Senior Director, AI-Driven Platform Engineering

Avalara, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Private medical insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Avalara, Inc. is seeking a strategic engineering leader to drive the next wave of AI-enabled platform innovation for a flagship SaaS product with multi‑million revenue and rapid growth.

You will oversee multi‑year replatforming, mentor high‑performing teams, and partner with PMs and data scientists to deliver AI-powered experiences at scale. You will shape the technical roadmap, champion modern infrastructure, and communicate clearly across executives, product, and engineering teams to unlock

Qualifications

• Proven success managing engineering organizations behind $50M+ product lines or similarly scaled SaaS platforms.
• A bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Computer Science is required.
• A solid engineering foundation—capable of understanding, building, and scaling complex systems.
• Expertise in platform modernization (replatforming, scalability, microservices, etc.) coupled with a strong understanding of AI-driven product development.
• A track record of building and mentoring high-performing teams, with a leadership style that’s both empowering and execution-focused.
• Clear, strategic communication—comfortable engaging across technical, product, and business teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire engineering teams through a multi-year transformation, including replatforming legacy components and building modern, scalable infrastructure.
• Drive innovation by weaving AI into the product’s core—working hand-in-hand with PMs and data scientists to deliver customer-facing, AI-powered experiences.
• Own the product’s technical roadmap, ensuring it aligns with business objectives, customer demands, and long-term scalability goals.
• Foster a culture of excellence, accountability, and forward-thinking engineering.
• Act as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on AI integration, technical investment, and product growth strategy.

Skills

AI product dev

Platform modernization

System scalability

Leadership

Cross-functional communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Cloud platforms

AI tooling

Job description

Avalara, Inc. is seeking a strategic engineering leader to drive the next wave of AI-enabled platform innovation for a flagship SaaS product with multi‑million revenue and rapid growth.

You will oversee multi‑year replatforming, mentor high‑performing teams, and partner with PMs and data scientists to deliver AI-powered experiences at scale. You will shape the technical roadmap, champion modern infrastructure, and communicate clearly across executives, product, and engineering teams to unlock