SVP, Technology

About Us

CD Baby is a globally recognized leader in the music industry and the first platform to offer artists direct distribution to their fans. Our technology organization has a deep history and a strong foundation, built by long-tenured, dedicated professionals. As we navigate the next era of music technology, we are committed to modernizing our core systems, fostering an agile culture, and leveraging cutting-edge platforms to better serve our artists, partners, and fans worldwide.

SVP Technology, CD Baby Distribution

We are seeking a visionary and results-driven Senior Vice President (SVP) of Technology to lead a transformative modernization and change initiative within our established technology organization. This is a critical leadership role that requires a unique blend of strategic foresight and deep technical knowledge to navigate organizational change successfully.

The SVP will be responsible for defining and executing a comprehensive technology roadmap that transitions our legacy infrastructure and development practices to a modern and scalable environment. Success in this role means respecting the invaluable knowledge and commitment of our existing team while introducing new operating models, technologies, and talent to drive business objectives forward.

CD Baby is transforming its artist distribution strategy by rebranding and re-platforming the current CD Baby User Interface and distribution flow. This initiative will leverage the existing Downtown technology stacks and build new infrastructure where necessary to create a new distribution experience for Artists.

This role will work closely with CD Baby’s President, SVPs of Product and Marketing and Downtown's executive technology leadership to successfully support the company’s transformation.

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Define, communicate, and secure alignment for a multi-year technology modernization strategy focused on cloud adoption, microservices architecture, data platform evolution, and agile development methodologies.
• Develop a clear roadmap for retiring or migrating legacy systems while maintaining business continuity and operational excellence.
• Partner closely with Executive Leadership (President, SVPs Product and Marketing) and company leaders to ensure the technology strategy directly supports and enables business growth, digital product innovation, and operational efficiency.
• Establish comprehensive experimentation, instrumentation and analytics infrastructure to enable real-time monitoring of customer experience metrics, supporting data-driven decision-making and rapid experimentation cycles.

Organizational & Cultural Transformation

• Lead a significant cultural shift toward an agile, product-centric, technology-enabled organization, fostering a mindset of curiosity, experimentation, measurement of customer impact, and scalability.
• Mentor, coach, and inspire long-tenured technology team members, valuing their institutional knowledge while equipping them with the skills and training necessary for modern technologies and practices.
• Establish clear, measurable metrics (KPIs) to track progress, adoption, and the business impact of the modernization and change initiatives.

Technology Execution & Delivery

• Drive the adoption of best-in-class software development practices.
• Lead integration efforts with cross-Downtown and third-party platforms, managing complex technical dependencies across organizational boundaries while maintaining system performance and reliability.
• Manage the technology budget, ensuring effective resource allocation and maximizing return on investment for new technology initiatives.
• Ensure the security, compliance, and resilience of all technology systems, adhering to industry standards and regulatory requirements (e.g., privacy laws, royalty reporting).
• Execute high-risk, zero-downtime migrations and system launches, proactively identifying and mitigating technical risks throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Experience

• 10-15+ years of progressive experience in technology leadership, with a minimum of 5 years in a Senior VP or equivalent role leading large-scale technology organizations.
• Proven track record of successfully leading complex, multi-year technology modernization, transformation, and cloud migration initiatives in a large, established enterprise.
• Direct experience leading organizational and cultural change within a historically stable, long-tenured technology group, demonstrating sensitivity and effective communication.
• Deep expertise in modern software architecture (e.g., microservices, APIs, event-driven systems), public cloud platforms, data engineering, and contemporary engineering practices (e.g., DevOps, SRE).
• Experience in the Music, Media, or Entertainment industry is highly preferred, with an understanding of rights management, content distribution, royalty accounting, and digital supply chains.

Skills & Competencies

• Exceptional Change Leadership: The ability to articulate a compelling vision, build consensus, and navigate resistance effectively by demonstrating empathy, respect, and clear communication.
• Strategic Acumen: Ability to translate business goals into technology strategies and tactical roadmaps.
• Technical Authority: Deep understanding of modern technology stacks and the ability to challenge technical assumptions and guide architectural decisions.
• Executive Presence: Excellent communication and presentation skills, capable of influencing and advising C-level executives, technical teams, and external partners.
• Talent Development: Proven ability to assess organizational needs, develop existing talent, and recruit high-performing technology leaders and engineers.
• Customer-Centric Mindset: Relentless focus on translating technology investments into measurable customer value and artist success, with comfort working directly with customer data and feedback.
• Bias for Action: Ability to move quickly and reduce risk through rapid experimentation, balancing perfect solutions with pragmatic delivery of customer value. 

Location

Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Nashville, TN. Remote considered.

Reporting Structure

This role reports directly to the CTO of Downtown Music and the President of CD Baby.

CD Baby provides base salary ranges for all positions located in the United States at the time of posting. The hiring range for this position is $220,000 - $250,000 annually. As a candidate for this position, your salary and related elements of compensation will be contingent upon various factors including, but not limited to, work experience, geographic location and relevant skills. Downtown is committed to providing a comprehensive market-competitive total rewards program for its employees which includes medical, dental, and vision, life insurance, 401(k) match and generous paid time off. This range does not include any other variable compensation components.