Director, Software Engineering (AI) Onsite - Reston, VA - Freewheel

FreeWheel, a Comcast company, provides comprehensive ad platforms for publishers, advertisers, and media buyers. Powered by premium video content, robust data, and advanced technology, we’re making it easier for buyers and sellers to transact across all screens, data types, and sales channels. As a global company, we have offices in nine countries and can insert advertisements around the world.

Job Summary

This job guides AI engineering strategy and product innovation, overseeing the design and delivery of AI-enabled capabilities, agentic workflows, and intelligent automation across FreeWheel’s applications. It ensures AI capabilities are launched responsibly into production with attention to quality, reliability, adoption, compliance, and measurable business impact. The role manages and develops engineering teams, aligns product, data, business, and executive stakeholders, and directs priorities and investments to deliver on FreeWheel’s build-in and built-on AI vision. 

Job Description

Preferred Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including AI/ML systems 

• 5+ years managing, mentoring, and developing engineering teams at scale 

• Proven experience launching AI-enabled products and bringing LLMs, ML models, agents, or intelligent workflows into production use 

• Strong software engineering background, with experience designing scalable backend services and product capabilities using Python, Go, or similar technologies 

• Experience enabling AI capabilities in cloud-based product environments, such as Azure, AWS, or GCP 

• Strong understanding of how to evaluate, improve, and responsibly operate AI capabilities after launch, with attention to quality, reliability, adoption, and business impact 

• Ability to translate business problems into scalable AI-enabled product solutions and guide teams from concept through launch and ongoing improvement 

Job Description 

• Creating, enabling, and driving innovation by bringing agentic workflows and AI capabilities into FreeWheel’s applications, helping teams unlock new ways to automate work, improve decision-making, and deliver measurable product and business outcomes. 

• Managing and developing engineering teams while working closely with product, data, business, and executive stakeholders to deliver on a build-in and built-on AI vision across FreeWheel’s products, including clear cross-functional alignment and executive-level communication on AI strategy and initiatives. 

• Defining the AI engineering strategy and roadmap in alignment with business priorities, product opportunities, and customer needs. 

• Guiding teams in the design and delivery of AI-enabled product capabilities, including intelligent automation, decision-support experiences, and reusable patterns that can be applied across applications. 

• Partnering with internal stakeholders and external partners to identify high-value AI opportunities, clarify business problems, and turn them into practical product and workflow improvements. 

• Driving innovation in AI engineering by helping teams evaluate emerging capabilities, apply them to real business needs, and scale successful patterns across the organization. 

• Building strong engineering leadership by hiring, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams that can deliver reliable, maintainable, and customer-focused AI capabilities. 

• Developing and managing team priorities, staffing plans, and investment decisions to align AI engineering work with company goals and product outcomes. 

• Guiding issue resolution and sharing insights on product usage, data quality, AI effectiveness, and opportunities to improve business and customer outcomes. 

• Ensuring AI capabilities are delivered responsibly, with appropriate attention to data sensitivity, customer privacy, security expectations, and company policies. 

• Leading adoption of LLMs, machine learning, and agentic capabilities in ways that support product innovation, measurable business value, and practical team execution. 

• Consistent exercise of independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance. 

• Regular, consistent and punctual attendance. Must be able to work nights and weekends, variable schedule(s) as necessary. 

• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned. 

Responsibilities:

• Leading the development and execution of software strategies to align with organizational goals
• Defining coding standards and frameworks for application development across various platforms
• Directing a large team in creating innovative software and web applications, while ensuring ongoing support for existing solutions
• Managing the rollout of software releases and updates, ensuring seamless implementation across the organization
• Collaborating with managers to meet project deadlines, specifications, and budgetary constraints, while developing performance metrics
• Reporting on project progress and managing large-scale budgets to meet financial targets
• Researching and integrating new coding technologies and practices to enhance development efficiency
• Partnering with other engineering teams to adopt practices that support organizational objectives
• Consistent exercise of independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance.
• Regular, consistent and punctual attendance. Must be able to work nights and weekends, variable schedule(s) as necessary.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Employees at all levels are expected to:

• Understand our Operating Principles; make them the guidelines for how you do your job.
• Own the customer experience think and act in ways that put our customers first, give them seamless digital options at every touchpoint, and make them promoters of our products and services.
• Know your stuff be enthusiastic learners, users and advocates of our game-changing technology, products and services, especially our digital tools and experiences.
• Win as a team make big things happen by working together and being open to new ideas.
• Be an active part of the Net Promoter System a way of working that brings more employee and customer feedback into the company by joining huddles, making call backs and helping us elevate opportunities to do better for our customers.
• Drive results and growth.
• Support a culture of inclusion in how you work and lead.
• Do what's right for each other, our customers, investors and our communities.

Disclaimer: This information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees in this role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications.

Comcast is an equal opportunity workplace. We will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

Skills:

Leadership; Software Engineering; AI Systems; People Management

Base pay is one part of the Total Rewards that Comcast provides to compensate and recognize employees for their work. Most sales positions are eligible for a Commission under the terms of an applicable plan, while most non-sales positions are eligible for a Bonus. Additionally, Comcast provides best-in-class Benefits to eligible employees. We believe that benefits should connect you to the support you need when it matters most, and should help you care for those who matter most. That’s why we provide an array of options, expert guidance and always-on tools, that are personalized to meet the needs of your reality - to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. Please visit the compensation and benefits summary on our careers site for more details.

Education

Bachelor's Degree

While possessing the stated degree is preferred, Comcast also may consider applicants who hold some combination of coursework and experience, or who have extensive related professional experience.

Relevant Work Experience

10 Years +