Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Innovation

Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Innovation

Join Choice Hotels International in the Advanced Technology Activation Team (AT‑AT) within the Innovation Team. The Innovation Team pioneers next‑generation technology solutions, explores emerging trends, and activates advanced capabilities to transform the experience for guests, associates, and franchisees. We bring bold ideas to life—generative AI, cloud‑native platforms, and agent‑based architectures. As a key member, you will lead the charge in delivering scalable, high‑impact software solutions that shape the future of hospitality technology for all our customers.

Are you a visionary leader with deep software engineering expertise, a passion for cloud and AI, and a knack for inspiring teams to achieve excellence—while staying hands‑on when it matters? We invite you to apply for our Senior Manager, AT‑AT role and #Make It Your Choice .

• Lead and develop a high‑performing engineering team (and potentially managers) to deliver scalable applications/services using cutting‑edge technologies and best‑in‑class methodologies.
• Own delivery excellence across architecture, design, implementation, code reviews, automated testing, and production readiness; ensure alignment to Innovation’s vision and Enterprise Architecture standards.
• Be hands‑on when needed to accelerate outcomes—design and build POCs, drive Vibe Coding sessions, and create Spec‑to‑Code demonstrations using Java/JVM, Python (Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP), or Type Script/Next.js (React, server components).
• Plan and execute on the domain roadmap: anticipate tech needs, evaluate emerging tools, and map them to business outcomes for guests, associates, and franchisees.
• Help transform SDLC → AI‑DLC: embed AI across planning, design, coding, test, security, and operations; deliver measurable gains in speed, quality, resilience, developer experience, and cost.
• Operational excellence: ensure high availability, reliability, and performance through world‑class monitoring, alerting, SLOs/SLIs, error budgets, and self‑healing practices; lead root‑cause/learning reviews.
• Security & compliance: safeguard systems and data; promote PCI/SOX compliance and participate in audits; codify controls via policy‑as‑code and automated checks.
• Program & portfolio leadership: plan, organize, and deliver multiple complex initiatives with cross‑functional partners (Product, Architecture, PMO, Business stakeholders).
• Talent & culture: hire, onboard, coach, and grow engineers and managers; foster engagement, psychological safety, and a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Standards & patterns: influence and establish best practices, reference architectures, reusable components, and guardrails; champion design patterns, quality metrics, and automation.
• Production leadership: own incident readiness and response, post‑incident learning, and long‑term remediation; drive continuous improvement of operational runbooks and DR guides.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline (required);
  Master’s degree (preferred).
• 8+ years building high‑volume, mission‑critical applications; 5+ years technical leadership; 2+ years people management.
• Proven success delivering secure, scalable, highly available systems and modern architectures.
• Exceptional grasp of SDLC and agile practices (coding standards, reviews, source control, CI/CD, testing, operations) and experience embedding AI into the lifecycle (AI‑DLC).
• Proficiency in one or more modern stacks:
  • Java/JVM (e.g., Spring Boot) for service/platform engineering.
  • Python (e.g., Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP) for services, AI‑assisted workflows, and rapid interactive apps.
  • Type Script/Next.js (React, server components, edge/runtime) for modern web experiences and full‑stack delivery.
• Strong grasp of RESTful and event‑driven architectures; experience with SQL & No
  
  SQL databases and distributed data design.
• Strong communication & stakeholder management; able to translate technical decisions into business value for guests, associates, and franchisees.
• Ability to mentor…