Director, Software Engineering, ITC

About the Team

Nike’s mission to serve athletes* is powered by the relentless pursuit of innovation through data and technology. Within this vision, the Data & AI (DAI) team stands at the forefront, designing and building secure, intelligent, and highly scalable platforms. These platforms empower Nike to make informed decisions and deliver personalised, seamless experiences for millions of users worldwide.

Who We Are Looking For

We seek a visionary and strategic engineering leader with a deep background in software development and team leadership. The ideal candidate brings over 15 years of hands-on experience in software development, with a robust foundation in distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, and data platforms. In addition, you will have a minimum of 5 years leading engineering teams, demonstrating a strong track record in hiring exceptional talent, mentoring individuals, and fostering professional growth. You thrive in dynamic, collaborative environments and have consistently delivered reliable, high-impact data platforms and services at scale—driving initiatives that make a global impact.

What You’ll Work On

• Take the lead in managing and growing multiple software engineering teams dedicated to architecting, developing, and maintaining robust data platforms and enterprise-scale services.
• Champion the design and implementation of software development kits (SDKs), application programming interfaces (APIs), and microservices that address complex data and analytics needs across the organisation.
• Forge strong partnerships with product managers, architects, and engineering leaders to develop and execute a forward-thinking technical roadmap that supports Nike’s business objectives.
• Maintain a high bar for engineering excellence by enforcing best practices in software development, data governance, and observability across all teams.
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and improvement, encouraging teams to adopt new technologies, patterns, and engineering approaches.
• Be a mentor to teams and set high standards for engineering excellence.
• Ensure that all engineering initiatives are strategically aligned with Nike’s broader goals, including modernisation, optimising cloud costs, and upholding robust data governance standards.
• Provide transparent and regular updates to senior leadership on team progress, challenges encountered, and measurable outcomes achieved, ensuring accountability and visibility.
• Embrace and embody Nike’s core values (maxims) in your work and interactions with peers, stakeholders, and direct reports. Model clarity and accountability as a leader of Nike. Communicate effectively, build trust and strong relationships across the company, do the right thing.

Skillset Required

• A proven technical leader with deep knowledge and experience in delivering production-grade software at scale. Able to dive deep into code and architecture to provide an informed opinion on benefits/trade-offs of different design choices.
• At least 15 years of experience in software development, with a strong foundation in distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, and data platforms.
• Comparable Bachelor’s Degree in computer science, software engineering, or applicable field (Master’s degree or Ph.D. preferred).
• More than 5 years of hands-on leadership experience directing engineering teams, with concrete success in hiring top talent, mentoring team members, and fostering their professional growth and development.
• Expertise in at least one leading cloud platform, such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), with a thorough understanding of their ecosystem and capabilities.
• Extensive practical experience with state-of-the-art technologies in the AIML space, fluency in open-source technologies and impact of standardized platforms. Ability to make build versus buy decisions for AIML tools and technologies.
• A strong grasp of data pipeline frameworks, in-depth knowledge of metadata management, and comprehensive understanding of data governance controls to ensure data quality, security, and compliance.
• A strong familiarity with agentic workflow and current developments in the AI/LLM application landscape.
• A proven track record of delivering services and solutions that are both scalable and high-impact, addressing business-critical needs with reliability and efficiency.
• Exceptional communication skills, enabling effective collaboration across diverse teams and excellent stakeholder management to build consensus and drive initiatives forward.
• Well-developed strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate overarching business strategies into actionable, measurable engineering objectives that guide technical work.
• A demonstrated ability to inspire and motivate others, driving positive change in the areas of solution architecture, technical delivery, and ongoing process improvement.
• A passionate, lifelong learner who actively seeks out and embraces new technologies, development patterns, and best practices, always striving to stay ahead of industry trends.
• Experience operating within large, complex organisations or under scaled Agile methodologies, adapting evolving requirements and delivering high-value outcomes in such environments.

Key skills/competency

• Software Engineering Leadership
• Data Platforms
• Cloud-Native Architectures
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Distributed Systems
• Team Management
• Technical Roadmapping
• Agile Methodologies
• Stakeholder Management