Head of Engineering Operations

Asana; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 330,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mental health benefits

Career coaching

Family building benefits

Long-term savings/retirement plans

Culinary options

Job summary

Asana is seeking a Head of Engineering Operations to partner with the CTO and enhance operational excellence. This role will involve translating the company strategy into actionable engineering plans and optimizing the execution and delivery processes.

It offers a hybrid work model, with in-office requirements on specific days. You will lead a global team and manage the financial governance of engineering operations, ensuring alignment across functions.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in engineering operations or related roles.
• Proven ability to drive cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong financial and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated technical fluency in software development.

Responsibilities

• Translate company strategy into actionable engineering plans.
• Design lightweight operating models to optimize engineering delivery.
• Hire and lead a high-performing engineering operations team.
• Oversee financial governance including budget management.
• Define and own engineering metrics for data-driven insights.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic Planning

Operations Management

Financial Analysis

Technical Program Management

Communication

Data Analysis

Job description

As the Head of Engineering Operations, you will be a key leadership partner to the CTO and the engineering leadership team, owning the operational backbone of our global R&D organization. In this role, you will serve as a critical bridge to other cross-functional groups, driving operational excellence, organizational effectiveness, and strategic initiatives. We are looking for a strategic leader who can translate company strategy into actionable engineering plans while building lightweight operating models that accelerate velocity and maintain high quality. You will empower our engineering organization to thrive and deliver exceptional impact at scale.

This role is based in our San Francisco or Vancouver office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. The standard in-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Most Asanas have the option to work from home on Wednesdays. Working from home on Fridays depends on the type of work you do and the teams with which you partner. If you're interviewing for this role, your recruiter will share more about the in-office requirements.

What you’ll achieve

• Translate overarching company strategy into actionable engineering and operating plans in close collaboration with cross-functional partners.

• Design and build lightweight operating models, frameworks, and processes to optimize engineering execution and delivery, integrating evolving AI agentic engineering workflows.

• Hire, mentor, and lead a high-performing, global team of engineering operations professionals and Technical Program Managers to steer complex horizontal programs.

• Oversee financial and resource governance, including budget management, program spend, headcount strategy, and vendor/tooling allocations across public cloud and LLMs.

• Define and own the engineering metrics program (KPIs covering delivery, quality, reliability, efficiency, and capacity) to deliver data-driven insights to leadership.

• Serve as a trusted proxy and connective tissue for the CTO and R&D leadership, driving clear engineering communication strategies, roadmap reviews, QBRs, and all-hands forums.

• Cultivate engineering enablement by overseeing robust onboarding programs, learning initiatives, and knowledge-sharing opportunities.

About you

• Demonstrates curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, with a willingness to learn and leverage them to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making.

• Bring 8+ years of experience in engineering operations, technical program management, chief-of-staff, or strategy & operations roles, ideally supporting a large software engineering organization.

• Possess a proven track record of driving complex, cross-functional initiatives to successful completion within a fast-paced environment.

• Exhibit strong financial and analytical fluency, with comfort owning a budget, building headcount models, and transforming complex data into clear, actionable dashboards.

• Demonstrate exceptional technical fluency with an understanding of the software development lifecycle and the ability to quickly master emerging tools and new domains.

• Show outstanding written and verbal communication skills, capable of tailoring messaging seamlessly from executive summaries to deep operational reviews.

• Operate with exceptional organization, strong judgment, and the independent drive necessary to navigate ambiguity successfully.

What we’ll offer

Our comprehensive compensation package plays a big part in how we recognize you for the impact you have on our path to achieving our mission. We believe that compensation should be reflective of the value you create relative to the market value of your role. To ensure pay is fair and not impacted by biases, we're committed to looking at market value which is why we check ourselves and conduct a yearly pay equity audit.

For this role, the estimated base salary range is between $250,000 - $330,000. The actual base salary will vary based on various factors, including market and individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process. The listed range above is a guideline, and the base salary range for this role may be modified.

In addition to base salary, your compensation package may include additional components such as equity, sales incentive pay (for most sales roles), and benefits. If you're interviewing for this role, speak with your recruiter to learn more about the total compensation and benefits for this role.

We strive to provide equitable and competitive benefits packages that support our employees worldwide and include:

• Mental health, wellness & fitness benefits

• Career coaching & support

• Inclusive family building benefits

• Long-term savings or retirement plans

• In-office culinary options to cater to your dietary preferences

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

#LI-Hybrid

About us

Asana is a leading platform for human + AI collaboration. Millions of teams around the world rely on Asana to achieve their most important goals, faster. Asana has been named to Fortune's Best Workplaces for 7+ years and recognized by Fast Company, Forbes, and Gartner for excellence in workplace culture and innovation. We offer an exceptional office-centric culture while adopting the best elements of hybrid models to ensure that every one of our global team members can work together effortlessly. With 13+ offices all over the world, we are always looking for individuals who care about building technology that drives positive change in the world and a culture where everyone feels that they belong.

We believe in supporting people to do their best work and thrive. Our goal is to ensure that Asana upholds an environment where all people feel that they are respected and valued, whether they are applying for an open position or working at the company. We provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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