Director of Engineering Operations

Description What We're Looking For: The Director of Engineering Operations will build and lead an Engineering Operations function that increases delivery efficiency, release quality, and production reliability across the product engineering organization. Partner with Product on planning and commitments while owning the engineering operating system: metrics, SDLC standards, release governance, incident discipline, and responsible adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices. As the engineering organization scales, reliability increasingly depends on having a consistent operating system across teams. This role exists to design, implement, and lead the engineering operating system, creating clarity in how work moves from plan to production, how reliability is protected, and how modern AI-assisted practices are adopted safely and effectively across the organization. What You'll Do: * Engineering health metrics and insights * Standardize engineering metric definitions and instrumentation across teams. * Publish and maintain a trusted engineering scorecard and drive action from the data. * Provide leading indicators on delivery and operational risk into leadership forums. * SDLC standards and engineering quality system * Define and drive adoption of SDLC standards (definition of done, review standards, testing expectations by tier, security and observability requirements). * Establish lightweight compliance mechanisms through automation and tooling where feasible. * Release governance and launch readiness * Implement release readiness gates and disciplined rollout/rollback expectations. * Integrate release governance with Product and Engineering leadership launch processes. * Reliability and operational excellence governance * Mature incident management practices in partnership with Product, Engineering and Support leadership. * Raise the bar on post-incident reviews and enforce action closure through SLAs and escalations. * Drive systematic reduction of repeat incidents and operational toil. * AI-assisted engineering practices enablement * Define approved use cases and guardrails for AI-assisted development across coding, testing, review, documentation, and operations. * Partner with Security/Privacy and IT on compliant tooling rollout and training. * Run pilots, scale playbooks, and measure impact without regressing security or quality. * Build the function * Establish operating cadence, forums, and standard artifacts for engineering ops. * Hire and develop a small team over time as scope demands (programs, release readiness, developer productivity, metrics). What You'll Bring: * 12 to 18+ years in engineering operations, technical program leadership, production operations, developer productivity, or engineering leadership roles. * Demonstrated success building operating systems for 200+ engineer organizations (metrics, SDLC standards, release governance, incident/postmortem discipline). * Track record improving reliability outcomes (MTTR, repeat incident rate, change failure rate) via process and tooling interventions. * Experience leading through influence across senior engineering leadership, plus people management experience or clear readiness to build a team. * Practical understanding of AI-assisted engineering workflows and how to deploy them safely with governance and measurement. What We Offer: * Enjoy flexible paid time off that allows you to have an enhanced work-life balance. * Excellent medical, dental, and vision options * 401(k) matching, life insurance, commuter benefits, and parental leave plans * Complimentary CalmApp subscription for you and your loved ones, because mental wellness matters. * Energetic work environment with a hybrid work style, providing the balance you need. * Thrive within our inclusive community and seize ongoing professional development opportunities to elevate your career. * Base Salary of $230K - $250K USD per year + 20% bonus [subject to the terms of the applicable bonus plan] Total compensation range for this position: $276,000 - $300,000 USD. per year. Where You'll Work: 275 Shoreline Drive Suite Redwood City, CA 94065 When You'll Join: Apr 20, 2026 Our Story At Meltwater, we believe that when you have the right people in the right environment, great things happen. Our best-in-class technology empowers our 27,000 customers around the world to make better business decisions through data. But we can't do that without our global team of developers, innovators, problem-solvers, and high-performers who embrace challenges and find new solutions for our customers. Our award-winning global culture drives everything we do and creates an environment where our employees can make an impact, learn every day, feel a sense of belonging, and celebrate each other's successes along the way. We are innovators at the core who see the potential in people, ideas and technologies. Together, we challenge ourselves to go big, be bold, and build best-in-class solutions for our customers. We're proud of our diverse team of 2,200+ employees in 50 locations across 25 countries around the world. No matter where you are, you'll work with people who care about your success and get the support you need to unlock new heights in your career. We are Meltwater. Inspired by innovation, powered by people. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement Meltwater is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind: At Meltwater, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where every employee feels valued, respected, and empowered. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity and strive to provide a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Meltwater are made based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by the applicable laws and regulations. Meltwater does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, and we actively promote a culture of respect, fairness, and inclusivity. We encourage applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities to apply and join us in our mission to drive innovation and make a positive impact in the world. We may use AI to assist in aspects of our hiring process, such as reviewing candidate information and supporting evaluation activities. These tools are used only to assist our team through increased efficiencies. Every output continues to be reviewed by humans, and all hiring decisions are made by humans. We remain committed to evaluating candidates fairly, consistently, and in compliance with all applicable laws.