Tooling Evolution Lead Engineer
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Key details
Why this role is notable
The core work is running a governed evaluation and lifecycle pipeline for AI developer tools: scoring proofs-of-concept against an evidence framework, deciding pilots versus core-estate graduation, and retiring tools based on usage telemetry. Industrializing and retiring a rapidly churning stream of AI coding and agent tools as a standing function is a practice that barely existed before 2023.
Job Description
ROLE SUMMARY
Engineering Activation & Tooling is responsible for the tools, access, and onboarding experience that let engineers across Pfizer's eight platforms start delivering from Day One — and for making sure the estate of tools they rely on keeps pace with a wave of new developer and AI capabilities
We are seeking an experienced Tooling Evolution Lead (individual contributor, principal-level) who will own the evaluation, industrialisation, and lifecycle of engineering and AI developer tools across the organisation. In this role, you will run the governed intake process new tools and proofs-of-concept go through, score them against a shared evidence framework, and decide — on evidence rather than instinct — what earns a fast, contained pilot, what graduates to the supported core estate, and what gets retired once usage data says it is no longer earning its place.
You will bridge the gap between a constant, fast-moving wave of new developer and AI tooling and a stable, trusted core estate, partnering with two community-of-practice Guilds — Engineering & AI, and Product & Delivery — who scout tools in and carry adoption out, and with Tooling Operations, whose usage and cost telemetry is the evidence base your retirement and scale-up decisions run on.
This role carries significant strategic scope: your evaluation output is what the self-service onboarding portal shows to every engineer and PM across all eight platforms, and your evidence framework is what turns tool selection from a political decision into a defensible one.
- You will own and run the governed tool-intake and evaluation lifecycle end-to-end, from a proposal reaching you through to a scored, evidence-based decision — available, pilot, declining, or rejected.
- You will define and evolve the evaluation framework itself, keeping its criteria current as new tool categories (agentic coding tools, MCP-based integrations, LLM-native workflows) emerge faster than any static rubric anticipates.
- You will build and run the industrialisation pathway that takes a successful pilot from unofficial, contained use to a supported, published part of the core estate — including a fast-track lane for tools accessed through an already-governed gateway.
- You will maintain a live, portfolio-level view of every tool in flight across the estate — piloting, scaling, steady-state, declining — so tooling is a managed portfolio rather than an accumulating backlog nobody revisits.
- You will partner with the Engineering & AI Guild and the Product & Delivery Guild, who scout tools in and carry adoption messaging back out to their communities; you own the evaluation decision, they own the relationship with the people who will use it.
- You will partner with Tooling Operations to translate usage, cost, and license telemetry into evidence-led retirement and rationalization decisions, with a real migration path for anything being phased out.
- You will own the adoption and value-realization story for tools that clear evaluation — proving, not just asserting, that a tool is delivering the value it was industrialized for.
- You will act as the technical and governance authority other teams build against: your maturity tiers are what the onboarding portal displays to engineers and PMs across all eight platforms, and what platform owners (e.g., Shield on security policy, Sentinel on infrastructure policy) rely on being executed consistently.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 8+ years of professional experience in software engineering, platform/developer-tooling product management, or a closely related technical field, including direct ownership of a tooling, platform, or developer-experience roadmap.
- Demonstrated experience evaluating, selecting, or governing engineering tools or SaaS platforms at an enterprise level, balancing technical fit, cost, security, and developer experience.
- Practical, hands-on experience evaluating or rolling out AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, agentic coding assistants) within the last 12–18 months.
- Enough technical fluency across CI/CD, IDEs, SaaS integration patterns, and cloud-native architectures to hold a credible evaluation conversation with engineers and vendors without needing to build the tools yourself.
- Experience translating enterprise governance, security, or compliance requirements into a process engineers will actually follow.
- Proven ability to influence and align stakeholders across a large, matrixed organisation without formal authority over them — including platform owners, security/compliance teams, and community/guild leads.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate an evidence-based case to both engineers and senior stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience in a large, regulated enterprise environment (e.g., pharmaceutical, healthcare, financial services, aerospace).
- Experience running a portfolio-management or tool-rationalisation process, including retiring or deprecating tools based on usage evidence.
- Experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar emerging AI-tooling integration standards.
- Experience partnering with community-of-practice groups, guilds, or developer-relations functions as an intake or adoption channel.
- Experience designing or applying a multi-dimension evaluation or scoring framework for technology or vendor decisions.
- Familiarity with SaaS license administration, chargeback/showback models, or consumption-based cost telemetry.
- Track record of taking a proof-of-concept through to a fully industrialised, enterprise-supported capability.
Organisational Relationships
- Digital: Enterprise Architecture, Platform Engineering, Engineering Activation & Tooling, and CISO teams
- Engineering leads and platform owners across Pfizer Digital
- Senior business stakeholders from legal, procurement and compliance
- Third-party technology vendors and strategic partners
Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.
NON-STANDARD WORK SCHEDULE, TRAVEL OR ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS
Working with a cross-functional team in different time zones will be required. Minimal travel (20–25%) required for this role.
Work Location Assignment: Hybrid -Must be able to work from assigned Pfizer office 2-3 days per week, or as needed by the business
Last day to apply : Nov 23rd 2026
The annual base salary for this position ranges from $162,900.00 to $271,500.00. In addition, this position is eligible for participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 20.0% of the base salary and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program. We offer comprehensive and generous benefits and programs to help our colleagues lead healthy lives and to support each of life’s moments. Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage. Learn more at Pfizer Candidate Site – U.S. Benefits | (uscandidates.mypfizerbenefits.com). Pfizer compensation structures and benefit packages are aligned based on the location of hire. The United States salary range provided does not apply to Tampa, FL or any location outside of the United States.

This role is posted in multiple locations. If you are applying for the role in an secondary job posting location where pay transparency regulations apply, your Talent Advisor will share the local pay information with you during the first interview.


Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.
Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the U.S. by any employer.
U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.
Sunshine Act
Pfizer reports payments and other transfers of value to health care providers as required by federal and state transparency laws and implementing regulations. These laws and regulations require Pfizer to provide government agencies with information such as a health care provider’s name, address and the type of payments or other value received, generally for public disclosure. Subject to further legal review and statutory or regulatory clarification, which Pfizer intends to pursue, reimbursement of recruiting expenses for licensed physicians may constitute a reportable transfer of value under the federal transparency law commonly known as the Sunshine Act. Therefore, if you are a licensed physician who incurs recruiting expenses as a result of interviewing with Pfizer that we pay or reimburse, your name, address and the amount of payments made currently will be reported to the government. If you have questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact your Talent Acquisition representative.
EEO & Employment Eligibility
Pfizer is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status. Pfizer also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA. Pfizer is an E-Verify employer. This position requires permanent work authorization in the United States.
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