VP, Digital Engineering

About the Team

It’s an exciting time in technology, and that buzz is felt throughout Pet Smart! We are continuing to grow at a faster pace and we want to continue to provide best-in-class experiences for pets and pet parents.

Our
Technology team
has 6 different departments:
Information Security, Service Delivery, Business Enabling Systems, eCommerce & Marketing Technology, Data and Stores, Services & Supply Chain.

Whether it’s online or in our stores, the work that the IT team does is instrumental in Pet Smart’s success. We have a strategic and actionable plan underway and are looking for associates who are just as excited about it as we are.

Collaborative Work Environment:At Pet Smart, teamwork and connection are core to how we thrive. This role is based at our Phoenix Home Office, with an expectation of working a minimum of four days in the office each week. In a standard work week, associates may work up to one remote “flex day” (with leader approval). Our hybrid approach is designed to foster strong collaboration while also supporting flexibility and individual success.

The Vice President of Digital Engineering is a transformational leader responsible for defining and delivering Pet Smart’s digital engineering vision, strategy, and roadmap to power exceptional, omni-channel experiences that support Pet Smart’s vision to be the favorite pet retailer and mission to help everyone experience more joy with pets.
This role leads the evolution of a modern, cloud-first, microservices-based digital platform while scaling a high-performing engineering organization grounded in customer-first thinking, innovation, and excellence in execution. The VP will drive continuous improvement and re-platforming initiatives to enable speed, quality, and innovation across the software development lifecycle. A critical mandate of this role is to embed AI across both engineering and customer experience—accelerating development through AI-enabled practices while leveraging AI to deliver personalized, intelligent, and seamless experiences that drive growth, loyalty, and engagement across channels.

Key Responsibilities

Digital Strategy & Platform Transformation

• Define and execute the digital platform vision, strategy, and roadmap, aligned to enterprise growth and omni-channel priorities.
• Lead the ongoing evolution and improvement of our cloud-first, composable, microservices-based architectures.
• Enable seamless integration of digital and in-store experiences, supporting a unified customer journey.
• Influence enterprise investments to support scalable growth and long-term customer loyalty.

Customer Experience & Commercial Impact

• Partner with Product and business leaders to deliver industry-leading, personalized digital experiences that inspire and engage customers.
• Enable capabilities that support assortment discovery, conversion, and retention across digital channels.
• Drive measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, engagement, and revenue performance.

Enterprise Collaboration & Omnichannel Enablement

• Partner across IT, Product, Store Operations, and Supply Chain to deliver integrated omni-channel solutions.
• Support initiatives that enhance both digital and in-store experiences, ensuring consistency and quality across touchpoints.
• Act as a strategic advisor to executive leadership, aligning digital engineering with enterprise strategy.

Engineering Excellence & Delivery

• Lead end-to-end engineering across the full software development lifecycle.
• Establish and scale modern engineering practices (Agile, Dev Sec Ops , CI/CD) to ensure high-quality, high-velocity delivery.
• Build a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

AI-Driven Engineering & Productivity

• Drive adoption of AI across the software development lifecycle to increase engineering productivity and delivery speed.
• Leverage automation and intelligent tooling to improve efficiency across digital assets and platforms.
• Establish standards for responsible, secure, and scalable AI implementation in the digital space.

Leadership & Team Development

• Build and develop a best-in‑class engineering organization, aligned with Pet Smart’s Values in…