Director, Frontend, Content and Mobile App Engineering

Role Overview

• Define and execute a multi-brand frontend engineering vision that delivers differentiated, high-performance digital experiences for all VF brands across web, mobile, social commerce, and AI-powered answer engines (e.g., Agentic Checkout on Google AI, ChatGPT Shopping, Perplexity).
• Architect and evolve a composable, headless commerce frontend leveraging modern frameworks (Vue/React/Next.js, React Native) and MACH architecture principles (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) that enables rapid brand-specific customization on a shared platform foundation.
• Drive the adoption of structured content, semantic markup, and product knowledge graphs that make VF’s brand and product content discoverable, rank-able, and consumable by both traditional search engines and AI answer engines
• a critical imperative as consumer discovery patterns shift.
• Pioneer rich, interactive product storytelling experiences—including virtual try-ons for footwear, shoppable adventure content for The North Face, AI-generated editorial for Vans’ cultural campaigns etc.
• that elevate each brand’s unique identity and drive conversion.
• Embed AI and Gen AI capabilities across the frontend and content engineering lifecycle, including AI-assisted development (Copilot, Claude), automated testing, intelligent content generation.
• Partner with VF’s Data teams to integrate real-time personalization, recommendation engines, visual search, conversational commerce, into all consumer-facing surfaces
• tailored to each brand.
• Lead the development of AI-native content pipelines that automate product description generation, image optimization, alt-text creation, social copy, and multi-language localization at scale.
• Evaluate, pilot, and scale emerging AI technologies (LLMs, multi-modal models, agentic AI workflows) to create competitive advantage in the consumer experience.
• Build and maintain a frontend platform and multi-brand component design system that enables teams to launch, iterate, and customize experiences rapidly while preserving brand distinctiveness.
• Establish a content-as-a-platform strategy with centralized CMS, reusable modules, and brand-specific templating that supports rapid content creation across ecommerce, social (TikTok Shop, Instagram, Pinterest), email, and emerging channels.
• Ensure digital experiences are localized, performant, and culturally resonant across VF’s regions and drive operational efficiency through shared services, reusable libraries, and platform automation that reduce duplication without compromising the creative flexibility each brand requires.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a globally distributed team of 50+ engineers across frontend web, mobile, and content engineering disciplines.
• Manage engineering budgets, vendor relationships (CDN, CMS, Mobile), and build-vs-buy decisions for the frontend technology ecosystem, optimizing for VF’s cost transformation goals.

Requirements

• 12+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in senior engineering leadership roles (Director or above) managing large, globally distributed teams.
• Track record of driving engineering culture change, particularly around AI adoption and developer experience improvements.
• Hands-on experience with LLM integration, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and AI agent frameworks in production systems.
• Deep technical expertise in modern frontend technologies: Vue, React, Next.js, Node.js, GraphQL, headless CMS platforms (Coremedia, Contentful, or equivalent).
• Proven experience building and scaling native mobile applications (iOS/Android) using React Native.
• Strong track record of delivering high-performance, content-rich ecommerce experiences at scale within multi-brand, multi-region, or marketplace environments.
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into consumer-facing products, including personalization, recommendation systems, conversational AI, or generative content workflows.
• Expertise in composable/MACH architecture patterns, API-first development, micro-frontend strategies, and headless commerce platforms (Shopify Hydrogen, Salesforce Commerce Cloud).
• Experience with structured content strategy, SEO technical optimization, and emerging answer engine / AI search platform requirements.
• Strong understanding of web performance optimization, accessibility standards, and cross-browser/cross-device testing methodologies.
• Excellent communication and executive presence, with the ability to influence C-suite and brand president-level stakeholders and translate technology strategy into business outcomes.
• Familiarity with social commerce platforms (TikTok Shop, Instagram Checkout, Pinterest Shopping) and their technical integration requirements.
• Experience with design systems at scale (e.g., Storybook, Figma-to-code pipelines, token-based theming across multiple brands).
• Understanding of global ecommerce logistics, localization, and compliance requirements across VF’s key markets.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.

Tech Stack

• Android
• Cloud
• GraphQL
• iOS
• JavaScript
• Microservices
• Next.js
• Node.js
• React
• React Native
• Vue.js

Benefits

• This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential.
• Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process.