Director, App Dev - Mobile and GenAI

The Director of App Dev for Mobile and GenAI leads the strategy, architecture, and delivery of mobile applications and GenAI-powered capabilities. This role partners closely with Product, Design, Data, Security, and Operations to build reliable, scalable, and user‑centric experiences.

This is a hybrid role that requires onsite work at our Newton, MA office 3 days a week.

Bright Horizons is a leading education and care company that helps employees thrive at work and at home by partnering with employers to offer high-quality child care, elder care, and educational support. Our workplace reflects this commitment—with collaborative environments, meaningful benefits, and a culture that supports both career growth and personal well-being. Whether you’re caring for children or powering the systems and partnerships that make it all possible, at Bright Horizons, you’re the difference.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities:

•  Mobile and Gen AI Engineering

  •  Lead end‑to‑end development and delivery of mobile and AI/GenAI applications using modern engineering practices. 

  •  Define mobile and GenAI architecture, including modularization, release processes, CI/CD, observability, and platform strategy. 

  •  Drive AI/GenAI feature development; select models, build pipelines, design evaluation frameworks, optimize latency, and ensure responsible AI usage. 

  • Guide teams through technical decisions; remove blockers; promote best‑in‑class engineering practices. 

  •  Establish engineering KPIs, quality standards and drive continuous improvement. 

  • Own Cloud and AI‑inference cost governance and resource allocation. 

  •  Manage staffing strategy and talent development for mobile and GenAI engineering teams. 

  • Maintain clear technical documentation and progress reporting for leadership.

• Product Partnership

  • Translate product strategy into engineering roadmaps, sequencing, and technical trade‑offs. 

  • Partner with PMs on KPI creation, prioritization, and customer‑centric decisions. 

  • Work cross‑functionally with design, support, research, operations, and marketing. 

  • Communicate engineering impacts in clear, business‑aligned language.

• People Management & Leadership

  • Lead, mentor, and grow engineers, senior ICs, and engineering managers. 

  • Build a high‑performing culture centered on accountability, collaboration, and modern engineering excellence. 

  • Recognize contributions; develop succession plans; guide career development.

  • Influence engineering strategy across the team including architecture, security, data, and cloud teams. 

  • Present technical strategy and program updates to executive leadership. 

  • Drive enterprise‑level modernization initiatives (mobile platform upgrades, AI adoption, cloud modernization).

  • Exercise independent judgment in technical strategy, staffing, architectural choices, and delivery commitments. 

  • Manage risk, compliance, privacy, and AI governance considerations in decision making.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Engineering, Technology or related field

• 7+ years technical engineering experience with coding in languages including, but not limited to JavaScript/TypeScript based framework, and Python OR equivalent experience

• 5+ years’ experience and skills in building cloud-based SaaS applications.

• 5+ years’ experience and skills in building mobile development and technology (Angular, Ionic, React Native, Flutter and native IOS/Android or similar)

• 5+ years’ experience and skills in leading an engineering native organization

• 1+ years delivering AI and GenAI applications, including model integration, evaluation, RAG, and deployment. 

• Proven track record delivering mobile or AI‑powered products at scale. 

• Familiarity with modern LLM providers and tooling (Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, LangSmith, vector databases).

Preferred Qualifications/Skills:

• Experience with reliability engineering, automated testing, CI/CD, APM/observability, and performance optimization. 

• Experience working with security, privacy, and AI governance requirements. 

• Strong verbal and written communication; able to communicate complex topics to both technical and non‑technical audiences.