Director, Engineering

SurveyMonkey; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading survey platform in Ottawa is seeking a visionary Director of Engineering to lead the Platform Services team. This role involves defining technical strategy, managing a high-performing engineering team, and developing robust security services for their next-generation SaaS product. Ideal candidates should have extensive software engineering experience and a background in scaling mission-critical systems. The position requires in-person collaboration one day per week, emphasizing a strong company culture and commitment to inclusion.

Benefits

Flexible work environment

Inclusion programs

CHOICE Fund for employee well-being

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 4+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven track record in building and scaling mission-critical services.
• Strong architectural understanding of distributed systems and cloud computing platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the technical roadmap for Platform Services.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing engineering team.
• Manage budgets, resource allocation, and project timelines.
• Oversee the development of security services such as IAM.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Leadership in a SaaS environment

Building and scaling services

Core platform services

Microservices architecture

DevOps practices

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science

Tools

CI/CD tools

Terraform

Job description

SurveyMonkey is the world’s most popular platform for surveys and forms, built for business—loved by users. We combine powerful capabilities with intuitive design, effectively serving every use case, from customer experience to employee engagement, market research to payment and registration forms. With built-in research expertise and AI-powered technology, it’s like having a team of expert researchers at your fingertips.

Trusted by millions—from startups to Fortune 500 companies—SurveyMonkey helps teams gather insights and information that inspire better decisions, create experiences people love, and drive business growth. Discover how at surveymonkey.com.

What we’re looking for

We are seeking a visionary Director of Engineering to lead the Platform Services team. This critical leadership role drives the architecture, development, and operation of the foundational services powering our next‑generation SaaS product. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in scaling SaaS platforms, deep expertise in security services (Identity, AuthZ/AuthN), and proven experience building enterprise‑grade administration and internal tooling. This role will define technical strategy, foster engineering excellence, and manage a high‑performing team to deliver robust, scalable, and secure platform capabilities.

What you’ll be working on

Strategy and Leadership

• Define and execute the Platform Services technical roadmap, ensuring alignment with company strategy and security requirements.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a high‑performing engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation and rigor.
• Establish and enforce best practices for software development, QA, deployment, and operational excellence (DevOps/SRE).
• Manage budgets, resource allocation, and project timelines for the Platform Services domain.

Platform Development and Architecture

• Identity and Access Management (IAM): Own the strategy and delivery for core security services (Identity, AuthN, AuthZ), including SSO, OAuth 2.0/OIDC, and Role‑Based Access Control (RBAC).
• Enterprise Administration: Architect and implement scalable, multi‑tenant solutions for enterprise customer administration, user provisioning, and account management at scale.
• Internal Tooling: Oversee the development of secure, efficient, and user‑friendly Customer Service Administration Tools for platform support, auditing, and debugging.
• Drive the adoption of modern microservices architecture, cloud‑native patterns, and performance optimization for high availability and low latency.

Collaboration and Security

• Partner with Product Management to translate business requirements into technical specifications and clear development plans.
• Collaborate with Security and Compliance teams to ensure all services meet stringent security standards (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001) and maintain robust logging and auditing capabilities.
• Work with other Engineering Directors to seamlessly integrate Platform Services into product‑facing features and infrastructure.

We’d love to hear from people with

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 4+ years in a senior leadership role managing multiple engineering teams in a high‑growth SaaS environment.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent practical experience), combined with excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven track record in building and scaling mission‑critical, 24/7 services.
• Extensive knowledge of core platform services, including AuthN/AuthZ protocols, modern IAM systems, federation, cryptographic security best practices, and architecting multi‑tenant/enterprise administration solutions.
• Strong architectural understanding of distributed systems, microservices, and cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Experience with specific identity providers (e.g., Okta, Auth0, Ping Identity).
• Hands‑on experience with modern DevOps practices: CI/CD, Infrastructure‑as‑Code (Terraform), and cloud monitoring/logging tools.
• Prior experience building robust, internal‑facing tools for operations or customer support.

SurveyMonkey believes in‑person collaboration is valuable for building relationships, fostering community, and enhancing our speed and execution in problem‑solving and decision‑making. As such, you will be required to work from a SurveyMonkey office up to 1 day per week.

At SurveyMonkey, curiosity powers everything we do. We’re a global company where people from all backgrounds can make an impact, build meaningful connections, and grow their careers. Our teams work in a flexible, hybrid environment with thoughtfully designed offices and programs like the CHOICE Fund to help employees thrive in work and life.

We live our company values—like championing inclusion and making it happen—by embedding them into how we hire, collaborate, and grow. They help shape everything from our culture to our business decisions. Come join us and see where your curiosity can take you.

Our commitment to an inclusive workplace

SurveyMonkey is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We celebrate the unique differences of our employees because that is what drives curiosity, innovation, and the success of our business. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities.