Job Summary: . The Director of Engineering, Commerce, is a strategically vital position within the Guest Experience Technology department, responsible for defining and driving the technology landscape for guest transactions, reservations, and product fulfillment. keeping current with global e-commerce innovations, payment ecosystems, and industry best practices.In this role, the Director will partner with IT leadership, Digital Experience Product owners, and other key stakeholders to develop and implement a cross-functional commerce roadmap. This roadmap aims to evolve and transform capabilities related to purchasing and redeeming product to provide a guest-centric experience that drives long term loyalty to our brands and resorts.
As a key addition to the Guest Experience Technology leadership team, reporting to the Vice President of Digital Engineering, the successful candidate must bring deep experience in custom software engineering, including a solid history of delivering high-volume, consumer-facing e-commerce systems, native mobile purchase funnels, and web-based transactional platforms using an agile-based approach. The ideal candidate must also possess the ability to develop engineering talent, foster a culture of transparency and technical innovation, and create clear accountabilities to drive transactional success.
Why This Role is Unique- Technical Ownership of High-Revenue Commerce Platforms: Engineering ownership of critical Tier 1 e-commerce platforms, including commerce on owned web and mobile platforms including EpicPass.com, Resort websites, and the My Epic app
- Redefining Travel & Hospitality Commerce: The Guest Experience Technology team at Vail Resorts is at the forefront of the Travel and Tourism industry.
- Investment in Innovation: Commerce, and the redemption of products on-mountain is a key area of focus for the company. This team, and the platforms it owns, are at the center of this strategic direction and investment.
- Direct Executive Impact: High exposure to senior business and IT leaders,offering a unique opportunity to fundamentally architect and reimagine our core digital commerce platforms.
Job Specifications: - Starting Wage: $165,000 = $195,000 + Annual Bonus + Equity
- Employment Type: Year Round
- Shift Type: Full Time hours available
- Minimum Age: At least 18 years of age
Job Responsibilities: Strategic Commerce Leadership - Define and execute a multi-year digital commerce technology strategy and implementation plan that aligns with the guest-centric purchasing vision.
- Collaborate with senior leadership to align scalable technology initiatives with commercial business goals, checkout optimization, and external e-commerce trends.
- Stay abreast of industry trends in digital transactions, cloud commerce architectures, automated payment processing, and modern checkout capabilities
Team Management & Engineering Culture - Empower engineering team members and develop technical talent through performance monitoring, alignment with professional development programs, and company growth.
- Lead and inspire the engineering culture that focuses on high quality and high impact deliverables
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and strict compliance/collaboration within the commerce technology teams
Technical Architecture & Lifecycle Management- Lead the architecture and development of innovative, highly-scalable, and differentiated e-commerce products across consumer-facing web, mobile app,and the broader transactional technology space.
- Oversee the design, development, integration, and deployment of custom software solutions, payment integrations, and that align to business requirements and guest needs.
- Ensure the adoption of engineering best practices in commerce software development, including agile methodologies, code reviews, secure payment standards, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD).
Quality Assurance & Operational Excellence- Establish and maintain rigorous QA processes to ensure the highest reliability and security standards for all e-commerce systems and transactional software products.
- Implement automated testing frameworks-specifically targeting checkout performance, stress testing, and payment gateway reliability-to streamline testing and improve deployment efficiency.
- Ensure timely identification, documentation, and resolution of system defects throughout the software development lifecycle to minimize friction in the purchase path.
- Build strong relationships that focus on understanding the e-commerce needs of internal stakeholders and IT resources, tailoring our strategy to support frictionless guest buying experiences.
Job Requirements: - At least 5 years of experience in the following areas:
- Developing and leading collaborative, Agile software engineering teams focused on improving velocity while maintaining strict code quality, security, and scalability in a high volume transactional environment.
- Leading digital commerce and transaction technology strategy, platform migrations, and execution.
- Developing mission-critical software applications, checkout flows, APIs,and systems that support enterprise-level e-commerce.
- A successful track record of building and leading Omni-channel digital commerce teams, including experience developing and executing digital marketplace technologies in a distributed environment (web, mobile app,3rd-party SaaS commerce engines, payment gateways).
- Ability to successfully resolve architectural and situational complexities that are broadly defined, diverse, and occasionally unprecedented.
- Detail-oriented with strong program and project management competencies within complex software rollouts.
- Ability to step into commerce projects that are already in progress or need rescue and effectively assume a leadership role.
- Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex technical architectures into business terms for executive presentations.
- Knowledge and hands-on experience within cloud-based platforms,cybersecurity/PCI compliance, and transactional data/analytics.
- Excellent understanding of continuous integration and development methodologies with the ability to communicate cross-platform architectural thinking.
The expected Total Compensation for this role is $165,000 = $195,000 + Annual Bonus + Equity. Individual compensation decisions are based on a variety of factors.
Job Benefits- Ski/Mountain Perks! Free passes for employees, employee discounted lift tickets for friends and family AND free ski lessons
- MORE employee discounts on lodging, food, gear, and mountain shuttles
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Employee Assistance Program
- Excellent training and professional development
Full Time roles are eligible for the above, plus:
- Health Insurance; Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, and Vision Insurance plans (for eligible seasonal employees after working 500 hours)
- Free ski passes for dependents
- Critical Illness and Accident plans
Vail Resorts offers a 'Hybrid' work environment for Broomfield-based roles where employees must live within 50 miles of the Broomfield office and work on-site Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and have flexibility to work off-site on Mondays and Fridays.
Please note that the ability to work in person or off-site, and the particulars related to such work, are subject to change at any time; and, accordingly, the Company reserves the right to change its policies and/or require in-person/in-office work or off-site work at any time in its sole discretion.
