Senior Manager, Software Engineering - AI Innovation

Who are we looking for?

Choice Hotels, one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, has an exciting new opportunity as our Senior Manager, Software Engineering for our Advanced Technology Activation Team (AT‑AT) in the Innovation Team.The Innovation Team pioneers next‑generation technology solutions, explores emerging trends, and activates advanced capabilities to transform the experience for guests, associates, and franchisees. We bring bold ideas to life—generative AI, cloud‑native platforms, and agent‑based architectures. As a key member of our Innovation Team, you will lead the charge in delivering scalable, high‑impact software solutions that shape the future of hospitality technology for all our customers.

Are you a visionary leader with deep software engineering expertise, a passion for cloud, AI, and AI development, and a knack for inspiring teams to achieve excellence—while staying hands‑on when it matters? We invite you to apply today for our Senior Manager, AT‑AT role and #MakeItYourChoice.

Your Responsibilities

Lead and develop a high‑performing engineering team (and potentially managers) to deliver scalable applications / services using cutting‑edge technologies and best‑in‑class methodologies.

Own delivery excellence across architecture, design, implementation, code reviews, automated testing, and production readiness; ensure alignment to Innovation’s vision and Enterprise Architecture standards.

Be hands‑on when needed to accelerate outcomes—design and build POCs, drive Vibe Coding sessions, and create Spec‑to‑Code demonstrations using Java / JVM, Python (Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP), or TypeScript / Next.js (React, server components).

Plan and execute on the domain roadmap : anticipate tech needs, evaluate emerging tools, and map them to business outcomes for guests, associates, and franchisees.

Help Transform SDLC → AI‑DLC : embed AI across planning, design, coding, test, security, and operations; deliver measurable gains in speed, quality, resilience, developer experience, and cost.

Operational excellence : ensure high availability, reliability, and performance through world‑class monitoring, alerting, SLOs / SLIs, error budgets, and self‑healing practices; lead root‑cause / learning reviews.

Security & compliance : safeguard systems and data; promote PCI / SOX compliance and participate in audits; codify controls via policy‑as‑code and automated checks.

Program & portfolio leadership : plan, organize, and deliver multiple complex initiatives with cross‑functional partners (Product, Architecture, PMO, Business stakeholders).

Talent & culture : hire, onboard, coach, and grow engineers and managers; foster engagement, psychological safety, and a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

Standards & patterns : influence and establish best practices, reference architectures, reusable components, and guardrails; champion design patterns, quality metrics, and automation.

Production leadership : own incident readiness and response, post‑incident learning, and long‑term remediation; drive continuous improvement of operational runbooks and DR guides.

Your Experience, Skills & Competencies

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline (required); Master’s degree (preferred).

8+ years building high‑volume, mission‑critical applications; 5+ years technical leadership; 2+ years people management.

Proven success delivering secure, scalable, highly available systems and modern architectures.

Exceptional grasp of SDLC and agile practices (coding standards, reviews, source control, CI / CD, testing, operations) and experience embedding AI into the lifecycle (AI‑DLC).

Proficiency in one or more modern stacks :

Java / JVM (e.g., Spring Boot) for service / platform engineering, or

Python (e.g., Streamlit, FastAPI, FASTMCP) for services, AI‑assisted workflows, and rapid interactive apps, or

TypeScript / Next.js (React, server components, edge / runtime) for modern web experiences and full‑stack delivery.

Strong grasp of RESTful and event‑driven architectures; experience with SQL & NoSQL databases and distributed data design.

Strong communication & stakeholder management; able to translate technical decisions into business value for guests, associates, and franchisees.

Ability to mentor technical talent, evangelize designs, and drive cross‑functional collaboration.

Demonstrates key competencies : Strategic Dexterity, Collaboration & Influence, and Technical Excellence.

Your Team

This is a leadership role that will report to the Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture. You will have direct reports and collaborate regularly with Product, Architecture, PMO, and Business stakeholders.

Why Join the Innovation Team?

Build the future of hospitality tech for guests, associates, and franchisees.

Work with cloud‑native platforms, generative AI, and agent‑based architectures; lead POCs, Vibe Coding, and Spec‑to‑Code demonstrations.

Transform SDLC → AI‑DLC; unlock gains in speed, quality, resilience, and developer joy.

Join a culture that values curiosity, bold ideas, rapid prototyping, and measurable business outcomes

• This role is not eligible for sponsorship

Choice prioritizes our associate wellbeing by offering a comprehensive benefits program that is both competitive and flexible to help you achieve your wellbeing goals - here are just a few :

Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage

Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance

Financial benefits for retirement and health savings

Employee recognition programs

Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide

About Choice

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE : CHH), is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With 7,500 hotels in 45+ countries and territories, we offer a range of high-quality lodging options in the upper upscale, upper midscale, midscale, extended stay, and economy segments. We’re the hotel company for those who choose to bet on themselves — the striver, the dreamer, the entrepreneur — because that’s who we are, too.

At Choice, we are united by the simple belief that tomorrow will be even better than today — for associates, our company, and our franchisees. At our worldwide corporate headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland, at our technology center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and through our associates around the globe, every voice is heard and every idea is listened to, no matter what area of the company they come from. We are united in supporting the entrepreneurial dreams of our thousands of franchise owners, which propels us forward — giving our work at Choice a purpose larger than our business.

Our corporate office locations :

North Bethesda, MD — Located at Pike & Rose () , our worldwide headquarters is less than 15 miles from Washington, D.C., one block away from the North Bethesda Metro station, with easy access to I-495, complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Scottsdale, AZ — Located at the northwest corner of Loop 101, the Scottsdale office is home to our technology, eCommerce and customer service organizations, with easy access to complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Minneapolis, MN — Select roles are based in our Minneapolis office on Highway 394, near the intersection with Highway 100, only five minutes from downtown.

Field / Remote — Select roles designated as field / remote will require associates to work from a home office, connecting virtually with Choice team members and leadership on Zoom, with possible required travel depending on the role.

Choice’s Cultural Values

Welcome and Respect Everyone | Be Bold | Be Quick | Listen | Be Curious | Show Integrity

Choice’s Leadership Principles

Act with Intention | Lead with Authenticity | Grow & Deliver