VP of Engineering
Codal · Chicago, IL
📍 Chicago💰 $200,000via greenhousePosted 2026-06-04
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An Introduction to Codal
Codal is an award-winning web design and development consultancy that helps enterprise organizations solve complex problems and accelerate growth through elegant, data-driven digital solutions. Our areas of expertise include application modernization, eCommerce, UX/UI design, product strategy, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
At Codal, you will collaborate with some of the most innovative organizations in the world and work on cutting-edge technologies that push the boundaries of design and software development. We promote long-term success, not just for our clients but for our team, helping you develop a professional roadmap that takes your career to new heights.
VP of Engineering
About Codal
Codal is an award-winning digital consultancy that helps enterprise organizations solve complex problems and accelerate growth through elegant, data-driven digital solutions. Our areas of expertise include application modernization, ecommerce, UX/UI design, product strategy, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. We are the premium development partner for global brands across life sciences, manufacturing, B2B platforms and ecommerce.
At Codal you will collaborate with some of the most innovative organizations in the world and work on technologies that push the boundaries of design and software development. You will also be part of a community that promotes long-term success, not just for our clients but for each other.
The role
Codal is searching for a VP of Engineering to serve as the senior-most technical leader in the firm. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will oversee a global engineering organization of 200+ professionals across the US, UK and India.
Your mission is to industrialize Codal's technical delivery, establish our AI engineering standards, and turn engineering into a clear commercial advantage in every sales cycle we run. You will be the technical voice in the room with Fortune 500 CIOs and CTOs, and the operating leader our delivery teams rely on to ship.
What you'll own
Strategic engineering leadership
Operationalize executive goals into technical reality with a near-term focus on a standardized AI engineering toolkit and the continued expansion of our global nearshore and offshore delivery model
Set the multi-year engineering roadmap in partnership with the CEO, Product leadership and Sales
Own engineering capacity, billable utilization, gross margin and quality across all hubs, with target utilization benchmarks in the 75 to 85 percent range for senior delivery roles
Commercial and pre-sales partnership
Partner with Sales and the CEO on the largest, most complex deals; act as the technical executive sponsor on $2M+ pursuits
Lead architecture and feasibility conversations directly with client CIOs, CTOs and VPs of Engineering; own the technical narrative in finalist meetings
Govern our pre-sales scoping process so that estimates, staffing and delivery models stay accurate as deals get more complex
Translate complex technical roadmaps into commercial language for non-technical stakeholders and C-suite executives
Cloud and AI orchestration
Act as the executive sponsor for our cloud and data partnerships and own the technical relationships with GCP, AWS, Azure, Databricks, Sanity and our other strategic platforms
Define how Codal builds with AI at the enterprise level: LLM orchestration, retrieval architectures, evaluation, guardrails, agent frameworks, and the build vs buy decisions that go with them
Establish a standardized AI engineering toolkit so every team ships modern, AI-native solutions to clients by default, not by exception
Stay sharp on emerging methodologies (advanced microservices patterns, composable architectures, edge compute, agentic systems) and decide where Codal places its bets
Organizational design and delivery
Refine the interaction model between US-based architects and our UK and India engineering hubs so handoffs are clean and follow-the-sun delivery is a real capability, not a slogan
Build the structures, career ladders and rituals that let Engineering Directors and Leads thrive at scale
Manage Managers, not just ICs: directly lead a tier of Engineering Directors and Leads, and grow the next layer of technical leadership
Own engineering hiring strategy in partnership with Talent: roles, ladders, leveling and the bar for senior architects
Quality, security and governance
Define the Codal Standard for security, scalability, performance and accessibility, and make it real on every project, not just the high-profile ones
Implement DORA metrics, SLOs and automated DevSecOps pipelines so engineering health is visible, measurable and improving quarter over quarter
Own technical risk across the portfolio: red-team large engagements, intervene early when delivery signals turn negative
Lead post-mortems and engineering reviews with the rigor of a serious consulting firm, not the politeness of a vendor
Innovation, R&D and thought leadership
Proactively identify emerging technologies and methodologies and decide what becomes a Codal capability
Sponsor internal R&D investments, hack weeks and POCs that turn into real client offerings
Represent Codal externally: conferences, partner events, executive briefings, podcasts, and our engineering blog
Contribute to our patent and IP strategy as our platforms and accelerators mature
Talent and culture
Mentor and grow a tier of Engineering Directors and Leads, building a real professional roadmap that retains the best people
Set the engineering culture across three geographies: high-trust, technically excellent, commercially aware, and free of theater
Be the engineer's engineer: someone the team respects technically and personally
Ideal candidate
Experience: 15+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in a senior leadership role (VP, SVP or Head of Engineering) inside a digital consu
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