Director, Engineering

<p>Hi, I’m Paul, VP of Engineering at&nbsp;<a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a>.&nbsp;I’m looking for an experienced engineering leader to own <a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a>'s product development engineering teams. The most important near-term project is delivering our new billing platform from the ground up. This is a high-priority, zero-to-one initiative with direct executive visibility — the kind of role where you'll set the vision, build the team, and drive the execution yourself. If you're energized by taking complex, ambiguous problems from near-zero to production and building the org to sustain them, this role is for you.</p> <h2>About <a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a></h2> <p>Over 9,000 companies — from scrappy startups to global brands — use our platform to send billions of emails, push notifications, in-app messages, and SMS every day. <a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a> powers automated communication that people actually want to receive.</p> <p>We help teams send smarter, more relevant messages using real-time behavioral data. Under the hood: Go, React and AI help us ship fast and scale with confidence.</p> <h2>What We Value</h2> <p><strong>Ownership</strong></p> <p>You set direction and see initiatives through. You've led complex, zero-to-one engineering efforts — not just maintained and scaled existing systems — and you know what it takes to drive them to completion across an organization.</p> <p><strong>Engineering leaders who can do both</strong></p> <p>You operate at the strategic level and stay close to the technical work. You can align executives on a roadmap and earn an engineering team's respect in the same day. You don't choose between vision and execution — you hold both.</p> <p><strong>A healthy skepticism for "the way things are done"</strong></p> <p>You bring rigor and pragmatism. Best practices matter — but never more than forward motion. You know when to build, when to buy, and when to wait.</p> <p><strong>An AI-first engineering mindset</strong></p> <p>AI is central to how you build and how you lead your team to build. You've developed a real point of view on AI-native development, you can speak to it concretely, and you bring it into how your org operates.</p> <h2>What You'll Do</h2> <ul> <li>Own the vision, roadmap, and execution for <a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a>'s billing platform: a custom, in-house system built for real SaaS complexity — usage-based billing, subscription management, and multi-tier pricing</li> <li>Partner with Product, Finance, and Engineering leadership to align billing strategy with company goals and unlock <a href="http://Customer.io">Customer.io</a>'s next phase of growth</li> <li>Make build-vs-buy decisions with conviction, and lead the team through them</li> <li>Mentor and develop engineering managers and senior technical leaders on your team</li> <li>Drive a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement across the org</li> <li>Leverage AI tools to accelerate team velocity and bring an AI-native perspective to how the team builds</li> </ul> <h2>What We're Looking For</h2> <ul> <li>12+ years of software engineering experience, with 8+ years leading engineering teams</li> <li>At least 4+ years managing engineering managers and/or directors</li> <li>Proven track record of taking complex, custom platform initiatives from zero-to-one at a SaaS or marketplace company — you've built something from near-nothing and seen it through to production at scale</li> <li>Deep understanding of SaaS software architecture, cloud-native infrastructure, and the tradeoffs that come with building in-house vs. buying</li> <li>Experience in domains requiring real platform complexity — not just feature development, but systems that other parts of the business depend on</li> <li>Ability to translate technical complexity into clear strategy and communicate effectively with both engineers and executives</li> <li>Strong track record building high-performing teams: hiring, developing talent, creating career paths, and navigating team transitions with care</li> <li>Demonstrated AI-native leadership — not just personal fluency, but a track record of bringing AI-first development practices into how your team works</li> <li>Comfort operating in ambiguity and making difficult tradeoffs between competing priorities</li> </ul> <p><strong>Bonus points for:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience at high-growth SaaS companies; you have delivered results at a startup</li> <li>Track record of shipping in high-velocity product orgs where your domain was treated as a first-class engineering concern</li> <li>Experience in the domains of audience segmentation, customer data platforms (CDPs), self-service or growth</li> </ul> <h2>Compensation &amp; Benefits</h2> <p>We believe in transparency. Starting salary for this role is $230,000-$270,000 USD (or equivalent in local currency) depending on experience and subject to market rate adjustment.</p> <p>We know our people are what make us great, and we're committed to taking great care of them. Our inclusive benefits package supports your well-being and growth, including <strong>100% coverage of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and supplemental insurance premiums for you and your family</strong>. We also offer <strong>16 weeks paid parental leave</strong>, <strong>unlimited PTO</strong>, stipends for remote work and wellness, a professional development budget, and more.</p> <p><a href="https://customer.io/careers#:~:text=our%20collective%20success.-,BENEFITS,-Our%C2%A0">See full benefits here →</a></p> <h2>Our Process</h2> <p>No gotchas, no trick questions - just a clear, human process designed to help both of us make an informed decision.</p> <ol> <li><strong>Application</strong> - We review everyone with care.</li> <li><strong>Recruiter Call (30 mins)</strong> - Let's chat about what you're looking for, your leadership style, and how we work.</li> <li><strong>Hiring Manager Interview (60 mins)</strong> - Deep dive into your experience leading teams, your technical philosophy, and how you think about building organizations.</li> <li><strong>People Partner Interview (60 mins)</strong> - Explore your leadership style, management philosophy, and approach to supporting high-performing teams with our engineering people partner.</li> <li><strong>Technical Interview (60 mins)</strong> - Engage in a collaborative system design conversation focused on scaling challenges.</li> <li><strong>Take-Home Assignment</strong> - Submit a short written retrospective on a project you’ve led as an Engineering Manager.</li> <li><strong>Retrospective Review Call (60 mins)</strong> - We’ll use your written submission as the foundation for a deeper conversation.</li> </ol> <p>All final candidates will be asked to complete a background check and employment verifications as part of our pre-employment process.</p> <p></p>