DIRECTOR, MOBILE ENGINEERING & CLIENT APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

About the Job

Description: Working in concert with product management and editorial, the Director, Mobile Engineering and Client Application Development is responsible for the implementation and management of all client application development for Mobile products and services, with a focus on delivering only the highest possible quality experiences, which serve the diverse needs of sports, across the wide range of mobile devices and operating systems

Responsibilities: Will lead and grow the client-side development team, and serve as a technology leader both within the mobile group, and more broadly across the company. This includes building the software engineering culture, refining and enforcing development standards and processes, and work with other groups on mobile and data-platform best practices
• Lead all client-side application development activities on existing and emerging platform, manage the in-house development team as well as work with external development partners and mobile industry partners
• Make reasoned and practical recommendations on hardware and software acquisition, technology and subsequent vendor management
• Day-to-day and long-term leadership of a technology organization
• Keep abreast of industry trends and technologies, and being prepared to apply them quickly.
• Lead the technical analysis and evaluation of new technologies, vendors, products, and product enhancements
• A strong point of view on end-user functionality an eye for highly usable user interface design
• Maintenance and engineering support for currently deployed products, including off-hours escalation procedures
• Create and enforce development practices and standards
• Create and maintain close working relationships with other ESPN and Disney engineering teams; work with them to identify optimal architectures that suit Mobile product development goals and are in-line with the greater ESPN and Disney platform initiatives
• Frequently communicate with the mobile leadership, product managers, sales and marketing, and editorial staff for direction, strategy, and priority
Qualifications: The incumbent should have good leadership experience in managing direct reports, development partners, as well as an active interest in product design, and cross-organizational product development
1. BS, BA, or advanced degree in computer science, engineering or related field, or relevant work experience
2. Experience leading the development of building consumer-oriented products in a high volume environment in a professional environment
3. Experience in managing and mentoring direct reports, and in building mobile client applications
4. Knowledge of modern data platform technologies and expert knowledge of mobile client-side technologies, specifically iOS (Cocoa Touch), Android (Java + Android SDK).
5. Hands-on design and development experience
6. Expert-level experience programming in Java and Cocoa Touch
7. Expert-level understanding of multi-tier web architectures, and OO design patterns and concepts
8. Experience managing multiple projects comprising short and long development cycles without supervision
9. Experience writing technical design docs and driving them through development
10. Very strong technical leadership including direct and dotted-line supervisory responsibility
**Desired**
1. Knowledge in Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry SDKs, digital video formats and distribution protocols, web stack technologies (presentation, caching, app, DB, networking), handset idiosyncrasies, and SMS/messaging protocols