FLEX, Senior Director, Engineering and Architecture – Centralized Messaging and Conversational Intelligence

This is a temporary position. 

We are looking for a Senior Director of Engineering & Architecture to lead the solution design and development of a centralized messaging platform that orchestrates guest communications across a wide range of channels. This platform will act as a central abstraction layer that integrates with:

• Internal tools (e.g., call centers, hotel front desks)
• Owned guest channels (e.g., web chat, mobile app chat)
• External messaging platforms (e.g., WhatsApp, SMS, iMessage)

The platform will incorporate an AI-powered orchestration layer to enable intelligent message routing, response generation, and conversational workflows using machine learning models (MML) trained on domain-specific content.

This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who can architect for scale, build a global team, and partner with product, operations, and guest experience teams to bring modern, unified messaging experiences to life.

 

Key Responsibilities

Platform Architecture & Solution Design

• Architect a central abstraction layer that serves as the single integration point for messaging across all internal and external channels.
• Design and maintain a modular system that can support omnichannel communication with consistent behavior, security, and data handling.
• Ensure scalability, reliability, and adaptability to integrate new endpoints or message formats quickly.

AI & Conversational Intelligence

• Lead the integration of an AI/ML layer that leverages existing MML models to:
• Automatically classify and route messages
• Generate intelligent, context-aware responses
• Escalate and hand off conversations to humans when needed
• Partner with data science teams to refine models and optimize routing logic based on behavioral signals, context, and guest profile data.

Channel Integration

• Oversee integrations with a wide range of messaging endpoints, including:
• Call centers and front desk associate tools
• Web and mobile app chats
• 3rd-party messaging platforms (e.g., WhatsApp, SMS, iMessage)
• Support consistent user experiences, compliance, and personalization across all channels.

Engineering & Team Leadership

• Build and lead a global engineering team focused on API development, orchestration services, and channel integration.
• Establish engineering excellence and delivery practices for scalable microservices, observability, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with platform teams, product managers, UX, guest services, and AI/ML teams.

Governance, Compliance & Personalization

• Ensure all communications comply with local data privacy, opt-in/opt-out, and regulatory requirements.
• Support context-aware personalization using data from guest journeys, CRM systems, and operational touchpoints.

 

Qualifications

• 15+ years in software engineering or architecture with experience designing and delivering complex, distributed systems
• 5+ years of leadership in omnichannel messaging, conversational AI, or digital customer experience platforms
• Deep experience in building API-based integration layers, messaging middleware, and intelligent routing systems
• Proven ability to integrate and manage 3rd-party messaging platforms (e.g., Twilio, Meta/WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat)
• Hands-on understanding of AI/ML models used for message classification, response generation, or routing
• Familiarity with cloud-native architecture, message queueing, microservices, and event-driven systems

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in customer service, hospitality, or platform-as-a-service
• Experience delivering automated conversational flows across multiple digital surfaces
• Familiarity with LLMs, MML pipelines, and AI models for conversational intelligence
• Experience working with tools like Apple Business Chat,Twilio Flex, LivePerson, or Intercom is a plus

 

The pay range for this position is $68.12 to $111.68 per hour.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Washington Applicants Only: Employees will accrue 0.0334 PTO balance for every hour worked and eligible to receive minimum of 9 holidays annually.

FLEX opportunities offer coverage for medical, dental, vision, health care flexible spending account, dependent care flexible spending account, life insurance, disability insurance, accident insurance, adoption expense reimburs