Head of IT Systems Engineering

Asana•San Francisco, CA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Asana is hiring a Head of IT Systems Engineering to lead the team and systems that support how Asana employees work. Reporting to the Head of IT, this San Francisco-based leader owns the strategy, architecture, and operations for SaaS productivity applications, corporate endpoints, identity, and the employee user lifecycle. The role sets standards and roadmaps, influences how Asana evaluates, adopts, and governs its tools and platforms, and leads the Client Platform Engineering, Application Engineering, and Identity & Integrations teams. The role has one manager-level direct report. The leader will develop a multi-year Systems Engineering vision, roadmap, and architecture aligned with business priorities and Asana’s AI strategy. They will manage the corporate technology portfolio and operations, lead the teams’ development and growth, and advance AI adoption, governance, and automation. They will partner with Security, Legal, Privacy, IT Support, IT Infrastructure, and senior stakeholders to manage risk, improve employee experience, and communicate priorities and results. The role is based in Asana’s San Francisco office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. Standard in-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Most employees may work from home on Wednesdays; Friday work-from-home arrangements depend on the work and partner teams. The recruiter can provide further details about in-office requirements. Asana describes its culture as collaborative, curious, detail-oriented, and service-oriented, valuing both hard work and fun. Its hiring statement encourages candidates to apply even if they do not meet every listed requirement.

Requirements

10+ years of IT experience, including 5+ years directly leading teams of systems engineers and software engineers in a fast-paced, cloud-first environment.
Proven ownership of purchasing, inventory management, and budgeting at scale.
Strong, hands-on knowledge of current IAM practices and cloud-based identity, SSO, SAML, and SCIM.
Experience with hosted cloud applications, including Okta, Google Workspace, Asana, Figma, and Slack.
Experience establishing governance for emerging technology, including AI usage policy, data protection, and vendor risk review.
Track record of setting strategy and roadmaps, delegating effectively, and staying close enough to details to coach and unblock.
Working knowledge of scripting and API integration, such as REST, OAuth, Python, PowerShell, Bash, or equivalent.
Hands-on experience with enterprise AI platforms such as Claude and OpenAI, including deployment, administration, and integration through APIs, connectors, and MCP servers.
Strong problem-solving skills and a positive, service-oriented attitude.
Excellent communication and documentation skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional partners.
Curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, and willingness to learn and use them to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making.
Curiosity and a bias toward experimenting with AI in one’s own work, and the ability to lead a team through rapid change.

Nice To Haves

Experience with configuration management and automation tools such as JAMF, Intune, Puppet, and Munki.

Responsibilities

Develop the multi-year vision, roadmap, and architecture for Systems Engineering, aligned with Asana’s business priorities and broader AI strategy.
Help teams across Asana embrace its tools and reduce friction from manual work.
Partner with leaders across Asana to build and maintain an efficient and effective portfolio of SaaS tools.
Lead, develop, and grow the Client Platform Engineering, Application Engineering, and Identity & Integrations teams, including hiring, performance management, succession planning, and career development.
Own the strategy and operation of corporate endpoint management, SaaS application management, identity, and the full user lifecycle.
Drive IT’s AI strategy, including evaluating and governing platforms such as Claude, Gemini, and OpenAI, and building AI agents and automation for onboarding, access requests, support, and compliance workflows.
Partner with Security, Legal, and Privacy to set AI usage policies, data access controls, and vendor risk standards, including identity-based access and data loss prevention for AI tools and integrations.
Set client platform standards and drive excellence in system performance, patching, and configuration compliance.
Partner with IT Support, IT Infrastructure, and Security leadership to resolve issues, reduce risk, and improve the employee experience.
Represent Systems Engineering to senior stakeholders and communicate priorities, tradeoffs, and results clearly.
Own purchasing, inventory management, and budgeting at scale.