Vice President of Engineering

Talanto; Northern (KY); On-site; USD 172,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision

401(k) with match

Paid time off - CTO

Holidays

Parental leave

Wellness programs

Remote work stipend

Job summary

Fluency, a remote-first leader in ad-tech, seeks a VP of Engineering to define the long-term technical vision, improve organizational health, and build a scalable platform for rapid customer growth. This role partners with the CTO and executive team to shape architecture and cross-functional alignment across time zones.

You will drive platform resilience, delivery discipline, and the balance between Labs R&D and core engineering.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in engineering leadership.
• 5+ years in advertising industry leadership delivering large-scale systems.
• Proven SaaS scaling experience with revenue and customer growth.
• Experience managing multiple managers or directors.
• Familiarity with AI-powered development tools and their impact.

Responsibilities

• Define long-term engineering roadmap with the CTO and C-Suite.
• Refine and oversee the engineering organizational structure for autonomy.
• Evolve platform architecture for high concurrency and low latency in ad-tech.
• Define standards separating Labs from core engineering.
• Lead a distributed remote engineering culture with accountability.
• Oversee long-term talent strategy and succession planning.

Skills

Strategic thinker

Systems thinking

Ad-Tech scale expertise

Crisis management

Executive presence

Tools

AI-powered development tools

Job description

14,333 – 18,333 $

Company Overview

At Fluency, we come together under two shared passions that drive our culture: the scaling of digital ad operations, and fostering a workplace environment rooted in open communication, inclusivity, and a growth-oriented mindset. These passions not only set us apart in the industry, but also fuel our collective drive to reshape the industry and reinvent ourselves along the way. We're not just revolutionizing the digital advertising horizon, we're shaping an organization where every member feels a sense of pride and is inspired to do their best work.

Job Summary

The VP of Engineering is a strategic executive leader responsible for the long-term technical vision, organizational health, and scalable architecture of the Fluency platform. This role moves beyond day-to-day tactical ownership to focus on building high-leverage organizational structures, cross-functional alignment at the executive level, and a platform foundation that supports massive customer growth without proportional increases in technical debt. Crucially, this leader brings a proven track record of designing and executing large-scale system implementations within the high-volume advertising technology (Ad-Tech) or digital advertising ecosystem to fuel our next phase of scale.

Key Executive Responsibilities

• Executive Strategy & Influence: Partner with the CTO and C-Suite to define the long-term engineering roadmap and ensure continuous alignment with overarching company strategy and platform stability requirements.
• Organizational Architecture: Continuously refine and oversee the engineering organizational structure (e.g., Squad model) to ensure directors and leads are empowered to operate independently, preventing the VP from becoming a tactical constraint.
• Platform Resilience & Ad-Tech Scale: Maintain and evolve the strategic architectural direction of the Fluency platform—particularly blending our cellular/isolated database architecture with the high-concurrency, low-latency requirements characteristic of large-scale advertising systems. Ensure robust resilience under massive data volumes for hundreds of enterprise customers.
• Experimentation Framework: Define and enforce engineering standards and clear operational boundaries between experimental product R&D (Labs) and stable core engineering to safeguard platform integrity.
• Remote Leadership Excellence: Lead and foster a high-performance, geographically distributed remote engineering culture, ensuring seamless communication, accountability, and operational excellence across all time zones.
• Talent Strategy: Develop and manage the long-term talent strategy, overseeing hiring, professional development pipelines, and succession planning to ensure staffing aligns with future technical and business needs.

What We Look For

• Strategic Visionary: A leader who can articulate the business impact of technical debt and infrastructure investments to non-technical stakeholders.
• Systems Thinker: Proven ability to build "systems of people" that solve complex problems without needing direct executive intervention.
• Ad-Tech Scale Expertise: Deep operational understanding of high-throughput distributed systems, heavy data pipeline mechanics, and ecosystem integrations unique to the advertising world.
• Crisis Management Executive: Ability to remain calm and decisive during high-stakes incidents while simultaneously building the frameworks to prevent their recurrence.
• Executive Presence: Comfortable navigating organizational resistance and building compelling business cases for modernization.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in engineering leadership.
• 5+ years of engineering leadership experience specifically within the advertising industry (Ad-Tech, Mar-Tech, or high-volume digital media platforms), successfully delivering large-scale system implementations.
• Proven track record of scaling a SaaS platform through significant revenue and customer growth.
• Experience managing multiple managers or directors in a squad-based or departmental structure.
• Deep familiarity with AI-powered development tools and their impact on engineering productivity.

Fluency pays all employees based on U.S. nationwide averages for each role, designed to ensure pay equity. This is a full-time, remote position that requires legal authorization to work in the U.S. Starting pay range is determined by job-related skills, experience, and knowledge. The role is also eligible for a discretionary bonus, equity options, and a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their families
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Four weeks of Combined Time Off (CTO), flexible schedule, and twelve holidays
• Maternity and parental leave
• Employee wellness programs and mental health support
• Remote work flexibility and home office stipends

Starting Pay Range

$172,000—$220,000 USD

At Fluency, we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace where everyone can thrive. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities and do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.

Employment decisions at Fluency are made based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications—without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.