Technical Engineering Leader - Director

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

Job summary

Citi in Jersey City, NJ seeks an AI-augmented Engineering Director to lead strategy, architecture, and delivery of our next-generation Payments and Cash Management platform. This hands-on role requires coding, architectural design, and prototyping, with teams across Gen AI, React, Java, Python, and cloud-native microservices on Kubernetes.

You will drive scale, resiliency, latency, and regulatory compliance in a 24x7 environment while partnering with Product, Architecture, QA, Risk, 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: Understanding of industry competitors.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, architecture, and delivery of payments platforms.
• Drive AI integration across engineering practices.
• Mentor teams on Gen AI, React, and cloud-native microservices.
• Ensure scale, resiliency, latency, and regulatory compliance in 24x7 operations.
• Collaborate with Product, Architecture, QA, Risk, and Operations.

Skills

Hands-on coding

Technical leadership

Gen AI experience

Strategic thinking

Mentoring teams

Regulatory awareness

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

React

Java

Python

Spring Boot

Kubernetes

OpenTelemetry

Prometheus

Grafana

Kafka

Oracle

Redis

Elastic/OpenSearch

Istio/Linkerd

Terraform

GraphQL

gRPC/REST

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.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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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