Engineering Head - Digital Applications - BFSI

We are looking for a senior technology leader to head the Digital Applications portfolio. This individual will be responsible for ensuring continuity of mission-critical applications, driving the build-out of our next-generation API-first platform, and advancing AI-driven initiatives. The role requires close collaboration with the CTO and peer leaders to shape and execute the organization's technology strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Business-as-Usual (BAU):

• Ensure stability, scalability, and performance of NodeJS, ReactJS, AWS-hosted applications used by sales agents and customers.
• Manage integrations with internal middleware and 3rd-party APIs (customer data, authentication, agent profiles, government repositories).
• Oversee operations across serverless, containerized, and always-on AWS environments.
• Maintain compliance with data security, privacy, and regulatory standards in the life insurance domain.

Next-Generation Platform Development:

• Lead the revamp of the application stack with a strong API-first approach.
• Ensure partner-friendly, well-documented APIs that the breadth of insurance product distribution and servicing needs.
• Build APIs that enable seamless collaboration with partners to sell products and serve customers effectively.
• Drive adoption of fine-grained authorization, access control, and usage metering.
• Oversee Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices to ensure resilience, observability, and proactive monitoring.
• Champion domain-driven design and component-based UI frameworks for scalability and reuse.abs

AI Utilities & Innovation:

• Identify and prioritize AI/ML opportunities across sales, customer engagement, and operations.
• Guide development and integration of AI utilities into business workflows, ensuring measurable business impact.
• Establish governance for ethical, explainable, and compliant use of AI.

Team Leadership:

• Provide strategic and technical leadership to a blended team of internal staff and partner resources.
• Build engineering excellence through modern DevOps, CI/CD, and agile practices.
• Mentor and develop talent to foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Collaborate with product, business, and compliance stakeholders to align delivery with strategic goals.

Strategic Collaboration:

• Work closely with the CTO and peer leaders to define and execute the technology roadmap.
• Shape decisions on platform architecture, vendor partnerships, and innovation initiatives.
• Translate organizational strategy into executional milestones with clear outcomes.

Candidate Profile:

• Experience: 12-18 years in technology, with 5+ years in senior leadership.
• Technical expertise: Full-stack engineering (NodeJS, ReactJS), AWS cloud (serverless, containers, networking, security).
• Domain knowledge: Prior exposure to financial services, insurance, or other regulated industries preferred.
• Architecture skills: Strong background in API strategy, partner integrations, DDD, and reliability engineering.
• Innovation exposure: Experience applying AI/ML in practical, business-relevant use cases.
• Leadership: Proven people leadership, vendor management, and stakeholder engagement capabilities.