SENIOR DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY- MDM & DATA PLATFORMS (REMOTE)
Compass Group USA · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $190,000 / year
- United States
Job highlights
- Lead MDM platform's technical direction and delivery.
- Define architecture vision and enforce engineering standards.
- Drive AI adoption in development and workflows.
- Build and lead high-performing technical teams.
- Ensure cross-team alignment and operational readiness.
About the role
About CDAI
We are CDAI—the data and artificial intelligence engine of Compass Group North America. We design and deliver custom, in-house solutions tailored to the unique complexities of food service and hospitality. Our work is grounded in strong data foundations, layered with AI to enhance forecasting, streamline operations, and enable better, faster decision-making across Compass Group. With deep integration into the business and a commitment to white-glove service, CDAI empowers associates, clients, and customers through innovative, future-forward technologies.
About The Role
We are seeking a Sr. Director of Technology to lead the technical direction and delivery of our Master Data Management (MDM) platform. This role focuses on defining architectural vision and guardrails, establishing engineering discipline and leading the adoption of AI-enabled development practices. You will partner closely with Product Leadership and embedded technology leaders to ensure strong alignment between business priorities and technical execution.
We are looking for a leader who can operate at both strategic and operational levels—someone who can define the future, elevate people, and drive meaningful change across teams.
Key Responsibilities
Platform & Architecture
- Define and own the architecture vision for MDM, PIM, and integration services
- Establish architectural guardrails, patterns, and standards across all product teams
- Drive decisions on data models, integration patterns, and platform design
- Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, security, and scalability requirements
Engineering Standards & Delivery
- Define & enforce SDLC standards for testing, code quality, and releases
- Partner with DevOps on CI/CD, reliability, and environment practices
- Implement consistent release governance and production readiness practices
AI Enablement & Engineering Transformation
- Lead the adoption of AI-assisted development practices across the engineering organization
- Define standards and guardrails for safe, scalable, and effective use of AI in SDLC, developer workflows and tooling
- Champion a culture of experimentation and innovation while maintaining enterprise grade controls
People Leadership
- Build and lead a high-performing technical organization (Architecture, DevOps, Engineering)
- Establish and uphold a high technical hiring bar, improving hiring accuracy and speed
- Foster a collaborative, accountable, and continuously learning team culture
Cross-Team Collaboration
- Enable Product Pods to operate effectively within defined standards and guardrails
- Lead cross-pod alignment on shared services, integration frameworks, and reusable components
- Act as the final decision authority for cross-team technical decision and architectural trade-offs
Operational Readiness
- Support production systems with a focus on reliability and observability
- Partner on incident management and continuous improvement
Qualifications
Required
- 8–10+ years in software engineering or technical leadership roles
- Experience with platform-based or data-intensive systems
- Strong cloud-native experience (AWS preferred)
- Hands-on experience with: Python services (FastAPI, Flask, or similar), Modern front-end frameworks (Angular or similar), PostgreSQL or relational databases
- Experience with API-first and event-driven architectures
- Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and automated testing strategies
Preferred
- Exposure to MDM, PIM, or master data platforms
- Experience with Snowflake or cloud data ecosystems
- Background in large enterprise environments
- Experience leading platform transformations or consolidations of legacy systems
Leadership Profile
- Practical technical judgment with a bias for scalable solutions
- Clear communicator across technical and business stakeholders
- Collaborative, delivery-focused leader with a growth mindset
Key skills/competency
- Master Data Management (MDM)
- Data Platforms
- Technology Leadership
- Architecture Vision
- AI Enablement
- Software Engineering
- Cloud-Native (AWS)
- API-First Architecture
- Event-Driven Architecture
- CI/CD
Skills & topics
- Senior Director
- Technology
- MDM
- Data Platforms
- Data Engineering
- AI
- Cloud
- AWS
- Python
- Leadership
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your experience with MDM, data platforms, cloud-native technologies (AWS), and Python/API development.
- Showcase leadership: Emphasize your experience in technical leadership, team building, and driving engineering transformation.
- Quantify achievements: Use metrics to demonstrate the impact of your architectural decisions and process improvements.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss architecture design, data modeling, cloud strategy, and AI integration.
- Research Compass Group: Understand their mission in food service and how CDAI drives innovation through data and AI.
Technical preparation
Deep dive into MDM/PIM architecture and best practices.,Review AWS services for data and AI applications.,Practice designing API-first and event-driven systems.,Prepare to discuss CI/CD and IaC strategies.
Behavioral questions
Describe a complex technical challenge you solved.,How do you build and mentor high-performing teams?,Explain your approach to AI adoption in SDLC.,How do you balance strategic vision with operational execution?
Frequently asked questions
- What specific experience is required for the Senior Director of Technology role at Compass Group's CDAI?
- The role requires 8-10+ years in software engineering or technical leadership, with strong experience in platform-based or data-intensive systems, cloud-native environments (AWS preferred), Python services, modern front-end frameworks, relational databases like PostgreSQL, API-first, and event-driven architectures, and CI/CD pipelines. Experience with MDM/PIM platforms is preferred.
- Is this a remote position with Compass Group?
- Yes, the job title indicates this is a remote position. Compass Group USA offers remote work arrangements for this Senior Director of Technology role.
- What is CDAI and its role within Compass Group North America?
- CDAI is the data and artificial intelligence engine for Compass Group North America. It designs and delivers custom in-house solutions using data foundations and AI to enhance forecasting, streamline operations, and improve decision-making in the food service and hospitality sectors.
- What are the key responsibilities for the Senior Director of Technology, MDM & Data Platforms?
- Key responsibilities include defining the architecture vision for MDM and integration services, establishing engineering standards and SDLC practices, leading AI adoption in development, building and leading technical teams, ensuring cross-team collaboration, and supporting production systems for reliability.
- How does Compass Group USA approach hiring for technology roles like the Senior Director of Technology?
- Compass Group USA emphasizes a high technical hiring bar, aiming for accuracy and speed. They foster a collaborative culture and look for leaders with practical technical judgment, clear communication skills, and a delivery-focused, growth mindset.
- What technologies are most relevant for this Senior Director of Technology role at Compass Group?
- Key technologies include Python (FastAPI, Flask), modern front-end frameworks (Angular), PostgreSQL, cloud-native platforms (AWS), API-first and event-driven architectures, CI/CD, and ideally experience with MDM/PIM platforms and data ecosystems like Snowflake.