SVP of Software and Web Engineering

About the role

The SVP of Software and Web Engineering is accountable for the end-to-end engineering function responsible for designing, building, and operating Tidal Financial Groups software platforms, web experiences, APIs, and internal tools.

This leader partners closely with Technology & Operations leadership to translate strategy into an executable engineering roadmap, scale engineering practices, and ensure predictable delivery of high-quality, compliant, and resilient systems.

This role combines executive leadership, hands-on technical depth, and strong cross-functional influence. The SVP sets engineering direction and standards, develops talent, and ensures that Tidalʼs systems and data capabilities support both internal operational excellence and external partner/client expectations.

What you’ll do

Set engineering strategy and architecture

• Own the technical strategy for applications (build vs. buy, modernization, and platform evolution).
• Establish architecture principles, reference patterns, and reusable components for teams to build quickly and safely.
• Ensure systems are designed for reliability, scalability, auditability, and security appropriate for financial services.

Deliver a reliable, transparent engineering operating cadence

• Build an execution model that turns priorities into delivery (intake, planning, sequencing, dependency management, release management).
• Provide decision-grade visibility into progress, risks, and tradeoffs to executive stakeholders.
• Partner with program/portfolio leadership to translate roadmap commitments into resourced plans and shipped outcomes.

Lead and grow high-performing engineering teams

• Recruit, retain, and develop engineering talent across software and web disciplines.
• Set expectations for engineering excellence: code quality, testing, documentation, on-call readiness, and production ownership.
• Create a culture of continuous improvement, pragmatic craftsmanship, and accountability.

Build and modernize web & application platforms

• Own the technical direction for Tidalʼs web surfaces and application platforms, ensuring a consistent user experience, accessibility, and performance.
• Establish front-end engineering standards and shared components (design system integrations, reusable UI patterns, and developer tooling).
• Drive modernization where needed (framework upgrades, build performance, and sustainable architecture) while protecting delivery velocity.

Build AI and automation capability (where it matters)

• Identify high-ROI automation opportunities across operations and engineering workflows.
• Ensure AI-enabled solutions are safe, auditable, and maintainable (privacy, model risk, human-in-the-loop controls where required).
• Raise the organizationʼs baseline AI fluency through patterns, tooling, and enablement.

Strengthen engineering delivery, security, and compliance

• Own engineering controls and practices that support SOC2/ISO-style expectations (as applicable), vendor risk posture, and internal audit needs.
• Partner with Security/IT to ensure secure SDLC practices, access controls, secrets management, and incident response readiness.
• Establish and track SLIs/SLOs for critical systems and reduce operational risk through reliability engineering.

Partner across the business

• Collaborate with Operations, Product/Platform stakeholders, and executive leadership to shape priorities and outcomes.
• Translate complex engineering topics into clear business language: risk, cost, capacity, delivery tradeoffs, and impact.
• Represent engineering in senior forums (exec updates, board-level readiness, and partner discussions as needed

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering roadmap, architecture, and technical standards
• Delivery predictability and portfolio execution support
• Team leadership: hiring, performance, and career growth
• Production reliability, incident management, and operational excellence
• Security-by-design and engineering governance controls
• Vendor/partner technical evaluation and integration oversight
• Budgeting and capacity planning for engineering investments

Qualifications

• 15+ years in software engineering, with significant experience leading teams and leaders (manager-of-managers experience preferred).
• Proven track record building and operating production software and data systems with strong reliability and quality practices.
• Deep understanding of modern engineering practices: CI/CD, testing, observability, cloud infrastructure, and API/data integration patterns.
• Strong judgment around sequencing, tradeoffs, and prioritization—able to balance speed with risk management.
• Exceptional cross-functional communication: clear updates, decision framing, and executive-level storytelling.
• High standards for security, data governance, and operational rigor appropriate for financial services.

We are prioritizing candidates who are located within proximity to Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; New York City, NY; and West Palm Beach, FL.