Director of Engineering

Collette is seeking a Director of Engineering to join our growing Technology Team. This is a hybrid role based at headquarters in Pawtucket, RI.

About Collette: Let Us Show You the World

There has never been a better time to be in the travel industry. See the world, connect with others, and experience the immersive benefits of one of the trendiest industries when you join the Collette team! As the longest-running tour operator in North America, our family-owned business leads the industry in innovation and expertise. Collette’s passionate team works hard to fulfill travel dreams and is always looking for talent that will help to shape the company’s future. Being part of the Collette team means having a willingness to grow, a desire to learn and ask questions, and a zest for seeing the world. From giving back to local communities to creating incredible experiences for a world of travelers and being part of a value-oriented team that cares for one another – Collette is all about the people. So, what are you waiting for? Your journey starts here.

Job Summary:

At Collette, we're at the beginning of our journey transitioning from a monolithic application stack to a distributed, microservice-based architecture. As a leader in guided travel, we're dedicated to crafting exceptional experiences for our travelers. We are seeking a visionary Director of Engineering to spearhead the development of our next generation customer web product, utilizing a modern cloud-based infrastructure and catering to hundreds of thousands of travelers worldwide. This role requires someone willing to roll up their sleeves to get the project going while simultaneously hiring their team. A successful candidate will have a broad skillset covering front-end, back-end, cloud technologies in Azure, and devops practices in CI/CD.

Primary Functions:

• Lead and inspire a team of 5 - 9 engineers in the creation of customer-facing web products.
• Recruit, mentor, coach, and develop top-tier software engineers, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence within the team.
• Define and implement the foundational technology stack, establishing the benchmark for all future applications at Collette.
• Take ownership of team outcomes, ensuring alignment with both technical objectives and business goals.
• Champion Agile development and DevOps best practices, driving continuous improvement and efficiency across the engineering organization.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and business stakeholders to ensure product alignment and customer satisfaction.
• Lead the development of the technical roadmap, overseeing planning, execution, and iterative enhancements.
• Partner with product management to define clear roadmaps and establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring progress and success.
• Elevate technical standards and refine development processes to foster innovation and scalability.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• 12+ years of relevant work experience, demonstrating a deep understanding of software engineering principles and practices.
• Proven track record of at least 3 years in a management role, guiding and empowering software engineering teams to achieve excellence.
• Experience with Azure services, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Azure App Services, with a focus on migration projects and tools.
• Proficiency in front-end technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS, as well as frameworks like Next.js and Node.js.
• Strong background in building distributed microservices at scale, coupled with expertise in relational databases, preferably SQL Server.
• Demonstrated success in implementing Agile methodologies and fostering a collaborative, solution-oriented environment.
• Strategic thinker with a passion for innovation and continuous learning.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate across teams and articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Above all, we're seeking an individual who is eager to immerse themselves in our business, embrace emerging technologies, and drive impactful change within our organization.