DirectorOfSoftwareEngineeringandArchitecture

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless– and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives. What We’re Looking For: 2U is looking for a highly technical, hands-on Director of Software Engineering with deep experience in modern cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, and full-stack platform development. This role combines technical leadership, architectural ownership, and delivery accountability across large-scale digital platforms supporting student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems. This is not a traditional management-only role. You will operate as a player-coach, actively engaging in system design, architecture reviews, and technical decision-making while leading globally distributed engineering teams. You will own both how systems are built and how they are delivered, ensuring scalable, secure, and high-performing platforms aligned with business outcomes. The ideal candidate has built and scaled complex systems, understands trade-offs deeply, and can drive end-to-end delivery with strong engineering rigor. Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To: Engineering & Platform Leadership Own and drive the architecture and engineering strategy for scalable, cloud-native platforms across student/learner experience, applications, and data ecosystems. Lead the design and evolution of systems using: Backend: Python, Ruby on Rails, Clojure, or Elixir Frontend: React, TypeScript, or HTML/CSS Data: MySQL, PostgreSQL Define and implement API-first, microservices, and event-driven architectures using modern design patterns. Establish architectural standards across frontend, backend, and in