What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Product Development Engineering position at MetLife, Inc?
Description and Requirements
When you join MetLife’s Global Technology team, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking group dedicated to shaping the future of digital solutions for customers worldwide. You’ll develop, maintain and support technology applications and delivery, leveraging AI, automation, and contemporary ways of working to enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. Your work will simplify complex processes, improve tech resiliency, and ensure high-performing, seamless solutions that power life’s most important moments. In this dynamic environment, you’ll collaborate with talented peers across teams and functions, expanding your skills in impactful ways. Ready to push boundaries and set new industry standards? Join us and help drive the future of technology forward.
MetLife is one of the leading providers of Group Benefits worldwide and is the premier provider of U.S. Benefits. We have an exciting opportunity to join and lead product-aligned technology delivery for Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS) Annuity Products. This role sits at the intersection of product strategy, annuitant experience, modern engineering, and AI-driven delivery
You will lead high-performing, globally distributed engineering teams responsible for building, modernizing, and scaling annuity platforms that support Income Annuities, Pension Risk Transfer, and Structured Settlements, with a relentless focus on annuitant outcomes, product quality, resiliency, and speed-to-market.
As a Director, this is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role—partnering closely with Product, Business, and Architecture leaders while actively shaping engineering practices, AI adoption, and modernization across the portfolio.
- Serve as a technology and engineering leader aligned to RIS annuity product strategy, ensuring platforms are designed with the annuitant experience, reliability, and long-term scalability in mind.
- Champion the adoption and scaling of high‑impact AI tools and emerging technologies across engineering and product teams, thoughtfully applying them throughout the product delivery lifecycle and reinforcing AI‑first ways of working through leadership behavior, clear expectations, and personal example.
- Lead and inspire 50 engineers across onshore and offshore teams, including employees and strategic partners.
- Hire, develop, coach, and retain top engineering talent; actively invest in upskilling teams in cloud, AI, and modern development practices
- Drive end-to-end ownership of the product engineering lifecycle—from strategy and design through build, launch, and production support.
- Partner closely with Product Management and Business leaders to translate annuity product vision into clear technical roadmaps and prioritized delivery plans.
- Act as the key technology advisor, balancing business outcomes, technical health, regulatory needs, and annuitant impact while leading technical delivery across a modern stack including cloud-native architectures, APIs, microservices, and event-driven integrations.
- Establish and enforce engineering best practices across code quality, security, testing automation, performance, resiliency, and DevSecOps.
- Identify delivery, technology, and operational risks; drive mitigations and audits to closure.
- Ensure solutions meet security, regulatory, and enterprise standards expected within platforms.
- Integrate site reliability engineering (SRE) practices into product delivery to ensure production stability and strong annuitant outcomes.
- Own financial accountability for the product engineering portfolio, including budgeting and vendor spend.
- Utilize Speed & Delivery metrics, KPIs, and outcome-based measures to continuously improve delivery effectiveness.
- Build a culture of ownership, accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
- Manage vendor partnerships and ensure delivery quality, transparency, and value realization.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- 10 years of progressive experience in software engineering and product-focused technology delivery.
- 5 years leading large, distributed engineering teams in a product-centric model.
- Demonstrated leadership in adopting, scaling, and operationalizing AI‑enabled tools and practices across engineering and product teams, including enabling team‑wide learning and consistent application, with evidence of measurable improvements in productivity, quality, testing effectiveness, delivery efficiency, or operational outcomes.
- Strong experience with cloud-native platforms (preferably Azure), APIs, microservices, containers, and DevSecOps, including modern testing and automation practices.
- Proven ability to partner with Product Management, Architecture, and Business leaders to translate business needs into technology outcomes.
- Experience operating in regulated, high-reliability environments, with strong accountability for quality, security, and production stability.
- Direct experience supporting annuity, retirement, or other long-duration financial products, with an understanding of annuitant needs, servicing expectations, and regulatory considerations.
- Demonstrated leadership in scaling AI-enabled engineering practices, such as AI-assisted development, testing automation, intelligence-driven documentation, or operational analytics.
- Experience translating AI experimentation into repeatable, governed practices that balance innovation, risk, and enterprise standards.
- Strong product mindset, with the ability to align engineering decisions to annuitant outcomes, business value, and long-term product sustainability.
- Passion for engineering excellence and modernization, including reducing technical debt while accelerating value delivery.
- Ability to coach leaders and teams on emerging technologies, fostering curiosity, confidence, and accountability.
- Track record of influencing change across teams through partnership, credibility, and leadership by example.
- Experience operating in large, complex enterprises, navigating ambiguity while maintaining delivery momentum.
The expected salary range for this position is $123,500- $164,700. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation and stock-based long-term incentives. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.
Salary : $123,500 - $164,700