Director Software Engineering - Agentic AI

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About Northern Trust: Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world's most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. Director, Software Engineering - Agentic AI Platform Engineering Financial Services | Regulated Enterprise | Agentic AI 1. Job Description We are seeking an experienced and visionary Director of Artificial Intelligence to join our Platform Engineering organization. This is a senior leadership role responsible for driving the strategy, design, and delivery of AI-powered capabilities across a large-scale, regulated financial services enterprise. The Director will own the technical and organizational roadmap for our Agentic Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) Platform - a custom-built, governed AI platform that accelerates developer productivity, automates engineering workflows, and integrates AI agents into the fabric of our software delivery pipeline. The ideal candidate brings deep hands-on expertise in large language model (LLM) orchestration, agentic AI frameworks, and enterprise-grade infrastructure, combined with the leadership presence and communication skills to influence the CIOs and executive level. You will operate at the intersection of AI innovation and regulatory compliance, ensuring that AI capabilities are delivered safely, responsibly, and in alignment with SOX, OCC, and FFIEC requirements. 2. Responsibilities Strategic Leadership Define and execute a multi-year AI strategy for Platform Engineering aligned with the firm's technology and business objectives. Own the vision and delivery roadmap for the Agentic SDLC Platform, integrating AI agents into code review, requirements generation, test automation, security scanning, and release workflows. Partner with CIO, CTO, and line-of-business technology leaders to shape AI adoption priorities and funding. Serve as an internal thought leader and evangelist for responsible, regulated AI - translating emerging capabilities into practical, compliant solutions. Platform Delivery & Engineering Lead the design, build, and production operation of agentic AI infrastructure built on LangGraph, LangSmith, and Azure (AKS, APIM, Cosmos DB, Service Bus). Oversee knowledge store architecture encompassing Neo4j (graph), pgvector (semantic search), and Microsoft Fabric medallion data pipelines. Ensure platform security by governing per-resource On-Behalf-Of (OBO) token chains, Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), and identity lifecycle across Azure AD App Registrations, Managed Identities, and Service Principals. Drive GitHub Enterprise integration patterns including Copilot Cloud Agent, webhook-triggered LangGraph routing, and enterprise-scale API engineering across 16,000+ repositories. Governance & Compliance Establish and maintain AI governance frameworks covering model risk, data lineage, audit trails, and agent behavior in accordance with SOX, OCC, and FFIEC standards. Define Agent Governance policies (ethical guardrails, explainability, escalation paths) distinct from Agent Operations (runtime monitoring, observability, SLAs). Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, and Information Security to conduct AI risk assessments and maintain regulatory posture. Evaluate and disposition third-party AI platforms and SaaS vendors against regulated enterprise requirements, maintaining architectural independence where required. Team Leadership & Talent Development Hire, develop, and retain a high-performing team of AI engineers, platform architects, and applied ML practitioners. Establish engineering standards, code quality practices, and career development frameworks for the AI engineering discipline. Foster a culture of experimentation, psychological safety, and continuous learning within a regulated operating environment. Stakeholder Engagement Communicate AI strategy, progress, and risks clearly to executive audiences including CIO, Chief Architect, and Board-level committees. Produce investment justifications, business cases, and CIO-level briefing materials for AI platform initiatives. Manage relationships with strategic technology partners including Microsoft, GitHub, Anthropic, and key cloud vendors. 3. Essential Skills & Experience Leadership & Experience 10+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, with at least 3 years in a director-level or equivalent senior leadership role. Demonstrated experience leading AI/ML or platform engineering teams in a large, complex enterprise environment (5,000+ users, 500+ applications). Proven track record delivering production AI sy