Director, Engineering, Mobile & Connected TV

About the position We are looking for an experienced and customer-obsessed Director of Engineering to lead the development and evolution of our mobile and connected TV (CTV) platforms across iOS, Android, tvOS, Roku, and Lightning-based applications. This role will own the technical vision, execution, and performance of Versant’s mobile and CTV products, ensuring our apps deliver world-class viewing experiences to millions of users. You will lead multiple engineering teams, foster cross-functional collaboration, and work closely with Product, Design, QA, Data, and Business stakeholders to drive platform innovation, technical excellence, and operational performance. This is a highly visible leadership role for someone who is both strategic and hands-on, with a passion for media technology and delivering delightful customer experiences. Responsibilities • Lead, inspire, and scale a team of engineers and engineering managers across mobile (iOS, Android) and CTV (tvOS, Roku, Lightning) platforms • Define and drive the technical strategy, roadmap, and execution plans aligned with product vision and business priorities • Act as the voice of engineering in product and executive conversations—advocating for scalability, performance, maintainability, and customer impact • Collaborate closely with stakeholders across Product, Design, Editorial, QA, Video Engineering, and UX Research to shape platform direction and user experience • Ensure high availability, reliability, and performance across mobile and CTV apps • Champion best practices in software development, security, architecture, testing, and CI/CD • Drive consistency in architecture and shared services across mobile and CTV platforms, identifying opportunities for modularization and cross-platform efficiency • Oversee architectural decisions to support long-term maintainability and extensibility • Establish and uphold technical governance practices to ensure code quality, platform security, and development consistency • Advocate relentlessly for the end user—driving features and optimizations that enhance speed, video quality, usability, and engagement • Balance rapid feature delivery with technical sustainability and platform quality • Oversee incident response and operational health of apps across all supported devices • Define and track key engineering KPIs including crash rate, app performance, playback reliability, code quality, application security posture improvements and delivery velocity • Coordinate with internal platform teams, third-party service providers, and device partners for feature rollouts and platform enhancements. • Mentor, develop, and retain top engineering talent; grow technical leadership within the teams • Foster an inclusive and collaborative culture of excellence, ownership, and innovation • Lead by example in promoting accountability, clear communication, and high-impact execution Requirements • 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in engineering leadership roles • Proven experience delivering large-scale mobile and/or CTV applications at high user scale • Strong technical background in native mobile (iOS, Android) and CTV (tvOS, Roku, Lightning framework) development • Experience managing multiple teams or platforms with varying tech stacks and device-specific needs • Strong knowledge of video streaming, playback optimization, and performance tuning • Experience with video streaming technologies (HLS, DASH, DRM, CDNs) • Experience with video players (e.g., JWPlayer, VideoJS, Shaka, ExoPlayer, AVPlayer), analytics tools (Adobe, Comscore) and QoS (Conviva) • Deep understanding of software development lifecycle, agile practices, observability, and mobile CI/CD pipelines • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, matrixed environment and drive outcomes across teams Nice-to-haves • Background in the media, streaming, or publishing industry Experience with hybrid or cross-platform frameworks • Familiarity with analytics tools, crash reporting platforms, and feature experimentation frameworks • Understanding of privacy, compliance, and security concerns in mobile/CTV development • Track record of building customer-first, data-informed engineering organizations • Familiarity with ad-tech integration CSAI (Client-side Ad Insertion) and SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion) Benefits • Free onsite fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, plus daily group classes • Gourmet cafeteria with daily specials plus soup and salad bars • Free shuttle transportation to and from multiple locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Jersey City • This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks. Apply tot his job