Global Engineering Senior Director - US

Why Now

Nu is growing fast in the United States, and we are opening new engineering leadership roles across our business units and business platforms. New products, new teams and new platforms are being built at the same time, and we need strong engineering leaders to make them happen.

As an Engineering Senior Director, you will have end-to-end ownership of a large, business-critical platform or business unit: its technology, its product and its results. We are looking for a technical leader who is first and foremost an engineer, who remains hands-on and shapes the architecture, while also leading a large, multidisciplinary organization and partnering with senior stakeholders in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.

What engineering leadership looks like at Nu

• Set the technical direction of your area and stay hands-on enough to make and defend architectural decisions alongside senior engineers.
• Lead and develop directors, engineering managers and engineers, and build a high-ownership team culture.
• Partner with product, design, data and business leaders to turn business goals into clear priorities and reliable delivery.
• Operate in a regulated, high-reliability environment where scale, security and availability matter.
• Bring an AI-forward mindset, applying new tools and ways of working to increase your organization’s leverage and impact.

Key responsibilities and expectations

• Set the architectural direction of your platform and personally drive its most important technical decisions.
• Lead a large organization, often alongside product management, and be accountable for product and business outcomes, not only technical delivery.
• Align senior, high-complexity stakeholders and make clear prioritization trade-offs across dependent business areas.
• Act as the senior technical authority for your area, raising the bar for architectural discussion across the organization.
• Communicate strategy, trade-offs and complex technical risks clearly to executive leadership.
• Build strong leaders and a high-ownership culture at scale.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading engineering organizations and owning critical platforms with significant business impact, at a senior leadership level (for example Senior Director, VP, or CTO of a scaled company).
• Strong, hands-on technical foundation in architecture and system design, with the credibility to make and defend decisions alongside senior engineers and executives.
• Experience building and scaling global, reusable platforms that support multiple products and/or countries.
• Experience leading large, multidisciplinary teams, including product management.
• Background in high-growth, technically complex technology companies. Financial services experience is a plus but not required.
• Strong people leadership at scale, including developing managers and leading teams through change and ambiguity.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication, with maturity in negotiation and conflict resolution across senior cross-functional partners.
• AI/ML literacy and the ability to apply AI to drive efficiency and unlock new capabilities.
• Fluency in English is required. Portuguese and/or Spanish are a plus.

Core leadership skills

• Business acumen: drives strategic business alignment by analyzing market dynamics, identifying opportunities and ensuring informed decision-making.
• Communication: masters complex communication, mentors others, fosters open dialogue and adapts to enhance organizational effectiveness.
• Agile adaptability: leads with agility, pioneers solutions, fosters a culture of learning and collaboration, and delivers value continuously.

Location: Palo Alto, CA; Miami, FL; Washington, DC.

Our Benefits

• Opportunity of earning equity at Nu
• Medical Insurance
• Dental and Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance and AD&D
• Extended maternity and paternity leaves
• Nucleo - Our learning platform of courses
• NuLanguage - Our language learning program
• NuCare - Our mental health and wellness assistance program
• 401K Saving Plans - Health Saving Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Work-from-home Allowance
• Relocation Assistance Package, if applicable

Work Model for this Role

Hybrid 2-3 times/week: Our hybrid work model brings us to the office at least twice a week, on strategic days designed to maximize team connection and collaboration.

Location-Specific Disclosures

Palo Alto, CA: Total compensation includes base salary, RSUs and benefits. Base salary range: $380,000 - $420,000

Our recruitment process may involve the use of artificial intelligence-enabled tools, such as automated interview transcription and analysis, to support the evaluation process. Artificial intelligence is not used to make final hiring decisions; all decisions are made by human reviewers.

To maintain a consistent and fair process for every candidate, Nu does not provide individualized technical feedback.