Position Title: Vice President of Engineering and Product
Reports To: CEO
Company Description
Stage 32 is the Linkedin for the Entertainment Industry - Forbes
Stage 32 is the online platform democratizing the global entertainment industry by connecting and training creatives and professionals. With over 1,000,000 members worldwide and over 3,000 hours of online education, Stage 32 has been featured in leading publications like Variety, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, and Forbes as a pioneer at the intersection of entertainment and technology.
Stage 32 combines the opportunity, energy, and collaborative spirit of a startup with the stability of a company that’s thrived for over 14 years.
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced, visionary, and dynamic VP of Engineering and Product to lead our engineering team and to leverage product/UX resources.
Our engineering team is central to our mission, and this role will be pivotal in driving the strategic direction, development, and expansion of our diverse platforms. The ideal candidate will possess a strong software engineering background, experience in leading technical projects, and the ability to bridge the gap between technical and business teams. A self-starter mentality, a lead-by-example attitude, a vision for the big picture, and the drive to realize that vision are crucial.
The VP of Engineering and Product is responsible for overseeing all engineering and technical delivery efforts. They will collaborate closely with the CEO and other executive leaders to craft a product and technology strategy and set goals that align with overarching business needs. This includes recruiting new team members, fostering a cohesive technical team, managing development, and maintaining mindfulness of schedules and budgets.
This is a full-time position, primarily remote, with attendance at the office for periodic, significant meetings.
Responsibilities
Collaborate closely with the CEO and other executive leaders to craft a product and technology strategy that aligns with business goals.
Establish a modern and scalable architectural vision for Stage 32’s software systems based on business and technology objectives, KPIs, and outcomes.
Make appropriate technology choices across both existing and new systems to create a technology roadmap to implement that vision.
Manage and lead the distributed engineering team, including conducting performance reviews, mentoring, fostering professional development, participating in team-building exercises, and providing technical guidance.
Create and manage budgets for multiple simultaneous engineering projects, balancing financial constraints and business goals.
Ensure excellent communication and provide accountability between your team and business teams.
Ensure high-quality engineering and operational practices. Develop and maintain coding standards, review procedures, devops practices, and other procedures to help ensure successful projects.
Define and use metrics to evaluate success of product features and the broader software aspects of the business.
Identify resourcing needs. Source, interview and on-board full-time and freelance developers and product resources. Source, vet, and manage relationships with development agencies.
Work with contract product, UX and design resources to design product features.
Lead the design, development, and maintenance of our Shopify platform, including customizing and developing Shopify themes, templates, and components, implementing new features using the Shopify APIs and other web technologies.
Lead the design, development, and maintenance of Drupal/Laravel based social network, including optimizing site performance, speed, and scalability.
Participate in regular agile process activities including assisting in development of user stories, estimates, sprint planning and sprint reviews.
Lead efforts to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues across Stage 32’s different software systems.
Spend approximately 20% of your time designing, coding, creating unit tests and otherwise contributing as an individual contributor.
Design, build, and manage Stage 32’s data infrastructure with a focus on data governance and security.
Create and maintain systems and software documentation.
Create and maintain policies around security, staff/contractor onboarding and departure, software and hardware system backup and maintenance, data privacy, audits and assessments, and other relevant areas.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence within the engineering team.
Update job knowledge by keeping aware of new development tools, programming techniques, and methodologies; participating in educational opportunities; and maintaining personal networks. Be aware of future needs, be interested in new technologies and how they might impact the product and technology, and help the organization adopt and adapt.
Stay abreast of trends in the entertainment industry, technology, and product management to inform strategic decisions and maintain competitive advantage.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field.
A minimum of 10 years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing engineering teams.
A proven track record of developing, launching, and scaling software projects.
A demonstrated history of accountability in delivering projects on time and on budget.
A deep understanding of software architecture, software development processes and agile methodologies.
Experience with performance analysis, scaling applications and improving performance.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to work at all levels of an organization.
Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to inspire, motivate, coach and mentor teams.
Experience sourcing, screening and hiring full-time and freelance software engineers, agencies, and other product and technical personnel.
Experience evaluating 3rd party technologies and integrating them into an overall plan.
Strong technical problem-solving skills, coupled with a creative mindset.
The ability to meet business objectives in a dynamic, high-energy environment that maintains a family culture.
Knowledge of and managing development teams using Shopify, Shopify headless commerce, PHP, Drupal, Laravel, and React Native.
Experience with application deployments in AWS.
Knowledge of modern project management tools like Jira, Confluence, Asana, or Linear.
A passion for the entertainment industry and its technological evolution.
Location and Compensation
Location: Hybrid
This job is primarily remote but requires proximity to our office in Los Angeles, CA for periodic meetings.
Compensation: Competitive salary with health, dental, and vision insurance.
Employment type
Full-time
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