VP Engineering

Athene; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Athene seeks a dynamic Vice President of Engineering to build and lead the new Innovation Hub in Austin. You will own the platform's technical direction, drive architectural decisions, and deliver scalable, secure retirement technology solutions.

You will build and grow the engineering organization, recruit top talent, and partner with product, distribution and executives to realize strategic goals with an AI-centric approach.

Qualifications

• 10+ years designing, building and operating enterprise software platforms or equivalent.
• 5+ years leading teams or platforms at scale.
• Strong cloud-native and API-first architecture experience.

Responsibilities

• Own technical strategy and platform architecture for Athene’s Austin Innovation Hub.
• Lead hands-on design decisions, prototypes, reviews and delivery.
• Recruit, develop and scale engineering, data and QA talent in Austin.
• Ensure security, data integrity, auditability and reliable operations across the platform.

Skills

Cloud-native systems

API-first design

Leadership

Hands-on coding

AI development tools

Architectural design

Security/compliance

Team scaling

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Python

TypeScript

PostgreSQL

AWS

CI/CD tooling

Job description

We are driven to do more. More for our customers and the financial professionals who offer our products. If you are driven to do more and love the challenge of pursuing more, Athene is your kind of company. You will find we offer more than the basics to create an inclusive and dynamic work environment at our various locations.

Purpose & Impact:

Build and lead the engineering organization for Athene’s new Innovation Hub in Austin, shaping technology that transforms how annuity and retirement products are distributed and managed. As Vice President, Engineering, you will own the platform’s technical direction, engineering delivery and operational performance—from guarantee decisioning and calculation services to partner integrations, transaction workflows and the supporting data foundation. This is a hands‑on leadership opportunity to build a new platform and team for a strategic growth initiative with executive sponsorship. You will design core architecture, write and review critical code, and hire and develop the engineers who scale the platform. Combining Athene’s scale and Apollo partnership with an entrepreneurial approach, you will advance AI‑enabled retirement solutions while modeling ownership, innovation and our BEAM values.

Key Deliverables:

• Own technical strategy and platform architecture.
• Establish the multi‑year technical vision and translate business priorities into scalable architecture and delivery plans.
• Stay hands‑on through critical design decisions, prototypes, implementation and code reviews.
• Build and lead the Austin engineering organization.
• Recruit and develop engineering, data and quality assurance talent, drawing on Austin’s technology community.
• Set clear expectations, manage performance and resources, and build leadership capacity as the organization grows.
• Deliver connected retirement capabilities.
• Oversee guarantee decisioning, calculation services, transaction and servicing workflows, and supporting data capabilities.
• Build API‑first integrations with registered investment adviser platforms, custodians, planning tools and distribution partners to enable straight‑through processing.
• Establish operational excellence and controls.
• Own engineering standards for security, accuracy, auditability and data integrity.
• Implement automated testing, CI/CD, observability, production readiness, incident response and secure software supply chain practices that support reliable operations.
• Lead an AI‑native engineering approach.
• Establish tools, workflows and guardrails for AI‑enabled development while holding engineers accountable for architecture, code quality, testing and security.
• Measure improvements in delivery time, quality and manual effort, and scale effective practices.
• Turn opportunities into executable investments.
• Partner with Product, Distribution, Operations and Athene and Apollo leaders to define scope, funding, milestones and expected outcomes.
• Lead build, buy and partner recommendations, manage vendors and engineering partners, and remain accountable for delivery and business results.

What You Need to Bring:

• 10+ years of designing, building and operating enterprise software platforms or relevant professional experience including 5+ years of formal or informal leadership, preferred.
• Demonstrated success building an engineering team or platform from an early stage, including recruiting technical talent, developing leaders, managing performance and scaling delivery.
• Strong connections to the Austin technology community are preferred.
• Deep hands‑on expertise in cloud‑native, distributed, API‑first systems, using technologies such as Python, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, AWS, event streaming, infrastructure as code and modern CI/CD.
• Ability to personally design, write, review and troubleshoot production code.
• Experience delivering financial services or other highly regulated systems, with strong understanding of enterprise controls, auditability, data integrity and reliable operations.
• Knowledge of annuities, wealth platforms, custodians or industry transaction infrastructure such as DTCC is a plus.
• Demonstrated fluency with AI development tools and success improving team adoption with measurable results.
• Bring commercial judgment, critical thinking, adaptability and a bias for action, with the ability to communicate technical trade‑offs clearly and influence executives and partners.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Drive. Discipline. Confidence. Focus. Commitment.

Learn more about working at Athene. Athene is a Military Friendly Employer! Learn more about how we support our Veterans. Athene is committed to inclusion and is proudtobe an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, state or local law.

We are driven to do more. More for our customers and the financial professionals who offer our products. If you are driven to do more and love the challenge of pursuing more, Athene is your kind of company. You will find we offer more than the basics to create an inclusive and dynamic work environment at our various locations.