Director of Engineering Operations & Strategy

About the Role

Consumer Engineering is transforming into an AI-led engineering organization focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences through world-class engineering execution, platform excellence, and operational rigor.

We are seeking a Director of Engineering Operations & Strategy to partner directly with the SVP of Consumer Engineering to build, scale, and continuously improve the engineering operating model. This leader will be responsible for driving organizational execution, engineering metrics, strategic planning, portfolio governance, business operations, executive reporting, and cross-functional alignment across a large engineering organization.

This role is ideal for a strategic operator who combines strong business acumen, engineering understanding, operational excellence, and executive presence. The successful candidate will help transform engineering into a highly measurable, data-driven, AI-enabled organization capable of delivering predictable business outcomes.

What You'll Do

Engineering Strategy & Operations

• Partner with the SVP to define and execute the Consumer Engineering operating strategy.
• Build and continuously improve the Engineering Operating System, including planning, governance, execution reviews, and organizational rhythms.
• Drive execution of strategic engineering initiatives across the organization.
• Facilitate quarterly and annual planning processes.
• Ensure alignment between engineering investments and business priorities.

Engineering Metrics & Executive Dashboards

Develop and own engineering scorecards across:

• Delivery
• Quality
• Reliability
• Security
• AI Engineering
• Organization Health

Business Operations

• Lead Monthly Business Reviews (MBRs) and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
• Manage engineering planning and investment reviews.
• Develop executive dashboards and leadership reporting.
• Drive portfolio governance across engineering initiatives.
• Build executive presentations for the CTO, CEO, and senior leadership.
• Ensure strategic initiatives remain on track through structured follow-up and execution management.

Portfolio, Capacity & Financial Planning

• Partner with engineering leaders to manage organizational capacity and resource allocation.
• Develop engineering investment models across product, platform, AI, operational excellence, and technical debt.
• Track headcount, contractors, vendor investments, and engineering spend.
• Support annual planning, budgeting, and workforce planning.

Engineering Excellence

Partner with engineering leaders to improve organizational maturity across:

• Observability
• Quality Engineering
• Engineering Productivity
• Performance Engineering
• Engineering Security
• AI Enablement
• Architecture Governance

Develop benchmarks and maturity models to measure continuous improvement.

Governance & Leadership Support

Own operational governance for:

• Engineering Leadership Staff Meetings
• Architecture Council
• Engineering Excellence Council
• Portfolio Reviews
• Risk Reviews
• KPI Reviews
• Quarterly Planning
• Decision Tracking
• Organizational Health Reviews

Serve as a strategic advisor to the SVP by ensuring alignment, accountability, and execution across leadership teams.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 12 months, you will have:

• Established a scalable Engineering Operating System.
• Built executive dashboards that provide real-time visibility into engineering performance.
• Improved delivery predictability and execution transparency.
• Standardized planning and governance across Consumer Engineering.
• Developed benchmarking capabilities against industry-leading engineering organizations.
• Enabled engineering leaders to spend more time leading teams and less time managing operational overhead.
• Baseline measurable KPIs across delivery, quality, reliability, security, AI adoption, and organizational health.

What You'll Bring

Required

• 10+ years of experience in Engineering Operations, Strategy, Technical Program, or Engineering Leadership.
• Experience supporting engineering organizations of 150+ engineers.
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering organizations and SDLC.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen.
• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.
• Proven ability to drive large-scale cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience working directly with senior engineering leadership.

Leadership Characteristics

We're looking for someone who:

• Thinks like a business leader and operates like an engineer.
• Uses data to drive decisions.
• Builds trust through execution and influence rather than authority.
• Simplifies complexity into actionable insights.
• Thrives in ambiguity and drives clarity.
• Operates with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Has exceptional attention to detail without losing sight of strategic outcomes.
• Is equally comfortable presenting to executives or working with engineering teams.

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. Our employees work three days in our Austin headquarters, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

How we Reward you:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and well-being of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location