Software Engineering Director - Automation & AI

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed.  We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.

Job Description

We are looking for a passionate and motivated Software Engineering Director to join our team and make a difference in the lives of our employees, bankers, and customers. This role is perfect for someone who wants to be at the forefront of innovation, improving our branch and ATM technology experiences with cutting-edge AI and automation solutions.

As the Software Engineering Director, Automation & AI, you will partner with our business partners and IT stakeholders to plan and develop advanced technology solutions using AI and automation tools. In this high-impact role, you will build a technology incubation function, identifying, developing, and launching innovative solutions that address critical business challenges, enhance customer experiences, and automate repeatable tasks whenever possible. You will lead our AI and automation efforts for branch and ATM technologies, collaborating closely with business leaders, technology teams, and external partners to shape the future.

Responsibilities:

• Lead AI & Automation Strategy: Define and execute the AI and automation vision, aligning with business goals and innovation initiatives for Branch & ATM Technology.
• Drive Engineering Governance: Establish and enforce best practices for scalable, stable, and resilient software delivery, including performance monitoring, audits, and technical standards.
• Foster Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with engineering, product, and business teams across a matrixed organization to prioritize initiatives, prototype solutions, and ensure successful delivery.
• Enable Change through Influence: Champion a culture of continuous learning and psychological safety. Guide engineers through change with empathy, forums, and peer learning—not mandates.
• Oversee Technical Execution: Maintain visibility into what’s queued, what’s in progress, and what’s delivering value. Leverage internal teams and resources to accelerate outcomes.
• Promote Innovation: Identify and incubate new ideas and use cases for AI and automation, especially those tailored to specific business channels or customer needs.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience
• Eight or more years of relevant software engineering experience
• Five or more years of experience leading a software engineering team

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Experience leading automation and AI strategy and delivery with at least 2 years of hands-on AI/ML experience (including GenAI) and hands-on expertise with automating processes.
• Proven expertise in integrating modern applications with legacy infrastructure using streaming platforms and technologies that serve as a cohesive link between the two.
• Extensive hands-on experience in Python and key data science libraries, with practical development expertise in TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Proficient in deploying and managing models on the Azure Machine Learning platform and integrating with leading LLM APIs, including OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Anthropic, and Mistral.
• Develop and refine SLM and LLM behavior using prompt engineering, guardrail implementation, and fine-tuning pipelines.
• Design and build scalable APIs (e.g., FastAPI, Flask) to enable AI-driven features across products
• Familiarity with application cloud hosting and migrations (Azure and AWS) and cloud data and services.
• Experience with Retail Branch and ATM channels, including capabilities such as sales, account opening, customer onboarding, account servicing, sales alerts and leads, disputes, money movement capabilities, document management, appointment scheduling, CoBrowse, ATMs, transaction middleware, and TCRs.
• Experience working within an agile/scrum development environment aligned to product.
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of business and technical/engineering strategy align.
• Strong people management skills, including mentoring and coaching engineers of all skill levels.
• Strong communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to communicate technical information in simple, easily understood terms.
• Financial services experience.