Sr. Director, Engineering Operations

We’re looking for problem solvers, innovators, and dreamers who are searching for anything but business as usual. Like us, you’re a high performer who’s an expert at your craft, constantly challenging the status quo. You value inclusivity and want to join a culture that empowers you to show up as your authentic self. You know that success hinges on commitment, that our differences make us stronger, and that the finish line is always sweeter when the whole team crosses together.

Alteryx is searching for a Sr. Director, Engineering Operations. This position is remote-friendly.

As Alteryx continues to scale and innovate, maintaining and elevating our engineering excellence is paramount. As Senior Director, Engineering Operations, you will play a central role in driving this crucial initiative. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will be the driving force behind enhancing our engineering practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and ensuring operational efficiency across our global engineering organization. This is not just an operational role; it's a highly impactful opportunity to shape the future of engineering at Alteryx and contribute directly to our continued success. You will be at the heart of managing initiatives to improve our service catalog, quality, performance, and reliability.

This role is critical because as Alteryx grows, maintaining high quality, reliability, and efficiency in our engineering processes becomes increasingly complex. Our global and fully remote engineering team, with members across the US, Europe, and India, presents unique challenges in communication, collaboration, and alignment. Additionally, our growing and maturing product portfolio, encompassing multiple products in different technologies and states of maturity, requires customized engineering excellence initiatives tailored to specific needs. This role will provide focus and leadership to ensure we scale effectively, address these complexities, and continue to deliver exceptional products to our customers. It’s an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact on a rapidly growing company in a highly visible role.

Position Overview:

You will be a key advisor and operational leader to the CTO, focused on driving engineering excellence across our global engineering organization. You will partner with engineering leadership and central expert teams (SRE, DevOps, QA, etc.) to define and implement operational standards, track key performance indicators, lead improvement initiatives, and communicate progress to executive leadership and the broader company. You will be responsible for building consensus across leaders, many of whom will be your peers and driving with influence. You will partner closely with the Head of Architecture on strategic technology initiatives, focusing on internal communication and rollout of the strategy. You will navigate the complexities of a fully remote, globally distributed team and a diverse product portfolio.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Engineering Excellence Program Management:

  • Develop and execute a comprehensive engineering excellence program roadmap aligned with Alteryx's overall business objectives, considering the nuances of a global, remote team and a diverse product portfolio.

  • Define and implement operational standards, metrics, and reporting mechanisms for engineering teams, including tracking mechanisms, reporting processes, and hotspot identification, tailored to different product maturity levels and technologies.

  • Lead and manage engineering excellence initiatives focused on improving service catalog management, quality, performance, reliability, security, and other key operational metrics.

  • Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and identify areas for improvement.

  • Manage operational budgets and resources related to excellence initiatives.

• Collaboration and Influence:

  • Partner with engineering VPs, central expert teams (QA, DevOps, SRE, Infra), Product leadership, and other key stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and operational efficiency, taking into account the challenges of remote collaboration across time zones and cultures.

  • Build strong relationships and foster a collaborative environment across engineering and other departments, promoting effective communication and knowledge sharing within a remote setting.

  • Drive initiatives through influence and collaboration, effectively navigating organizational dynamics within a global and remote context.

• Strategic Communication and Reporting:

  • Develop and deliver concise and compelling presentations and reports to executive leadership, the board, and the broader company, communicating the progress of engineering excellence initiatives, key metrics, and strategic direction, addressing the needs of a diverse and distributed audience.

  • Facilitate communication and coordination within the engineering leadership team and across other departments, utilizing effective remote communication tools and strategies.

  • Partner with the Head of Architecture on technology strategy ensuring effective communication and rollout to the engineering organization, considering the varying technical expertise and product focus of different teams.

• CTO Support:

  • Act as a trusted advisor and right-hand person to the CTO, providing insights and recommendations on engineering operations and excellence, specifically addressing the challenges of a global, remote engineering team and a diverse product portfolio.

  • Prepare materials and presentations for the CTO for internal and board meetings.

  • Manage the CTO's priorities and ensure follow-up on action items related to Engineering Excellence.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering or related technical roles, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity focused on engineering operations, quality, or reliability.

• Proven track record of driving engineering excellence, operational efficiency, and process improvement initiatives in a scaled and distributed engineering organization (ideally 500+ engineers), with experience managing the challenges of remote work and global teams.

• Experience Implementing and managing operational metrics, driving process improvements, and achieving measurable results across multiple products with varying technologies and maturity levels.

• Experience Working with modern development methodologies and DevOps principles

• Experience Presenting to and influencing senior leadership and board members.

• A plus if you have experience working with consulting firms specializing in technology and software engineering transformation is a plus. This includes experience articulating how to drive change across multiple organizations.

Required Skills:

• Deep understanding of software engineering best practices, modern development methodologies, DevOps principles, and cloud-native architectures.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making skills.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences across different cultures and time zones.

• Strong influencing, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with experience navigating the complexities of a global, remote organization.

• Ability to build consensus and drive change within a complex organization.

• Ability to think strategically and translate business objectives into actionable engineering initiatives.

• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong project management skills.

• Strong remote communication and collaboration skills, including experience using various communication tools and strategies for effective remote teamwork.

• Adaptability and flexibility to work with different cultures and time zones.

What Will Make You Successful:

• A passion for driving engineering excellence and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• A proactive and results-oriented approach.

• The ability to build strong relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels, especially in a remote setting.

• A strong understanding of Alteryx's business and its technology needs.

• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, and globally distributed environment.

• A collaborative and team-oriented mindset.

• Experience and comfort working in a fully remote environment.

Compensation:

Alteryx is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent compensation. Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as your relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location. 

The salary range for this role in the United States is $191,000 - $258,000.

Employees may also be eligible for a wide range of other benefits, such as a bonus or commission, medical, retirement, financial, wellness, time off, employee discounts, and others.

Interested? Learn more and apply today at alteryx.com/careers!

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Find yourself checking a lot of these boxes but doubting whether you should apply? At Alteryx, we support a growth mindset for our associates through all stages of their careers. If you meet some of the requirements and you share our values, we encourage you to apply. As part of our ongoing commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, we’re invested in building teams with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

Benefits & Perks:

Alteryx has amazing benefits for all Associates which can be viewed here.

For roles in San Francisco and Los Angeles: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Alteryx will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position involves access to software/technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.