Director of Software Engineering; Readers, Learners and Institutional Services

Director of Software Engineering (Readers, Learners and Institutional Services)

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Hybrid Work Environment (3 days onsite in NYC); not a remote role

The New York Public Library has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for over 125 years. NYPL seeks a Director of Engineering to lead the Readers, Learners and Institutional Services teams, modernizing the reading experience and fostering a lifelong reading and learning culture.

• Own technical delivery of Readers, Learners and Institutional Services team’s projects.
• Hire, train, coach and manage engineering team members.
• Drive continuous improvement of engineering practices, patterns and processes.
• Own tech stacks, frameworks, vendor tools and processes.
• Identify and mitigate risk.

• Directly manage and mentor a team of Tech Leads and senior engineers.
• Own hiring, training and coaching process, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Set clear goals and metrics for software development teams and maintain high standards of software quality.
• Lead the team in proactively identifying challenges and offering appropriate solutions.

• Define, implement and own technical strategy and roadmaps aligned with library’s strategic objectives.
• Lead build vs buy analysis for new technologies, tools and systems.
• Direct delivery of high-traffic, custom-built, patron-facing web applications with superior UX, performance and accessibility.
• Serve as primary technical leader for vendor-produced products, providing architectural oversight and seamless integration with custom systems.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and incorporate them into engineering practices.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years in software development with 5+ years as a software engineer.
• 5-10 years of progressive leadership/management experience.
• Expertise in frontend architecture design.
• Experience in vendor lifecycle management and strategic roadmap execution.

• Strong communication across organizational levels, securing buy‑in from executive leadership and junior team members.
• Ability to solve complex technical problems, proposing strategic solutions and specific code fixes.
• Familiarity with best practices, A11Y principles and accessible front‑end development.
• Deep understanding of CI/CD, unit and end‑to‑end testing and AWS deployment.
• Proven ability to implement innovative solutions and drive change.
• Proactive mindset that solves future problems before they become emergencies.
• Expertise with front‑end technologies including Java script and React; proficiency with a strongly typed language.

• Manage a diverse technology/developer team (2-6 tech leads and engineers).

• Be Helpful to patrons and colleagues.
• Be Resourceful in solving problems.
• Be Curious in all aspects of your work.
• Be Welcoming and Inclusive.

• Hybrid Work Environment (3 days onsite in NYC).
• Office Environment.

• N/A.

• No.

• Non-Union.

• Exempt.

• Monday‑Friday; 9‑5.
• Hybrid Work Environment (3 days in office in NYC).

Legal statement:
This job description represents the types and levels of responsibilities that will be required of the position and shall not be construed as a declaration of all of the specific duties and responsibilities for the role. Employees may be directed to perform job‑related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description as needed.

The New York Public Library salary transparency is governed by the library’s policies.