VP, Functional Design Engineering

Lead with Purpose, Unlock Your Team’s Passion

At LPL, people leaders hold the key to the employee experience — shaping culture, driving performance, and guiding individuals to new heights. Because when that happens, we all win – clients, LPL, and most importantly our, employees.

If you're ready to lead with intention and discover what’s possible, LPL Financial invites you to apply today.

Functional Design Engineering is where enterprise architecture intent becomes shippable Terraform. At LPL, you'll partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, and FinOps to translate big-picture designs into opinionated, well-architected reference patterns that engineers actually build. If you'd rather spend your time turning architects' diagrams into code, ADRs, and proof-of-concept platforms — and want a senior leadership role where you're as comfortable in a design review as you are in a pull request — this is your seat.

Job Overview:

As the VP, Functional Design Engineering, you lead the Functional Design Engineering & Strategy pod within the Foundations team in LPL's Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE). You partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, and engineering teams and pods across CCOE to translate enterprise architecture intent into implementable, well-architected, code-driven solutions. You take high-level designs from architects and produce detailed, opinionated, build-ready engineering specifications aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework and LPL's standards. You also curate the cross-CCOE reference pattern library — domain-tagged Terraform module bundles, reference architectures, anti-patterns, and architecture decision records (ADRs). LPL is an AWS-first CCOE: a multi-account landing zone with 100+ private reusable Terraform modules that enable 60+ AWS services, all delivered through Terraform Cloud and GitHub Actions. You are both a people leader for a small, senior team across the US and LPL's India GCC and a hands-on senior engineer who produces reference patterns, code, and proof-of-concept builds when ambiguity is highest.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the Functional Design Engineering & Strategy pod within the Foundations team in CCOE; partner with Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, the other Foundations pods (Security & Governance, FinOps, Network Engineering, Monitoring), and the Platforms, Containers, Support, and Delivery teams to translate enterprise architecture intent into implementable, well-architected, code-driven solutions

• Take high-level designs from architects and produce detailed, opinionated, build-ready engineering specifications aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework and LPL standards

• Define and curate the cross-CCOE reference pattern library: domain-tagged Terraform module bundles, reference architectures, anti-patterns, and architecture decision records (ADRs)

• Partner closely with the Principal Engineer, Cloud Strategy Lead so that tooling, IaC, and self-service platform strategy stay aligned with enterprise design direction

• Lead design reviews, architecture review boards, and engineering deep-dives across all five CCOE teams (Foundations, Platforms, Containers, Support, Delivery) and the four peer Foundations pods (Security & Governance, FinOps, Network Engineering, Monitoring)

• Champion the application of the AWS Well-Architected Framework across all six pillars (Operational Excellence, Security, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Cost Optimization, Sustainability) and drive measurable improvements against each

• Hands-on contribute to reference patterns, Terraform modules, and proof-of-concept builds, especially in the highest-ambiguity areas where engineering is still discovering the right answer

• Embed agentic AI capabilities into the team's engineering practice (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Bedrock, MCP servers, agentic IaC and review workflows) and into the platform's self-service experience for internal customers

• Embed agentic AI capabilities into the design function: AI-assisted pattern generation, automated Well-Architected reviews, ADR drafting, cross-pattern impact analysis, and MCP-backed agents that surface existing patterns to internal customers

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a globally distributed team of senior cloud engineers across LPL's US offices and India Global Capability Center (GCC)

• Own all people-management responsibilities for the pod including hiring, onboarding, weekly 1:1s, performance management, compensation planning, career development, and certification-path execution per the CCOE certification matrix

• Operate as a player-coach: spend meaningful time hands-on in Terraform code, design reviews, peer reviews, and incident response while leading people and delivery

• Lead and personally participate in 24x7 on-call rotations as senior incident commander and technical escalation point for the pod

• Partner with peer VPs across the Cloud Center of Excellence — the leaders of the five CCOE teams (Foundations, Platforms, Containers, Support, Delivery) and the leaders of the pods within Foundations (Security & Governance, FinOps, Functional Design Engineering & Strategy, Network Engineering, Monitoring) — to align roadmaps and remove cross-team and cross-pod blockers

• Champion AWS Well-Architected Framework adoption across all six pillars and drive continuous improvement against operational, security, reliability, performance, cost, and sustainability outcomes

• Contribute to and curate the private Terraform module library that powers self-service infrastructure for application teams, including module standards, versioning, deprecation, and contribution patterns

• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, standups, backlog grooming, retrospectives) and partner with the RTE and PMO on delivery commitments and dependencies

• Represent the pod in executive forums, architecture review boards, internal audit, and customer engagements; communicate technical risk and trade-offs to non-technical executives

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for strong collaborators who deliver exceptional client experiences and thrive in fast-paced, team-oriented environments. Our ideal candidates pursue greatness, act with integrity, and are driven to help our clients succeed. We value those who embrace creativity, continuous improvement, and contribute to a culture where we win together and create and share joy in our work.

