Director, Software Engineering (Location Platform)

Rocket Lab; Canada; Remote; CAD 250,000 - 295,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocket Lab is seeking a strategic Director of Engineering to lead its Location Platform team. This pivotal role involves driving innovation, influencing strategic decisions, and ensuring the platform delivers unparalleled value to families. The ideal candidate will have extensive leadership experience and expertise in software engineering and cloud technologies, contributing to a mission-driven culture focused on creativity and inclusivity.

Benefits

Competitive pay and benefits

Flexible PTO and 12 company-wide days off

Learning & development programs

Employee Assistance Program for mental wellness

Free Life360 Platinum Membership

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, at least 5 years in senior leadership roles.
• Experience in platform development and infrastructure management.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop engineering teams while fostering a collaborative environment.
• Own the long-term vision for the location platform and ensure innovative solutions.
• Represent the engineering team at executive forums and communicate strategies.

Skills

Leadership

Cloud technologies

Mobile development

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Job description

About Life360

Life360’s mission is to keep people close to the ones they love. Our category-leading mobile app and Tile tracking devices empower members to protect the people, pets, and things they care about most with a range of services, including location sharing, safe driver reports, and crash detection with emergency dispatch. Life360 serves approximately 83.7 million monthly active users (MAU), as of May 2025 across more than 150 countries.

Life360 delivers peace of mind and enhances everyday family life with seamless coordination for all the moments that matter, big and small. By continuing to innovate and deliver for our customers, we have become a household name and the must-have mobile-based membership for families (and those friends that basically are family).

Life360 has more than 500 (and growing!) remote-first employees. For more information, please visit life360.com.

Life360 is a Remote First company, which means a remote work environment will be the primary experience for all employees. All positions, unless otherwise specified, can be performed remotely (within the US and Canada) regardless of any specified location above.

About The Team

The Location Platform team supports our mission to deliver peace of mind and make everyday family life better through a best-in-class app—uniquely powered by fast, insightful, and delightful location-forward experiences that drive lasting loyalty and ongoing engagement. We build and maintain a robust foundation that enables us to rapidly deliver exceptional value, quality, and delight to our members. This foundation includes the precise collection and delivery of location and sensor data from member devices, powering both the direct app experience and the development of innovative products across Life360. Our team also continuously obsesses over app performance, rigorously measuring and improving key metrics to ensure a consistently reliable, seamless, and performant experience for our over 80 million members worldwide.

About the Job

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Director of Engineering to lead the Location Platform engineering team within the Location Experiences organization at Life360. This role is pivotal in shaping Life360’s core location technology, foundational to our member experience. You will directly influence strategic technical decisions, drive innovation, and ensure our platform remains a market leader, delivering unparalleled value to families worldwide. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional leaders, aligning engineering initiatives with overarching product and organizational objectives. As a key leader, you will guide the platform's evolution, driving improvements that empower families around the world to stay connected, safe, and informed.

For candidates based in the US, the salary range for this position is $213,500 to $313,500 USD. For candidates based out of Canada, the salary range for this position is $250,500 to $294,500 CAD. We take into consideration an individual's background and experience in determining final salary- therefore, base pay offered may vary considerably depending on geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The compensation package includes a wide range of medical, dental, vision, financial, and other benefits, as well as equity.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and develop engineering teams, coaching and mentoring managers and senior engineers to foster a collaborative, high-performance environment.
• Own and continuously refine the long-term strategic vision for the location platform, ensuring it scales effectively and remains at the forefront of technological innovation.
• Develop and execute a strategic technology roadmap that aligns with Life360’s business goals and delivers innovative, reliable, and scalable solutions.
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Analytics, Design, and Infrastructure teams to define and deliver coordinated, impactful, user-centric solutions.
• Represent the Location Platform engineering team at executive leadership forums, clearly communicating strategic insights, progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Oversee architectural decisions, ensuring the platform is scalable, secure, and maintainable, supporting long-term business and product growth.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive talent strategy, including succession planning, leadership development, and strategic hiring to ensure long-term organizational health.
• Build and manage relationships with cross-functional stakeholders, clearly communicating technical strategies, project milestones, and outcomes.
• Proactively influence and shape company-wide initiatives, standards, and best practices through effective advocacy, partnership, and strategic foresight.
• Champion operational excellence by establishing rigorous performance standards and continuously monitoring and optimizing platform performance using data-driven methodologies.
• Foster innovation, promoting experimentation with new technologies, tools, and approaches to maintain technical leadership and competitive advantage.
• Actively contribute to the broader technical community at Life360 by staying informed about industry trends and promoting knowledge sharing and best practices across teams.

What We’re Looking For

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (Senior Manager, Director, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated success in leading engineering teams in fast-paced, high-growth environments, particularly in platform development and infrastructure management.
• Expertise in cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP), mobile development (iOS, Android), and familiarity with real-time systems or location-based technologies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with real-time communication protocols (gRPC, MQTT), microservices architecture, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proven track record of successfully leading complex cross-functional projects and strategic initiatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, emphasizing data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical strategies to diverse stakeholders.
• Commitment to operational excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Alignment with Life360’s core values, including integrity, respectful directness, member-centricity, and achieving high-impact outcomes.

Our Benefits

• Competitive pay and benefits.
• Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance plans (100% paid for US employees). We offer supplemental plans for medical and dental for Canadian employees.
• 401(k) plan with company matching program in the US and RRSP with DPSP plan for Canadian employees.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental wellness.
• Flexible PTO and 12 company wide days off throughout the year.
• Learning & Development programs.
• Equipment, tools, and reimbursement support for a productive remote environment.
• Free Life360 Platinum Membership for your preferred circle.

Life360 Values

Our company’s mission driven culture is guided by our shared values to create a trusted work environment where you can bring your authentic self to work and make a positive difference

• Be a Good Person - We have a team of high integrity people you can trust.
• Be Direct With Respect - We communicate directly, even when it’s hard.
• Members Before Metrics - We focus on building an exceptional experience for families.
• High Intensity High Impact - We do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Our Commitment to Diversity

We believe that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better results. Together, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. It fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our customers and the communities we serve. We strive to create a workplace that reflects the communities we serve and where everyone feels empowered to bring their authentic best selves to work.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at Life360. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any legally protected status.

We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. We believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas. Come join us in building something meaningful.Even if you don’t meet 100% of the below qualifications, you should still seriously consider applying!

#LI-Remote

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