Cj Wild

About Cj Wild

I am a VP of Engineering with over 15 years of experience building the organizational and technical foundations high-growth companies need to scale. My core principle is to build high-performing, motivated teams that enable my Product counterparts to deliver their roadmap with speed and predictability.I focus on shifting engineering from a cost center into a strategic partner by focusing on four key areas of leadership:• Operational Turnarounds: I specialize in stepping into complex environments to identify structural gaps and realign resources for better ROI and faster delivery.• Strategic Resource Management: I advocate for flexible organizational models that allow a business to pivot quickly to high-priority goals without the friction of traditional hiring cycles.• Predictable Scaling: I partner with Finance and People leadership to create fully-costed scaling models that ensure engineering growth stays tied directly to the company roadmap.• High-Accountability Culture: I build systems that attract top-tier talent and drive high performance while keeping retention high, even during periods of significant organizational change.When it comes to infrastructure, I align my teams to deliver against three cornerstones: developer productivity, cost effectiveness, and the 5 abilities (Availability, Reliability, Maintainability, Observability, and Scalability).Throughout my professional journey, I have been committed to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration. My leadership style emphasizes empowerment and accountability, inspiring teams to achieveexcellence and push the boundaries of what is technologically possible.

Experience

1. VP of Engineering

   Productiv

   Nov 2024 — Present · San Francisco, CA, US

   I lead the engineering organization at Productiv, reporting to the CEO. My tenure has been focused on a two-phase evolution: executing a foundational operational turnaround and leveraging that stability to drive high-stakes product delivery and strategic growth.Operational Excellence & Financial Rigor: Executed a complete organizational restructure, including a strategic realignment of global teams and the sunsetting of low-impact functions. This generated $350k+ in annualized savings, reallocating capital toward high-growth initiatives and core technical bedrock.Strategic Delivery & AI Innovation: Built the AI and Infrastructure functions from the ground up. I pioneered a \"three-sprint-team\" flex model (FTE + Contractor) that enabled the flawless, on-time delivery of our mission-critical \"AI Visibility\" feature set, a launch lauded by the SLT for its agility and execution.Organizational Scaling: Partnered with the VPs of People and Finance to architect a \"post-fundraising\" scaling model. Developed a suite of fully-costed financial scenarios and org charts that have de-risked future growth and turned the engineering department into a predictable, scalable business partner.Talent & Culture: Overhauled the end-to-end interview process and successfully filled key headcounts while maintaining exceptional retention (only one departure during a period of significant change). I am committed to fostering a highly motivated, high-performing team where technical excellence meets business impact.

Education

• The Open University

  Bachelor of Science (BSc), Computer Science

  2006 — 2008

Skills

• Itil V3 Foundations Certified
• Csm
• Agile Support
• Agile Methodologies
• Strategy
• Multi-Channel Retail
• Engineering Management
• Management
• Project Management
• Program Management
• Product Management
• Sla
• Service Management
• Cloud Computing
• Itil
• Vendor Management
• Agile Project Management
• Change Management
• E-Commerce
• Infrastructure
• Mobile Devices
• Service Delivery
• Stakeholder Management
• Soa
• Leadership
• Incident Management