Requirements:

• 10+ years of progressive technical experience including 5+ years in cloud infrastructure or platform engineering leadership; Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline (or equivalent work experience)

• 5+ years of hands-on production AWS at scale in a multi-account landing zone, with 4+ years of authoring production Terraform in a private module ecosystem delivered through Terraform Cloud and GitHub Actions

• 5+ years experience as a direct people manager of engineering teams of 5+ engineers, including hiring, performance management, compensation, and difficult personnel decisions

• 5+ years experience leading and personally participating in 24x7 production on-call rotations in a fast-paced, security-conscious, regulated environment (financial services strongly preferred)

• 5+ years experience translating enterprise architecture intent into implementable engineering designs that downstream engineers actually build, with deep, current command of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and excellent technical writing (ADRs, design documents, reference architectures)

Core Competencies:

• Operates as the credible "translator" between architects and engineers — equally at home in both rooms

• Strong systems-thinking across security, network, container, data, finance, and developer experience before recommending a path

• Bias for shipping reference patterns and code — not slideware

• Calm, opinionated, and evidence-driven in design conversations

• Player-coach who is comfortable in code reviews, architecture sessions, and people 1:1s in the same day

• Continuous learner, especially in cloud-native, IaC, platform engineering, and applied AI

• Sets vision and translates ambiguous strategy into executable engineering roadmaps

• Bias for self-service, automation, and reducing toil for downstream internal customers

• Builds high-trust relationships across the US and India organization and across functions (Architecture, Security, FinOps, Application Engineering, Network, Audit)

• Calm, decisive incident commander; fosters a strong post-incident learning culture

• Excellent written and verbal communication, executive presence, and ability to influence without direct authority

• Thrives in matrixed, fast-paced, regulated environments with imperfect information

Preferences:

• Experience as an internal architecture review board member or equivalent design-authority role

• AWS Certified Security - Specialty (preferred for security-aligned design reviews)

• AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate or Data Analytics - Specialty (preferred for data-aligned design reviews)

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or MBA

• Experience building, scaling, or leading globally distributed engineering teams across the US and India / GCC

• Experience integrating agentic AI / GenAI tooling (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Bedrock, MCP) into platform, IaC, and engineering practice

• Strong scripting / programming proficiency in Python, Bash, or PowerShell

• AWS Solutions Architect - Professional

• AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Associate

• HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (004) or Authoring & Operations

• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)

• Open-source contributions, public technical writing, or conference speaking on cloud, IaC, or platform engineering topics

• Experience with Backstage or another Internal Developer Platform (IDP)

• Experience with FinOps practices and cloud cost management at scale

 

Pay Range:

$149,350.00 - $248,848.00
 Actual base salary varies based on factors, including but not limited to, relevant skill, prior experience, education, base salary of internal peers, demonstrated performance, and geographic location. Additionally, LPL Total Rewards package is highly competitive, designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play – such as 401K matching, health benefits, employee stock options, paid time off, volunteer time off, and more. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that LPL has to offer!
 

Company Overview:

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace(6) , LPL supports over 32,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,100 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $2.3 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of approximately 8 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

At LPL, independence means that advisors and institution leaders have the freedom they deserve to choose the business model, services, and technology resources that allow them to run a thriving business. They have the flexibility to do business their way. And they have the freedom to manage their client relationships, because they know their clients best. Simply put, we take care of our advisors and institutions, so they can take care of their clients.

For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

Join the LPL team and help us make a difference by turning life’s aspirations into financial realities. Please log in or create an account to apply to this position. Principals only. EOE.

Information on Interviews:

LPL will only communicate with a job applicant directly from an @lplfinancial.com email address and will never conduct an interview online or in a chatroom forum.  During an interview, LPL will not request any form of payment from the applicant, or information regarding an applicant’s bank or credit card.  Should you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact LPL’s Human Resources Solutions Center at (855) 575-6947.

EAC 5.19.26