Director of Engineering - infrastructure & Operations

Gomotive; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 229,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

401k contribution

Paid time off

Life insurance

Disability coverage

Job summary

Motive is looking for a seasoned engineering leader to head Core Infrastructure and Operations Engineering. You will mentor a multi-functional team spanning SRE, Operations, Data & AI Platform, and Database Engineering, owning the cloud platform and driving infrastructure as a product for enterprise reliability.

You will drive multi-quarter platform initiatives, partner with product leaders, turn ambiguous problems into executable plans, and elevate engineering quality and operational excellence

Qualifications

• 12+ years in software/infrastructure engineering.
• 5+ years leading Infra/SRE/ops orgs.
• Degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Deep experience with AWS at scale (VPC, IAM, multi-account, observability, cost optimization).
• High AI fluency – evaluate, integrate, govern LLM/AI platforms (AWS Bedrock, Anthropic/Claude, OpenAI).
• Experience in interfacing with vendors, partners and cost governance.
• Experience and strong understanding of databases and data platforms (OLTP and analytics).
• Proven record running high-reliability platforms (SLOs, incidents, on-call, postmortems).
• Clear communication with CEO-level visibility.
• Track record of running infrastructure as a product (roadmaps, stakeholder comms, adoption).

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale a high-performing engineering team responsible for core platform systems used across the company.
• Define and drive multi-quarter platform initiatives that improve system reliability and product leverage.
• Partner with product and engineering leaders to evolve the platform as a product, balancing long-term architecture with near-term business needs.
• Turn ambiguous, high-impact problem areas into clear execution plans.
• Drive alignment across multiple teams working on interdependent systems including internal platforms, infrastructure and cloud governance.
• Raise the bar on engineering quality, operational excellence, and execution across the platform organization.

Skills

Infra/SRE/ops leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

System architecture

Education

Degree in Computer Science

Job description

Who we are:

Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time ever, safety, operations and finance teams can manage their drivers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet related spend in a single system. Combined with industry leading AI, the Motive platform gives you complete visibility and control, and significantly reduces manual workloads by automating and simplifying tasks.

Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers – from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses – across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, and the public sector.

Visit gomotive.com to learn more.

About the Role:

We are looking for a seasoned engineering leader who will lead the Core Infrastructure and Operations Engineering. You will be responsible for managing and mentoring a multi-functional team across SRE, Operations, Data & AI Platform, and Database Engineering. You will own our cloud platform, run infrastructure as a product, and drive enterprise-grade reliability for mission‑critical systems. As an engineering leader you’ll be be called on to lead during critical moments and operate with executives of the company

What You’ll Do:

• Lead and scale a high-performing engineering team responsible for core platform systems used across the company
• Define and drive multi-quarter platform initiatives that improve system reliability, and product leverage
• Partner closely with product and engineering leaders to evolve the platform as a product, balancing long-term architecture with near-term business needs
• Take ambiguous, high-impact problem areas (e.g., system scalability, reliability, platform abstractions) and turn them into clear execution plans
• Drive alignment across multiple teams working on complex, interdependent systems including internal platforms, infrastructure as well as cloud governance.
• Raise the bar on engineering quality, operational excellence, and execution across the platform organization

What We’re Looking For:

• 12+ years in software/infrastructure engineering, including 5+ years leading Infra/SRE/ops orgs and managing managers with a strong sense for systems architecture.
• Degree in Computer Science or equivalent
• Ability to collaborate and work effectively cross functionally with a strong sense of ownership
• Deep experience with AWS at scale (VPC, IAM, multi‑account, core services, observability, cost optimization).
• High AI fluency – able to evaluate, integrate, and govern LLM/AI platforms (AWS Bedrock, Anthropic/Claude, OpenAI) for engineering and ops.
• Experience in interfacing with vendors, partners and cost governance
• Experience and strong understanding of databases and data platforms (OLTP and analytics), Data and ML/AI infrastructure.
• Proven record running high‑reliability platforms (SLOs, incidents, on‑call, postmortems). Experience driving processes and programs to raise the bar and engineering excellence
• Clear communication skills and ability to manage escalations with CEO-level visibility
• Track record of running infrastructure as a product (roadmaps, stakeholder comms, adoption).
• Nice to have
  • Background in B2B SaaS or other high‑reliability domains (payments, logistics, safety).
  • Leadership of global, distributed teams across time zones.

Pay Transparency

Your compensation may be based on several factors, including education, work experience, and certifications. For certain roles, total compensation may include restricted stock units. Motive offers benefits including health, pharmacy, optical and dental care benefits, paid time off, sick time off, short term and long term disability coverage, life insurance as well as 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). Learn more about our benefits by visiting Motive Perks & Benefits.

Base compensation range for this role: $229,000 — $285,000 USD

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is one of Motive's core values. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives.

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