Director, Email Development and QA

Job description

Location: Remote, US, EST time zone The Role As Director of Email Development & QA, you will lead a team of 10-15 developers and QA specialists delivering pixel-perfect campaigns for our Fortune 100 financial services client. You will own the production ecosystem—driving efficiency, automation, and 100% SLA compliance—while collaborating to translate business strategies into scalable technical architectures. This role also involves pre-sale scoping and leading the integration of AI within our workflows. This role reports directly to our SVP, Managing Director. What You’ll Accomplish Business Leadership and Team Development Directly manage a team of 10-15 FTEs and contractors, in North America and offshore, overseeing recruiting, performance management, and career development. Establish technical standards and engineering culture to ensure high-quality, reusable code based on responsive design systems. Architect and optimize the end-to-end development pipeline to maximize resource utilization and profitability. Partner with cross-functional leads to ensure accurate project scoping, resourcing, and timely delivery. AI-Native Practice Leadership Bring a clear, informed point of view on how AI is changing email development, delivery workflows, and what it means for how a professional services team should be structured and operate. Lead the integration of AI-assisted development tools, code generation, testing automation, and other AI-enabled workflows across the team. Client Delivery and Technical Oversight Architect, document, and continuously optimize the end-to-end development-to-QA pipeline; eliminate workflow redundancies, automate manual tasks, and champion production-line efficiency. Along with our Senior Creative Director, oversee the governance, maintenance, and scalability of the agency’s fully responsive modular email design systems and template frameworks. Connect abstract data requirements to advanced technical solutions, acting as the senior authority on complex personalization logic, API frameworks, custom scripts, and platform capabilities (e.g., Salesforce Marketing Cloud). Own the quality and integrity of developer and QA output across client engagements, from scoping decisions through to deployment. Partner with client, project and delivery leads to ensure work is scoped correctly, resourced appropriately, and delivered on time. Provide hands-on technical guidance and escalation support on complex or high-risk deliverables. Maintain visibility across active engagements to identify risk early and keep delivery on track. Track, analyze, and enforce strict compliance with internal and client-facing Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Act as the ultimate technical safety net; intercept execution failures and deliverability roadblocks to diagnose root causes and implement agency-wide improvements. Scoping, Resourcing & Burn Management Participate in pre-sale conversations to assess development requirements, translate business needs into technical scope, and develop accurate level-of-effort estimates. Identify opportunities to build reusable frameworks, accelerators, and development assets that improve delivery speed and consistency across engagements. Understand the broader financial landscape of client retainers; flag out-of-scope development requests and balance resource costs (internal vs. contractor spend) to maximize delivery profitability. What You Bring Experience & Expertise 10+ years in email engineering, with 4+ years leading technical teams in an agency or consulting environment. Expertise in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Journey Optimizer, and rendering tools like Litmus or Email on Acid. Proven ability to scope custom development, contribute to Statements of Work (SOWs), and manage stakeholder expectations regarding timelines and complexity. Expert communicator capable of leading technical discussions with all audiences, from developers to C-Suite executives. Strong operational understanding of email accessibility requirements and best practices. Broad fluency across email development, front-end development, back-end systems, API design, systems integration, and cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, etc.) Experience evaluating, piloting, or implementing AI-native development practices within a team or organization. What We Offer Competitive compensation aligned with your experience and impact. Remote flexibility. Collaborative culture that values diverse perspectives and innovative thinking. Work that makes a measurable difference for your clients. Why SH/FT: SH/FT is a consultancy built for transformation. We bridge the gap between marketing, data, and technology to unlock growth for some of the world’s most recognized brands. As Director of Engineering and Development, you will shape how our clients build and scale technology solutions, lead a team of talented engineers doing genuinely complex work, and have a real voice in how SH/FT’s engineering practice grows and evolves. Comp & Benefits As required by law, SH/FT provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired in California, Colorado, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, or Washington. The salary range for these residents is $165,000 to $185,000 + annual performance based bonus. Salary is based on several factors including but not limited to scope of responsibilities, skillset, relevant experience, certifications, and more. In addition to base salary, SH/FT offers benefits such as medical, dental, vision, STD/LTD, Life/AD&D, Flexible Paid Time Off, and various other ancillary benefits and perks. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Candidates must have current authorization. This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. No relocation assistance can be offered at this time. All inquiries are held in strict confidence. About SH/FT Shift Paradigm is an execution-led strategic consultancy that bridges the gap between enterprise strategy and technical reality. We partner with Fortune 500 brands and emerging leaders to solve the inherent complexity of modern digital marketing. As partners to the world’s leading MarTech platforms, including Adobe, Salesforce, Optimizely, and Braze, we deploy integrated experts across data analytics, marketing strategy, technology development, engineering, and revenue operations to ensure our clients’ tech stacks don't just exist, but perform.