Sr. Director- Software Engineering (Shared Capabilities Leader)

Willis Towers Watson; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Willis Towers Watson seeks a Capabilities Leader to own shared operational technology functions including DevOps, Data Engineering, IT Operations, and the Shared Platform. You will ensure platform availability, reliability, and long-term build-out of shared capabilities, collaborating with Delivery Leaders and Architecture Practice to stay aligned with standards.

This role requires leadership across geographically distributed teams, including India-based members, and involves driving cloud

Qualifications

• Extensive senior technology leadership experience within a complex enterprise environment, including leadership of shared services, platform engineering, DevOps, or IT operations functions.
• Experience leading multiple distinct technology functions simultaneously, each with its own team, roadmap, and stakeholder base.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop four direct functions: DevOps & Release Management, Data Engineering, IT Operations & Production Support, and Shared Platform.
• Own availability, reliability, and resilience targets across all shared capabilities; escalate production incidents and platform degradation.
• Drive cloud maturity, infrastructure modernization, and platform simplification; own the cloud investment roadmap within Capabilities.
• Oversee stand-up of Shared Platform function; scope, prioritize, and build shared authentication, enrollment services, and common APIs across IM and BA.
• Partner with Architecture to align with standards, ADRs, and the canonical data model.
• Manage vendor relationships and licensing for platform tooling, cloud services, and operational software.
• Define investment priorities across all four functions and report on platform health and metrics.
• Build and sustain delivery across distributed teams, including India-based roles.

Job description

Description

The Capabilities Leader owns the shared operational technology functions that underpin delivery across all three business streams. The role has direct accountability for four functions: DevOps & Release Management, Data Engineering, IT Operations & Production Support and Shared Platform. These four functions operate as shared optimized to serve Customer Engagement, Accounts, and Enrollment equally. The Capabilities Leader is accountable for platform availability, operational maturity, and the long-term build-out of shared capabilities, working closely with Delivery Leaders and the Architecture Practice to ensure shared infrastructure remains aligned to standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop four direct functions: DevOps & Release Management, Data Engineering, IT Operations & Production Support, and Shared Platform. Set clear charters, roadmaps, and operating models for each.

• Ensure shared capabilities operate as neutral services across all three delivery streams - Customer Engagement, Accounts, and Enrollment - with no stream receiving disproportionate access or priority.

• Own availability, reliability, and resilience targets across all shared capabilities. Serve as the escalation point for production incidents, platform degradation, and cross-stream resource contention.

• Drive cloud maturity, infrastructure modernization, and platform simplification across DevOps and Data Engineering. Own the cloud investment roadmap within Capabilities.

• Oversee the stand-up of the Shared Platform function - working with the Shared Platform Leader to scope, prioritize, and build shared authentication, enrollment services, and common APIs across IM and BA.

• Partner with Architecture to ensure all Capabilities decisions align with established standards, ADRs, and the canonical data model.

• Manage vendor relationships and technology licensing for platform tooling, cloud services, and operational software within the Capabilities portfolio.

• Define investment priorities across all four functions and provide regular reporting to the Technology Leader on platform health, roadmap progress, and key operational metrics.

• Build and sustain delivery across geographically distributed teams, including India-based roles under the Capabilities India lead structure.

Qualifications

• Extensive senior technology leadership experience within a complex enterprise environment, including leadership of shared services, platform engineering, DevOps, or IT operations functions.

• Demonstrated experience leading multiple distinct technology functions simultaneously, each with its own team, roadmap, and stakeholder base.

• Strong working knowledge of cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred), CI/CD platforms, data engineering, and IT operations in a production environment.

• Experience operating shared services that serve multiple product or delivery teams, with a clear model for prioritization, internal SLAs, and contention management.

• Familiarity with production support, incident management, and IT operations in a regulated environment (SOC2, HIPAA, SOX).

• Experience hiring and scaling technology teams across multiple functions and geographies, including India-based delivery models.

• Strong financial management skills - able to plan and track investment across multiple cost centers.

• Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills.

• Experience in US healthcare, benefits, or financial services technology is a plus.

Leadership Competencies

• Operational Excellence and Reliability Ownership

• Cross-Functional Partnership and Shared Services Leadership