Director, AI Takeoff Engineering (Identity Security)

Xapply; Bellevue, Chicago, San Francisco (WA, IL, CA); On-site; USD 275,000 - 378,000; Full time

Job summary

Okta is seeking a driven, customer‑focused engineering leader to accelerate the AI Takeoff roadmap. You will partner with AI Forward Deployed Engineering, Product and Design to translate customer needs into scalable, production‑ready capabilities and deliver them to the Okta platform.

This role combines startup speed with enterprise discipline, demanding high‑velocity execution, strong executive communication, and a commitment to security and reliability across identity and AI systems.

Qualifications

• 8+ years building and shipping identity, security, infrastructure or developer-focused products in a high-growth organization.
• Proven engineering leadership and team management experience, including hiring, developing and motivating high‑performing teams.
• Strong executive communication and influencing skills, with a track record of driving outcomes across organizational boundaries and bringing cross‑functional teams together.
• Proven experience working directly with enterprise customers and translating customer problems into technical solutions.
• Deep identity domain expertise — you know, or can quickly get up to speed on, the latest identity protocols, standards, architectures and patterns.
• Experience operating in high‑ambiguity, high‑velocity environments where priorities evolve quickly and execution matters.
• Strong product and customer orientation, with the ability to balance customer urgency, technical quality and long‑term scalability.
• Experience with AI/agentic systems, AI security or emerging identity patterns is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with our top customers and AI Forward Deployed Engineering to rapidly translate customer needs into differentiated AI capabilities and deliver them to production.
• Partner closely with broader Okta Engineering, Product and Design to ensure capabilities are production-ready and meet Okta standards for security, reliability, scalability and quality.
• Build, grow and mentor a small, highly focused team of AI Takeoff engineers operating with high autonomy and urgency.
• Serve as a senior technical SME in customer engagements, technical evaluations and complex sales processes.
• Lead complex customer escalations with a bias toward rapidly identifying root causes and delivering durable solutions.
• Own the technical strategy, architecture, and execution for the AI Takeoff engineering roadmap, balancing customer urgency with long‑term scalability and production quality.

Skills

Identity systems

Engineering leadership

Executive communication

Enterprise engagement

AI security

Product strategy

Job description

Okta is seeking a driven, customer‑focused engineering leader to accelerate the AI Takeoff roadmap. You will partner with AI Forward Deployed Engineering, Product and Design to translate customer needs into scalable, production‑ready capabilities and deliver them to the Okta platform.

This role combines startup speed with enterprise discipline, demanding high‑velocity execution, strong executive communication, and a commitment to security and reliability across identity and AI systems.