Sr Director, Software Development & Engineering (FAST Innovation-Xumo)

Xumo, a joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications, was formed to develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform for the entire entertainment industry. The company consists of three primary lines of business: Xumo devices, Xumo Play, and Xumo Enterprise. Powered by Comcast's global entertainment platform, Xumo devices feature a world-class user interface with universal voice search capabilities, making it easy for consumers to find and enjoy their favorite streaming content. Xumo Play is a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service offering hundreds of linear channels and on-demand options. Xumo Enterprise provides tools and services for content creators, distributors, and advertisers to make FAST content more accessible.
Job Summary
Xumo is seeking a highly strategic and innovative Senior Director of Software Development & Engineering to join our newly established Innovation Team. This leader will be responsible for identifying, incubating, and rapidly scaling innovative products, platforms, and technologies that drive audience growth, engagement, monetization, and competitive differentiation across Xumo's FAST ecosystem. This role sits at the intersection of technology, product strategy, AI innovation, and business growth. The ideal candidate combines deep software engineering expertise with an entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to transform emerging concepts into scalable solutions that create measurable business impact. As a leader within the Innovation Team, this individual will build and lead a high-performing organization focused on rapid experimentation, prototyping, and commercialization of next-generation capabilities across content discovery, personalization, advertising, AI, data intelligence, and platform experiences. The role will partner closely with Engineering, Product, Business Intelligence, Content Operations, Advertising, Content Acquisition, and Business Operations teams to shape the future of Xumo's streaming platform.
Job Description
Responsibilities:
Innovation Strategy & Technical Leadership

• Lead the technical vision, architecture, and execution of Xumo's innovation initiatives focused on accelerated growth of the FAST business.
• Identify emerging technologies, AI capabilities, market trends, and platform opportunities that can create sustainable competitive advantage.
• Evaluate, incubate, and scale new ideas from concept through proof-of-concept, pilot, and production deployment.
• Establish technical frameworks and processes that enable rapid experimentation while maintaining operational excellence.

Product Innovation & Growth

• Develop innovative technology solutions that drive audience growth, engagement, retention, and monetization.
• Partner with Product and Business leaders to identify new revenue-generating opportunities across advertising, content, commerce, and viewer experiences.
• Lead the development of AI-driven capabilities, including personalization, content intelligence, audience segmentation, recommendation systems, conversational experiences, and automation tools.
• Create scalable technology platforms that accelerate the launch of new products and features.

Engineering Leadership

• Build, mentor, and inspire a world-class team of software engineers, architects, and technical innovators.
• Foster a culture of experimentation, accountability, technical excellence, and customer-centric innovation.
• Establish engineering best practices, modern software development methodologies, and scalable platform architecture.
• Drive execution across multiple concurrent innovation initiatives while balancing speed and quality.

Strategic Partnerships & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Design, Business Intelligence, Advertising, Content Acquisition, Content Operations and Business Operations teams to align technology investments with strategic objectives.
• Evaluate partnerships, emerging technologies, and third-party platforms that accelerate innovation and business growth.
• Influence executive leadership through data-driven recommendations, technical thought leadership, and strategic roadmaps.
• Represent the Innovation Team in executive reviews, strategic planning discussions, and external partner engagements.

AI & Data-Driven Innovation

• Leverage Xumo's unique audience, device, content, and viewing data assets to develop differentiated AI-powered experiences.
• Drive innovation opportunities across audience intelligence, predictive analytics, advertising optimization, content programming, and platform automation.
• Establish engineering foundations and governance practices that enable responsible and scalable use of AI throughout the organization.

• 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.

Success Measures/Additional Info
Position is office based in Irvine, CA- 4 days/week & remote 1 day week.
In the first 12-24 months, this leader will be expected to:

• Build and scale a high-performing Innovation organization.
• Deliver multiple innovation pilots that demonstrate measurable business value.
• Launch new AI-driven capabilities that improve audience engagement and monetization.
• Establish repeatable innovation processes from ideation through commercialization.
• Generate meaningful growth opportunities that contribute to Xumo's FAST platform leadership and long-term revenue expansion.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field; advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of software engineering experience with at least 7+ years leading large-scale engineering organizations.
• Experience within streaming media, FAST, OTT, digital advertising, ad technology, connected TV, or media technology.
• Proven track record of building and scaling consumer-facing digital products, platforms, or technology services.
• Deep expertise in modern software architecture, cloud technologies, distributed systems, APIs, and platform engineering.
• Familiarity with data platforms and leveraging first-party data to drive product innovation and business growth.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams from concept through commercialization.
• Demonstrated success translating ambiguous opportunities into impactful products and business outcomes.
• Strong executive communication skills with the ability to influence senior leadership and stakeholders.
• Experience managing geographically distributed teams and fostering high-performance engineering cultures.

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; Customer Experience (CX); Innovative Solutions; Strategic Objectives; Data-Driven Decision Making; Ideation; Software Solutions
Salary:
Pay Range: This job can be performed in California with a good faith estimated pay range upon hire of $207,533.61 - $276,711.48 USD.
Comcast intends to offer the selected candidate base pay within the posted range for this role at the time of posting dependent on job-related, non-discriminatory factors such as experience. The application window is 30 days from the date job is posted, unless the number of applicants requires it to close sooner or later.
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 +