Director, Engineering Operations & Strategy

Metropolis•New York, NY

2d•$233,000 - $270,000•Onsite

About The Position

Metropolis is seeking a Director, Engineering Operations & Strategy to own technology strategy, operational leadership, and strategic problem-solving across its engineering organization. The role has significant autonomy and includes managing a multi-million-dollar engineering budget, resolving complex operational challenges, and defining simple, scalable solutions in a hyper-growth company. The Director partners directly with senior leadership on M&A due diligence, shared technical processes, and high-stakes operational decisions. The role calls for a blend of hands-on technical experience and strategic leadership, with comfort navigating uncertainty and taking ownership of outcomes. The position owns engineering-wide processes, vendor relationships, forecasting, and strategic decisions. It requires translating business objectives into practical plans, building alignment across teams and senior leaders, and keeping work moving despite incomplete information. Metropolis operates an office-first model. Corporate team members are required to work onsite at least four days per week. The anticipated base salary is $233,000 to $270,000 USD annually. Compensation may also include healthcare benefits, a 401(k), disability coverage, basic life insurance, stock options, and bonus plans.

Requirements

At least 6 years of experience in high-intensity, rigorous environments.
At least 2 years of hands-on engineering experience in software or similar engineering roles.
A track record of working persistently to achieve difficult outcomes.
Experience leading a strategic function with significant autonomy, managing resources, and owning organizational outcomes.
Ability to build trust with technical teams and influence without authority.
Experience making significant budget or resource decisions in a high-growth or complex organization, with a bias toward action.
Ability to operate effectively in fast-moving, ambiguous environments and make sound decisions without complete data.
Ability to synthesize complex operational or technical concepts into clear rationales for senior and C-level stakeholders.
Ability to translate business goals into executable plans that account for broad organizational impact.
Demonstrated proficiency using AI tools and frameworks to improve technology operations, technical evaluations, and cross-functional workflows.

Nice To Haves

MBA from a top-tier business program.
Engineering degree.
Experience in high-growth technology scale-ups or pre-IPO environments.
Direct involvement in M&A technology due diligence, corporate restructuring, or integration strategy.
Experience with modern engineering workflows, cloud platforms such as AWS, or AI tooling.

Responsibilities

Own shared engineering processes, including hiring workflows, onboarding, and training, to maintain consistent practices as the organization scales.
Resolve complex, multifaceted operational challenges with simple, actionable solutions and without waiting for top-down direction.
Direct and manage an engineering P&L budget stated as "$50M a $100million+," coordinating resources with corporate objectives.
Forecast hardware and services for critical vendors such as AWS and Twilio, monitor spending trends, and flag risks or opportunities.
Lead strategic decisions for the engineering organization, including M&A due diligence and major vendor migrations, in partnership with senior executives.
Build alignment among senior leaders on multifaceted or high-risk initiatives.
Keep teams unblocked and moving forward, making directionally sound decisions with incomplete information.
Use curiosity and formal methodologies to break down cross-functional silos, challenge assumptions, and drive alignment.
Forecast operational trends and provide strategic recommendations focused on proactive disruption rather than routine maintenance.
Own engineering vendor management, including contract negotiations, renewals, performance accountability, and day-to-day relationships.