Director, Platform Systems

OhioX; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 217,000 - 285,000; Full time

Job summary

Root is seeking a Director, Platform Systems to lead the teams powering our core engineering infrastructure and AI capabilities. You will set multi-year technical strategy, grow a pipeline of engineering managers, and translate platform investments into measurable outcomes, supporting rapid, secure, and scalable AI-powered product delivery.

We offer location flexibility across the US and a competitive compensation package including bonus and equity.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in software engineering across IC and management roles.
• 7+ years as a people manager, with experience managing managers.
• Proven track record leading platform, infrastructure, or AI/ML engineering organizations.
• Experience setting technical strategy across developer tooling, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, or AI systems.
• Proven ability to develop engineering managers and build high-performing, inclusive teams.
• Excellent communication and influence with engineering peers and executive stakeholders.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making principled decisions with incomplete information.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy and execution for Root's platform engineering and AI engineering functions, including AI enablement, CI/CD pipelines, AWS infrastructure, and data engineering platform.
• Partner with Product, Data Science, Security, and leadership to align platform priorities with business opportunities.
• Develop a talent strategy to attract, retain, and grow engineering talent across multiple teams.
• Establish a high bar for reliability, security, and operational excellence across shared infrastructure and AI systems.
• Drive the AI platform roadmap and ensure internal tooling and deployment patterns to scale AI features responsibly.

Skills

Platform engineering

Cloud infrastructure

AI/ML engineering

Leadership

Communication

Job description

Root is on a mission to unbreak insurance by creating experiences people love at prices they can't believe. We believe that investing in world-class technology will facilitate a new class of insurance products, driving a massive positive impact on the hundreds of millions of drivers who carry auto insurance in the US.

The Opportunity

As Director, Platform Systems, you will lead the teams that power Root's core engineering infrastructure and AI capabilities. Your portfolio spans AI focused teams, data infrastructure and reliability, platform infrastructure and reliability as well as DevEx -- the foundational systems that allow every engineering team at Root to move fast, ship reliably, and deploy intelligent products at scale. You are a senior engineering leader who can set multi-year technical strategy, grow a pipeline of engineering managers, and translate platform investment into measurable business outcomes.

Salary Range

$217,000 - $285,000 (Eligible for Competitive Bonus & Equity Offering)

Root is a "work where it works best" company. This means we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US.

How You Will Make an Impact

• Own the strategy and execution for Root's platform engineering and AI engineering functions, including leading teams responsible for AI enablement, CI/CD pipelines, AWS infrastructure, and our data engineering platform
• Partner with Product, Data Science, Quantitative Science, Security, and business leadership to align platform priorities to Root's highest-leverage opportunities
• Develop and evolve a talent strategy that attracts, retains, and grows top engineering talent across a multi-team organization at all levels
• Establish and hold teams to a high bar for reliability, security, and operational excellence across shared infrastructure and AI systems
• Drive the AI platform roadmap, ensuring Root has the internal tooling, data infrastructure, and deployment patterns necessary to responsibly scale AI-powered features
• Champion developer productivity, ensuring the DevEx and Infrastructure teams reduce toil, accelerate feedback loops, and establish clear standards across Engineering
• Cultivate strong engineering managers; build the leadership pipeline and ensure each team is well-led, well-staffed, and has a clear charter
• Work closely with Engineering leadership to improve the effectiveness of the Engineering organization as a whole
• Identify and remove systemic blockers across teams, owning cross-functional alignment where platform systems intersect with product delivery

What You Will Need to Succeed

• 12+ years in software engineering across individual contributor and management roles
• 7+ years as a people manager, with experience managing managers
• Demonstrated success leading platform, infrastructure, or AI/ML engineering organizations
• Experience setting technical strategy across developer tooling, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, or AI systems
• Proven track record developing engineering managers and building high-performing, inclusive teams
• Excellent communication and influence skills with both engineering peers and executive stakeholders
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making principled decisions with incomplete information

As part of Root's interview process, we kindly ask that all candidates be on camera for virtual interviews. This helps us create a more personal and engaging experience for both you and our interviewers. Being on camera is a standard requirement for our process and part of how we assess fit and communication style, so we do require it to move forward with any applicant's candidacy. If you have any concerns, feel free to let us know once you are contacted. We're happy to talk it through.

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Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is the policy of Root to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or candidate with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship for Root. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact [e-mail].