Senior Director, Global Engineering & Technology
Marvin J. Stigter, MBA, MS
Called when standard solutions have already failed, and the engineer who builds the systems and teams that sustain results.
I turn technology complexity into measurable business results across AI transformation, global engineering leadership, cloud modernization, and DevSecOps, for any company, in any industry, at any scale.
I build what others can't, and fix what others won't touch.
As a global technology executive, I've led AI transformation, digital modernization, cloud platform engineering, and DevSecOps programs for organizations like Eli Lilly, Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, the TSA, Marriott, Home Depot, and state government agencies.
The pattern across my career is consistent: I get called when standard solutions have already failed. At Kronos, I built custom integration solutions and middleware that made $400M in enterprise sales possible, deals that couldn't close without engineering that didn't exist yet. At Eli Lilly, I succeeded where 4 previous attempts had failed in retiring a 30-year legacy clinical system. At iLAB, I delivered a FedRAMP-compliant GenAI assistant on Azure Government Cloud for a state government client.
I don't just manage technology. I set the direction, build the culture, make it stick, and develop the people who carry it forward.
A naturally global perspective
Born and raised in the Netherlands and having lived in the UK before establishing my career in the US, my perspective is naturally global. My closest friends represent dozens of countries. That's not a résumé line, it's my reality. This cultural immersion shapes how I lead global teams, resolve cross-cultural friction, and build trust across disparate ways of working. When your personal life is a mosaic of cultures, leading teams across the US, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, China, India, and South Africa isn't a challenge, it's familiar territory.
What I do best
- AI-First Operating Model. Not just AI in engineering. I implement AI as the first layer of every significant workflow across the entire organization: engineering, HR, recruiting, finance, accounting, sales, and operations. AI reviews before humans do. Requirements, code, delivery plans, defect analysis, document review, financial reporting, and more.
- Digital & Cloud Transformation. AI-first and API-first architecture from day one. AWS, Azure Commercial + GovCloud, FedRAMP, DevSecOps, CI/CD, microservices. Systems designed for integration, observability, and scale before a single line of code is written.
- Engineering & Delivery. Shift-Left and Shift-Right engineering integrated throughout the SDLC. Continuous automation in CI/CD pipelines, observability from day one, performance engineering, and prevention over detection. Applied across software, hardware, and digital transformation since 2006.
- Talent Transformation. Growing people others gave up on. At Eli Lilly: 8 promotions, including one employee passed around for 8 years. I addressed the performance issue directly and fairly, and she was promoted. At iLAB: 3 employees on performance plans turned around, 4 promoted. At Kronos: entire leadership bench built from within. Individual contributors became managers, managers became managers of managers.
- Structure & Maturity. Built engineering maturity frameworks, career paths, role profiles, measurement systems, and operating standards from scratch at iLAB, Eli Lilly, Kronos, and Xerox/ACS. The infrastructure that makes performance repeatable, not accidental.
- Business Impact. P&L ownership up to $20M. $10B+ in pursuit work. $400M+ in revenue enabled. 2× CIO Award winner.
Where standard solutions failed, results that followed
Company-wide AI transformation & FedRAMP-compliant GenAI on Azure GovCloud
As Senior Director of Global Engineering and head of engineering at a technology services firm, architected the company's entire AI strategy and implemented an AI-first operating model across every function, including engineering, HR, recruiting, finance, accounting, sales, and marketing. Delivered a multilingual GenAI assistant in Azure Government Cloud (FedRAMP-compliant) for a state government client. Directed modernization of 80+ legacy applications and 180+ databases to Azure Government and commercial cloud. Deployed AI Agents across 5 business functions. Developed formal AI transformation strategy, company-wide policies, and responsible AI governance for regulated industries. Rebuilt automation framework: throughput +233%, regression cycle 2 weeks → 5 hours unsupervised. Reversed 70% voluntary turnover to zero for 4 consecutive years through the Great Resignation. Manages 150+ engineers across US, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia. 4 promotions; 3 employees on performance plans turned around.
