Director of Technology

The Director of Technology oversees the engineering team, drives the technological innovation of the agency, and owns the development deliverable for digital projects. In this capacity the Director of Technology acts in a dual role, of leading technology innovation to support HZ’s overall business growth and at the same time being actively involved in projects. Success in this role requires an experienced technology leader who understands the balance of technology-proficient engineering and the realities of timeline and budget-based work.

The Director of Technology will have strong capabilities in cutting-edge technologies as well as be responsible for resource management, career development, project financial management, dev ops, estimating and budgeting, dev scope estimation, and product architecture. In addition, the Director of Technology will have strong interpersonal, communication, presentation, and leadership skills.

This is a leadership position in every sense, and we need someone who can represent HZ’s culture and standards to all levels within the department and the company. In addition to the team of developers, this leader will work closely with HZ’s Experience Design, Project & Product Management teams, Account Services, Analytics, and others across the agency to ensure that our team is working creatively, intelligently, and efficiently toward our mission of creating technologically sound and highly effective and compelling experiences for HZ’s clients.

HZ takes a semi-agnostic approach to technology: Our goal is always to always utilize the best technology for the project at hand given budget, timeline, and goals. Our larger-scale projects tend to be built using a headless CMS and JAMstack approach using Next.js as our React framework, with small and medium-size projects generally utilizing Shopify, Webflow, or WordPress. We are investing in our HZ platform (JAMstack based), creating cross-project reusability through growing our component libraries and 1st party themes. HZ is always looking forward when it comes to technology solutions; as the industry continues to evolve, so do we expect this mix will evolve too.

Responsibilities

• Lead digital and technology innovation at HZ based on the rapidly evolving needs of clients

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Provide technology leadership across a team of approximately 15, the agency, and in a client-facing capacity

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Own the development delivery of digital projects based on budget, timeline, and requirements

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Lead by example and demonstrate the core values of our company and culture

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Provide leadership, inspire your team, and proactively bring new ideas, technologies, and methodologies to the table

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Work across the company to ensure strong collaborations and relationships with internal stakeholders

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Act as the technology and/or digital lead for pitches and RFP responses. Actively participate in the response, strategy development, scoping, and pitch process

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Effectively resource the team around multiple and simultaneous active projects

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Develop talent and promote growth and learning within the team

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Actively participate in the budgeting, scoping, and planning processes

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Efficiently resource projects to maximize team efficiency, speed, and profitability

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Manage technology, hosting, and software relationships and contracts

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At HZ, everyone is a doer, regardless of title; success in this role requires a willingness to jump in and support as needed to get the job done

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or 4-year degree in a related discipline strongly preferred

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10 years of hands-on server-side and client-side programming experience (full stack)

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Experience with modern Javascript frameworks is preferred

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5 years of managing, mentoring, and leading software engineering teams

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Proven track record of delivering valuable products, consistently, rapidly and effectively from early stage (finding product-market fit) to mature products

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Hands-on technologist who is always evaluating the latest software technologies and can set the vision, direction, and practices for the development team

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Experience with large-scale software deployment and operations;, experience with enterprise platforms is a plus

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Proven ability to manage the financial success of multiple active projects

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Ability to provide innovative approaches that yield practical and scalable solutions

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Ability to work in agency environment and handle multiple priorities

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Ability to develop strong working relationships with the team and peers

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Ability to effectively explain highly technical concepts to clients and key decision makers

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Excellent organizational, verbal, and written communication skills

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Strong interpersonal, communications, presentation, and leadership skills

Technical Competencies*
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Candidate should have strong experience working with these technologies:

React, Javascript, HTML/CSS, Headless CMS, GraphQL, JSON REST API, Python/Django, PHP/Wordpress, MySQL/PostgreSQL, AWS, CI/CD Pipelines, Docker, Shopify

Job Type: Full-time