience or MS with 10+ years, including 6+ years in engineering leadership.
• Experience leading large-scale software engineering orgs for mission-critical platforms.
• Experience with AI-enabled engineering practices to improve software quality and delivery effectiveness.
• Strong cross-functional partnership with Product Management and Operations.
• Excellent decision-making, communication, and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Set architectural direction for scalable, high-performance platforms.
• Lead multiple teams delivering Core Money Transfer capabilities.
• Drive platform modernization, observability, and operational excellence.
• Coach and develop engineering leaders; manage capacity and talent strategy.
• Partner with Product, Data Engineering, and Operations to align strategy with business priorities.

Skills

Leadership experience

Cross-functional collaboration

AI-enabled engineering practices

Communication skills

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

MS in Computer Science (preferred)

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/Google)

CI/CD

Job description

Are you ready to help modernize a software engineering organization that builds products connecting millions of users around the world? Are you seeking an opportunity to join a globally diverse organization where unique contributions are recognized and celebrated, and where everyone is empowered to thrive? Join Western Union as a Director, Software Engineering.

Role Overview

Western Union is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead engineering teams responsible for delivering critical capabilities across our Core Money Transfer platform. This leader will help shape the strategic direction of the platform, contribute to long-term roadmap planning, drive execution against business priorities, and provide engineering leadership, coaching, and organizational direction on a day-to-day basis. The role oversees multiple engineering teams spanning software delivery, API services, and platform health and operations functions, and is accountable for delivering exceptional technology solutions and measurable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Platform Delivery Guide the architectural direction of scalable, high-performance systems by partnering with architects and engineering leaders to deliver resilient, secure, and highly available platforms. Deliver technical and business outcomes by making sound technology investment, architectural, and product trade-off decisions that improve platform performance, profitability, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Champion quality, performance, and reliability across the platform, ensuring strong observability, automation, and operational excellence. Drive platform modernization initiatives that simplify architecture, reduce technical debt, improve resiliency, and accelerate delivery velocity. Accountable for platform availability, delivery predictability, engineering productivity, operational excellence, and customer-impacting performance metrics.
• Operational Excellence Establish robust support and execution models to effectively manage ad-hoc and operational requests without disrupting planned delivery. Advocate for developer experience through platform abstractions, tooling, and standards that enhance engineering productivity and consistency. Promote continuous improvement through modern engineering practices, CI/CD, and cloud-native design principles. Lead engineering teams responsible for application support, API operations, platform health, and production reliability, ensuring strong operational discipline, service availability, incident management, vulnerability remediation, and continuous improvement across the Core Money Transfer and pricing ecosystems.
• People & Culture Build and lead high-performing teams of software engineers across regions by attracting, developing, and mentoring engineering talent while fostering a culture of accountability. Foster an engineering excellence culture grounded in strong coding standards, architectural discipline, innovation, accountability, and collaboration. Develop future leaders by strengthening technical leadership depth and scalability across the organization. Establish organizational goals, metrics, and operating mechanisms that improve execution predictability, engineering effectiveness, and business alignment. Manage engineering capacity, workforce planning, organizational design, and talent strategy across globally distributed teams.
• Leadership & Collaboration Drive cross-functional collaboration by partnering closely with Product Management, Data Engineering, and Operations teams to shape platform strategy and technical solutions. Influence the technology roadmap by aligning platform engineering strategy with business objectives and product priorities. Lead multiple engineering teams through the delivery lifecycle, ensuring predictable execution, technical excellence, and alignment with business objectives.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale software engineering organizations responsible for mission-critical platforms and customer-facing capabilities.
• BS in Computer Science or a related field with 12+ years of professional experience, or MS with 10+ years, including 6+ years in an engineering leadership role.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI-enabled engineering practices to improve software quality, developer productivity, code generation, automated testing, documentation, and delivery effectiveness.
• Strong experience working with cross-functional partners, including Product Management and Operations.
• Excellent decision-making, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Deep understanding of computer science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, object-oriented programming, and design.
• Strong experience in architectural design, with the ability to clearly communicate and evangelize architectural concepts across diverse audiences.
• Deep experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems, microservices, APIs, cloud-native platforms, and event-driven architectures.
• Working knowledge of enterprise application development using technologies such as Java, Spring Boot, and related ecosystem frameworks.
• Experience with Agile development, TDD, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience designing and delivering cloud-based architectures (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or hybrid environments).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the Financial Services industry.
• AWS certification(s) preferred (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Developer, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience building and operating cloud-native platforms in AWS, Azure, or hybrid environments.
• Experience with containerized microservices, Kubernetes, and modern API platforms.
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code, automated deployment pipelines, and platform observability.
• Familiarity with integrating AI tools into developer workflows (IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, code review systems).
• Awareness of emerging AI development tools and practices.
• Proven success leading globally distributed engineering organizations of 50+ engineers, managers, and technical leaders responsible for highly available, scalable, mission-critical platforms.

Work Shift HYBRID - Western Union values in-person collaboration, problem solving, and ideation whenever possible. We believe this fosters common ways of working and supports how we execute initiatives for our customers. The expectation is to work from the office a minimum of three days a week.

Benefits and Other Details

• short-term incentives
• multiple health insurance options
• accident and life insurance
• access to best-in-class development platforms
• Paid Time Off
• Medical, Dental and Life Insurance
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Student Loan Repayment (below manager level only)
• Parental Leave
• One day volunteer time off
• $0 Money Transfer Fee Discount Code – Quarterly Recognition Program
• Game Changers Employee Discount Program
• Global Adoption Assistance
• Global Scholarship Awards Program
• 401K plan

If applicable, additional role-specific benefits will be mentioned during your interview process or in an offer of employment.

For residents of Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania:

Please do not respond to any questions on this initial application that may seek age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You may also redact this information from any materials you submit during the application process. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status.

The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws.

Salary The on-target earnings range is $290,000-$310,000 per year, which includes a base salary and short-term and long-term incentives that align with individual and company performance. Actual salaries will vary based on candidates’ qualifications, skills, and competencies.

If you have any questions, you may reach out to [e-mail].