DevSecOps & platform engineering transformation for a top-5 global pharma company
Reporting to the CIO with a $6.5M budget and 7 direct reports (5 Associate Directors), led a full DevSecOps and platform engineering transformation. Owned production SLAs across platform services, maintaining 99.999% uptime for mission-critical pharma systems. Succeeded where 4 previous attempts had failed. Retired a 30-year legacy clinical data system, cut study onboarding from 4+ weeks to 3 days. Accelerated releases from biennial to bi-weekly (~13×) and cut deployment cycle time from 30 days to under 5 hours (~144×) under FDA GxP and HIPAA compliance. Cut production defects 78% through Shift-Left engineering, ServiceNow, and AI/ML proactive monitoring. Handled 10× volume with 35% fewer contractors. Built Engineering Automation CoE across 60+ enterprise projects. Formal Master Data Management work as part of legacy modernization to AWS. $25M+ total financial impact. Developed 8 team members to promotion, including one employee passed around for 8 years. Addressed the performance issue directly and fairly, she was promoted.
$400M revenue rescue: transforming integration into a revenue engine
Brought in after 3 internal leaders had failed. Transformed the integration function from a post-sale delivery team into a revenue-generating engineering capability. Built custom integration solutions and middleware where standard solutions didn't exist, enabling deals that couldn't otherwise close, rescuing $400M in stalled Fortune 500 deployments, and creating upsell opportunities through solutions the market couldn't provide. Three revenue mechanisms: sales enablement, revenue rescue, and revenue expansion. Drove 1,002% revenue growth ($2.1M → $20M) in 3 years. Inherited 9-month backlog and 28% team satisfaction. Cut backlog to 2 weeks, satisfaction reached 97% ranked #1 across all services groups. Developed internal leadership pipelines while strategically recruiting external talent to bring fresh perspectives. Presented at KronosWorks. Best Session Award selected by attendees (2014). Named clients: Amazon, Home Depot, Starbucks, Marriott, J&J, Amgen, TSA, Kohl's, Hyatt, Louis Vuitton, Nestlé, Honeywell, 3M, Goodyear, Bank of NY Mellon.
$1.6B government contract & global engineering leadership
Hired as "Testing Czar" at the world's largest BPO firm. Diagnosed complete absence of formal SDLC process, built the business case, and secured SVP approval to fund new engineering organizations. Established delivery engineering as a discipline: Shift-Left engineering, IEEE/ISO/CMMI methodologies, Six Sigma quality framework, CMMI Level 3 maturity across 70 countries. Led engineering strategy for the pursuit that won the $1.6B California Medi-Cal MMIS contract, largest MMIS in the US, 10-year program, 800K+ claims/day, 7.5M beneficiaries. Rescued California Highway Patrol's mission-critical 911 and CAD infrastructure, maintaining 99.999% uptime SLAs. Led UAT for Motorola's global SAP ECC6 upgrade across 70 countries and 400 people, enabling the corporate split into Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility (January 4, 2011). Reduced development and acceptance cycle time 75%.
Awards & what colleagues say
Awards
30 LinkedIn recommendations · selected
"In more than four decades in IT, Marvin stands out as the most effective and collaborative colleague I have ever worked with. Any organization would be fortunate to have him."
"Great broad-minded thought leader. Particularly impressed by Marvin's ability to span the strategic vision to practical aspects that ultimately made these initiatives successful."
"He is known in the CIO/CTO speaker circuit as an inspirational leader and innovator. He is one of those people who will act without being told."
View all 30 recommendations on LinkedIn →"Knows how to drive a business, build strong teams, challenge the status quo, and make a strong partner with leadership."
Currently exploring
Open to CTO, SVP Engineering, VP Technology, Head of Engineering, and Chief Transformation Officer roles, particularly in healthcare tech, life sciences, PE-backed technology services, and enterprise AI.