Technical Engineering Leader - Director

Citi; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 170,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental & vision coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Life, accident & disability insurance

Wellness programs

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

Citi is seeking a hands-on AI Augmented Engineering Director in Jersey City to lead strategy, architecture, and delivery of our next-generation Payments and Cash Management platform. You will guide design reviews, mentor teams, and drive Gen AI adoption across engineering practices while ensuring secure, scalable, and compliant operations in a 24x7 setting.

This role requires deep technical leadership and active involvement in coding, with focus on Java/Python backend, React frontend, and

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant experience.
• 8-10+ years of managerial experience.
• Hands-on coding required.
• Nice to have: Experience with financial products.
• Nice to have: Industry knowledge of financial services providers.
• Nice to have: Strategic direction experience within the function.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy, architecture, and delivery of mission-critical transactional platforms for Payments and Cash Management.
• Drive AI integration across engineering practices and guide Gen AI solutions.
• Involve in coding, architectural design, prototyping, and code reviews to ensure end-to-end excellence.
• Mentor teams across Gen AI, React, and cloud-native microservices on Kubernetes.
• Ensure scale, resiliency, latency, and regulatory compliance in a 24x7 environment.
• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, QA, Risk, and Operations to deliver bank-grade controls.

Skills

Technical leadership

Engineering management

Hands-on coding

AI in engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

React

Java 11+/17+

Spring Boot

Python

gRPC/REST

GraphQL

Kafka

Oracle

Redis

Elastic/OpenSearch

Kubernetes

Helm

Service Mesh (Istio/Linkerd)

API Gateway

Terraform

OpenTelemetry

Prometheus/Grafana

Jaeger/Tempo

Kibana

OAuth2

mTLS

SBOM

Job description

Markets Payment & Cash Management Technology is undergoing a major transformation to drive risk reduction, operational efficiencies, compliance, and competitive advantage. This presents an exciting opportunity to engage with Markets business and operations, owning the design and implementation of our next-generation Payment and Cash Management platform. We are seeking a hands-on, AI Augmented Engineering Director to lead the strategy, architecture, and delivery of mission-critical transactional platforms for Payments and Cash Management. This leader will drive the strategic integration of AI across our engineering practices, influencing how we design, build, and optimize our systems. While maintaining a strategic overview, this role requires a hands-on involvement in coding, architectural design, advanced troubleshooting, prototyping, and critical code reviews to ensure end-to-end engineering excellence, secure, and reliable operations. You will actively guide design reviews, mentor teams across Gen AI solutions, React (UX), and cloud-native microservices hosted on hybrid cloud (preferably Java and Python) running on Kubernetes with modern CI/CD and observability. You will be accountable for scale, resiliency, latency, and regulatory compliance in a 24x7 environment, partnering tightly with Product, Architecture, QA, Risk, and Operations to deliver client-grade experiences and bank-grade controls. Your leadership will ensure our engineering practices are augmented by AI, leading to more efficient development, intelligent systems, and superior outcomes.

Tech Stack

• Gen AI Productivity Tools: Devin, GitHub CoPilot
• Nice to have: Gen AI - ADK, MCP, LangGraph/ LangChain.
• Frontend: React
• Backend: Java (11+/17+), Spring Boot, Python, gRPC/REST, GraphQL
• Eventing/Data: Kafka, Oracle, Redis, Elastic/OpenSearch
• Platform: Kubernetes, Helm, Service Mesh (Istio/Linkerd), API Gateway, Terraform.
• Observability: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus/Grafana, Jaeger/Tempo, Kibana
• Security: OAuth2, mTLS, SBOM

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant experience
• 8-10+ years of managerial experience
• Hands-on coding required
• Nice to have: Experience with financial products
• Nice to have: Working knowledge of the industry and competitors’ products and services
• Nice to have: Advanced knowledge of strategic direction of the function within relevant part of the business
• Demonstrated technical leadership, management, and development skills

Education

• Bachelor’s degree/University degree or equivalent experience
• Master’s degree preferred

Job Family Group

Technology

Job Family

Applications Development

Time Type

Full time

Primary Location

Jersey City New Jersey United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range

$170,000.00 - $300,000.00 In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Anticipated Posting Close Date

Jun 24, 2026

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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