Senior Director, Full-stack Engineer (Developer Experience)

Capital One; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 315,000 - 359,000; Full time

Job summary

Capital One in McLean, VA seeks a Senior Director, Full-stack Engineer (Developer Experience) to lead high‑performing teams building cloud‑based banking platforms. You will partner with product, design, architects and executives to translate business goals into scalable software and drive engineering strategy.

You will mentor managers, shape roadmaps, and ensure delivery velocity and system resilience while fostering inclusion and continuous learning across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in CS or related field.
• 9+ years of software engineering and architecture experience.
• 7+ years of people management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple teams of product-focused software engineers.
• Shape long-term technical strategy and architecture standards.
• Partner with senior leaders to align roadmaps with scalable tech capabilities.
• Drive talent strategy, succession planning, and skill development.
• Mentor engineers on technical and professional growth.

Skills

People management

Cloud computing

Engineering leadership

Architectural strategy

Mentoring

Agile

Stakeholder alignment

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's Degree

Tools

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

Job description

Senior Director, Full-stack Engineer (Developer Experience) As a Senior Director, Full-stack Engineer at Capital One, you will lead high-performing engineering teams working to define the future of banking in the cloud. You will partner closely with product managers, designers, architects and executive leaders to deliver scalable, customer‑centric solutions. Our Senior Directors are technical people leaders who drive engineering strategy, guide complex architectural decisions, and translate business goals into impactful technology platforms. At Capital One, we believe diversity of thought strengthens our ability to influence, collaborate and provide the most innovative solutions across organizational boundaries. You will foster a culture of engineering excellence and inclusivity, balancing technical depth with empowered team leadership. You will lead the way in building next‑generation talent for Capital One Tech—mentoring managers and engineers, driving workforce strategy and actively recruiting top‑tier talent. Senior Directors are expected to lead through technical vision, operational rigor and strategic alignment. You will serve as a key owner for your domain’s technical health, delivery velocity and system resilience. While shaping long‑term technology strategy and platform roadmaps, you will inspire a culture of continuous learning, innovation and high‑impact delivery across your organization.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead, manage and grow multiple teams of product focused software engineers
• Shape long-term technical strategy and architecture standards for enterprise platforms
• Partner with senior engineering and business leaders to align product roadmaps with scalable technology capabilities
• Drive talent strategy, ensuring succession planning, skill development, and equitable opportunity across engineering teams
• Mentor and guide the professional and technical development of engineers on your team.
• Work with product managers to understand desired application capabilities and testing scenarios and develop market‑driven application capabilities and customer experiences
• Continuously improve software engineering practices
• Work within and across Agile teams to design, develop, test, implement, and support technical solutions across a full‑stack development tools and technologies
• Lead the craftsmanship, availability, resilience, and scalability of your solutions
• Bring a passion to stay on top of tech trends, experiment with and learn new technologies, participate in internal & external technology communities, and mentor other members of the engineering community
• Encourage innovation, implementation of cutting‑edge technologies, inclusion, outside‑of‑the‑box thinking, teamwork, self‑organization, and diversity
• Work across the organization to improve the velocity of your and other teams
• Lead efforts to deploy new and existing applications into AWS environments

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or higher in Computer Science or a related quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Engineering)
• At least 7 years of people management experience
• At least 9 years of experience in software engineering and solution architecture
• At least 9 years of experience in enterprise architecture and design patterns
• At least 9 years of experience in cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
• At least 9 years of experience in Data architecture

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering
• 12+ years of experience in software engineering and solution architecture
• 12+ years of experience in enterprise architecture and design patterns
• 12+ years of experience in web technologies (JavaScript, TypeScript and SPA frameworks)
• 12+ years of experience in designing and building distributed HPC and ML systems
• 12+ years of experience in cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
• 12+ years of experience in data architecture
• 12+ years of professional experience coding in commonly used languages like Go, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Rust, C#, Scala
• 10+ years of experience with database and database management systems
• 12+ years of professional experience in the full lifecycle of system development, from conception through architecture, implementation, testing, deployment and production support
• 7+ years of experience with public cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), cloud‑based productivity tools, or virtualization technologies
• 12+ years of experience with Networking protocols and integration with third party distributed systems7+ years of experience mentoring senior engineers and driving professional development within technical teams
• 3+ years of experience leading cross‑domain architectural reviews or establishing coding and design standards
• Expertise in the strategic application of agentic AI coding tools to solve systemic development challenges

The minimum and maximum full‑time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part‑time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

• McLean, VA: $314,800 - $359,300 for Sr. Director, Full‑stack Engineer
• New York, NY: $343,400 - $392,000 for Sr. Director, Full‑stack Engineer
• Plano, TX: $286,200 - $326,700 for Sr. Director, Full‑stack Engineer
• Richmond, VA: $286,200 - $326,700 for Sr. Director, Full‑stack Engineer

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non‑discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well‑being.

Eligibility varies based on full or part‑time status, exempt or non‑exempt status, and management level.

This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.

At Capital One, we’re building a leading information‑based technology company. Still founder‑led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit.