Director of Engineering, Product Platforms

Aerospike is the real-time database for mission-critical use cases and workloads, including machine learning, generative, and agentic AI. Aerospike powers millions of transactions per second with millisecond latency, at a fraction of the total cost of ownership compared to other databases. Global leaders, including Adobe, Airtel, Barclays, Criteo, DBS Bank, Experian, Grab, HDFC Bank, PayPal, Sony Interactive Entertainment, The Trade Desk, and Wayfair, rely on Aerospike for customer 360, fraud detection, real-time bidding, profile stores, recommendation engines, and other use cases. At Aerospike, we dream big and deliver even bigger. Our mission is to unleash the power of the world’s real-time data with a database built for infinite scale, speed, and sustainability. To foster strong team alignment and productivity, Bay Area–based team members are expected to work from the office 2–3 times per week—typically Tuesday through Thursday. If you're ready to shape the future of data, join us. As the Director of Engineering over our Product Platforms, you will lead high-caliber teams of engineers to build and scale a robust, cloud-native platform that serves as the foundation for the next generation of data-driven innovation from Aerospike. This is a unique opportunity to shape the technical roadmap of a portfolio of platforms and services that bring Aerospike products to life in the cloud, while fostering a culture of engineering excellence and operational rigor. We are looking for a transformative leader who thrives at the intersection of complex distributed systems and strategic product delivery. Join us to redefine what’s possible in the world of high-performance data and leave a lasting legacy on the backbone of the modern digital economy. Responsibilities Lead leaders, guide multiple platform teams through the development of Aerospike Cloud into a product platform for all Aerospike products Build platforms that empower other product engineering teams to own their cloud products, from control and data planes, billing, licensing, telemetry, and UIs Communicate regularly with stakeholders, product managers, product engineering leaders, SREs teams, and other developers regarding progress on a long-term technology roadmap Convert business requirements into actionable engineering plans and work items Steward the quality and reliability of both your teams’ services and other teams’ services running on the platform Attract, develop and retain top-tier engineering talent into Aerospike and create avenues for them to succeed through technology, mentorship, and processes Provide technical leadership on company-wide initiatives Participate in an on-call process as a manager escalation to provide guidance and correct decision-making during incident response Required skills and qualifications 7+ years of experience in developing distributed, multitenant, auto-scalable backend services 5+ years of experience in technical leadership in management roles, leading high-performing engineering teams through direct leadership and through manager direct reports Demonstrated ability to provide strong technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to teams of backend and front end engineers Proven track record of ensuring the delivery of high-quality, scalable, and reliable solutions in a fast-paced environment. Experience in recruiting, onboarding, and developing top talent within more than 1 kind of engineering team. Ability to foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that values innovation, continuous learning, and excellence Proficiency in collaborating with product management and other stakeholders to define and execute the long-term technical roadmap Demonstrated ability to align business goals and objectives with organizational priorities and roadmaps, with a focus on driving innovation and competitive advantage through technology Excellent foundation in computer science and algorithms Experience in developing distributed, multitenant, auto-scalable backend services Proficient knowledge of one or more statically typed back-end programming languages (Go, Kotlin, Java, Scala) Experience with at least one of the major public cloud providers: AWS, Google, Azure Experience with NoSQL and relational databases and database fundamentals, including data storage, data replication, data modeling, and data access patterns Experience with developing, deploying, and maintaining distributed services with containers (Docker) & orchestration (Kubernetes, EKS, GKE) Experience with Git and CI/CD pipeline engines Technical knowledge and understanding of techniques and standards for authentication, authorization, and encryption Experience with production and on-call support Preferred Qualifications Experience with usage-based billing, entitlements, or licensing enforcement. Familiarity with observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, Datadog). Experience with workflow orchestration (e.g., Temporal). Infrastructure-as-Code experience (Terraform, similar). Experience building or operating NoSQL and high-performance data systems. Background in SaaS, cloud infrastructure, or developer platforms. Open-source contributions or external technical writing/talks. Aerospike is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Join us at Aerospike and be part of a dynamic team that is shaping the future of data management. Salary Range for California Based Applicants: [$250,000 - $300,000] (actual compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law)