Head of Engineering Operations

Asana•San Francisco, CA

5h•$250,000 - $330,000•Hybrid

About The Position

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.

Requirements

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.

Responsibilities

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.