AVP, Engineering & QA

Crum & Forster

$141K — $218K *
Information Technology
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; Master's degree preferred.
  • 12 years in software engineering, with 3-5+ years leading engineering teams and managers.
  • Proven track record in software delivery and operational reliability in a scaled-agile environment.
  • Hands-on experience with the Microsoft/Azure stack and modern development practices.
  • Demonstrated success in building and scaling high-performing engineering organizations.
  • Experience with AI-assisted engineering practices at scale.
  • SAFe (SPC/RTE) certification and Microsoft Azure certifications preferred.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and develop engineering managers, software engineers, and QA teams for high performance.
  • Own software delivery accountability, including SDLC and Agile practices.
  • Drive the scaling of AI-assisted engineering practices across teams.
  • Ensure alignment of delivery predictability and capacity with product teams.
  • Drive operational excellence, including incident response and service reliability.
  • Partner with executives on engineering strategy and budget decisions.
  • Act as an engineering thought leader, introducing best practices and innovations.

Benefits

  • Competitive compensation package.
  • Generous 401K employer match.
  • Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching.
  • Generous Paid Time Off.
  • Comprehensive wellness programs for physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.
  • Tuition reimbursement and support for professional training and certifications.
  • Dynamic and engaging work environment focused on community involvement.
Full Job Description

The AVP, Engineering & Quality Assurance is the engineering leader accountable for the people, delivery, and operational excellence of TII's software development and quality assurance teams. Whereas the Principal Solution & Software Engineering Architect defines architectural standards and modern engineering patterns, the AVP leads the teams, Agile Release Trains, and run-time operations that transform those standards into delivered, reliable, and scaled outcomes.

 

Reporting to the VP, Digital Transformation, the AVP leads engineering/quality assurance leads and delivery teams; owns hiring, performance, and career development; is accountable for delivery predictability, quality, and service reliability; and drives the operational adoption of AI-assisted engineering across the organization. This is a hands-on leadership role that balances people leadership, delivery accountability, and technical credibility—translating strategy into execution that supports TII's $2.5B growth target and expansion into new distribution channels.

 

What you will do:

  • Engineering Leadership & Talent Development
    • Lead, hire, and develop engineering managers, software engineers, and QA, building a high-performing, engaged organization.
    • Own performance management, coaching, career development, and technical leadership development across the teams.
    • Drive organizational design and workforce planning to scale engineering capacity with business growth.
    • Establish succession plans and a strong technical leadership bench.
  • Software Delivery & Agile Execution
    • Own end-to-end software delivery accountability—SDLC, Agile practices, and release management across the Agile Release Trains.
    • Ensure delivery predictability, development velocity, and on-time/on-scope outcomes.
    • Drive the operational adoption and scaling of the standards, patterns, and accelerators defined by the Principal Architect.
    • Partner with Product Ownership and RTEs to align capacity, prioritization, and commitments.
    • Hands on tactical engineering leader
  • AI-Enabled Engineering
    • Operationalize AI-assisted engineering practices (GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, AI-assisted testing) across teams, translating the Architect's guardrails into day-to-day team practice.
    • Champion responsible AI adoption—balancing productivity gains with quality, security, IP, and compliance.
    • Measure and improve engineering productivity and quality using data (DORA metrics, cycle time, defect rates, AI-adoption metrics).
  • Engineering Excellence & Quality
    • Embed DevSecOps, CI/CD, test automation, and secure-by-design practices as team norms.
    • Drive code quality, engineering discipline, and continuous improvement.
    • Ensure engineering practices align to the architectural standards and Azure Well-Architected principles set by the Architect.
  • Operational Excellence & Reliability
    • Own run-time operational accountability—incident response, service reliability, availability, capacity planning, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
    • Establish on-call, monitoring, and observability practices that keep services resilient and always-on.
    • Lead post-incident reviews and drive systemic reliability improvements.
  • Stakeholder Leadership & Strategy
    • Serve as a leadership-team member with executive visibility, reporting on delivery, reliability, talent, and AI-adoption progress.
    • Partner with the VP of Digital Transformation on engineering strategy, budget, and investment priorities.
    • Collaborate closely with the Principal Architect, Product, QA, and Platform Engineering to align strategy, standards, and execution.
    • Own the engineering budget and vendor/tooling decisions within the function.
    • Acts as an engineering thought leader, bringing forward industry best practices, emerging technologies, and innovative approaches that improve delivery effectiveness, engineering excellence, and business outcomes.
    • Other duties as assigned

     

    What YOU will bring to C&F:

    • Proven leadership abilities and change management skills
    • Ability to seamlessly operate in both strategic and tactical capacities
    • Ability to motivate, prioritize, and lead multiple projects simultaneously
    • Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills with attention to detail
    • Proven results leading AI-Enabled Engineering Adoption
    • Effective Strategic Partnership & Influence
    • Outcome & Metrics Orientation

     

    Requirements:

    • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field—or equivalent experience.  Master's degree in a related field preferred.
    • 12 years in software engineering, with 3-5+ years leading engineering teams and managers.
    • Proven track record owning software delivery and operational reliability in a scaled-agile / Agile Release Train environment.
    • Hands-on background in the Microsoft/Azure stack: .NET Core, ASP.NET Core, EF Core; React/Angular/TypeScript; REST/GraphQL; SQL/NoSQL; Azure; CI/CD DevOps.
    • Demonstrated success building, scaling, and developing high-performing engineering organizations.
    • Experience driving adoption of modern engineering and AI-assisted practices at team scale.
    • Proven people-leadership experience, including hiring, performance management, and org design.
    • Demonstrated accountability for delivery predictability and service reliability.
    • SAFe (SPC/RTE) certification; Microsoft Azure certifications preferred.
    • Experience operationalizing AI-assisted engineering tools (GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, GitHub Advanced Security) preferred.
    • Experience in insurance, travel, or other regulated industries preferred.

    What C&F will bring to YOU:

    • Competitive compensation package
    • Generous 401K employer match 
    • Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching
    • Generous Paid Time Off
    • Excellent benefits that go beyond health, dental & vision. Our programs are focused on your whole family’s wellness including your physical, mental and financial wellbeing
    • A core C&F tenant is owning your career development so we provide a wealth of ways for you to keep learning, including tuition reimbursement, industry related certifications and professional training to keep you progressing on your chosen path
    • A dynamic, ambitious, fun and exciting work environment
    • We believe you do well by doing good and want to encourage a spirit of social and community responsibility, matching donation program, volunteer opportunities, and an employee driven corporate giving program that lets you participate and support your community

     

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