Director of Engineering, HR Service Delivery

It all started when engineer Fred Luddy wrote code that automated a tedious task for his coworker, Phyllis. She cried tears of joy. That moment inspired Fred to build a company that could do that for everyone—freeing people from busywork so they could focus on meaningful work. Today, ServiceNow is the AI control tower for business reinvention. Our ServiceNow AI platform brings together any AI, any data, and any workflow— helping 85% of the Fortune 500® work smarter, faster, and better. We're building an AI-native culture where technology and talent are unstoppable together. And we're just getting started.

Join us to put AI to work for people.

What you get to do in this role:

01 / Mission & Impact

At ServiceNow, we are building the single, unified intelligent platform that runs the modern enterprise. HR Service Delivery is the engine that transforms employee lifecycle management from manual, distributed overhead into autonomous, AI-driven workflows. We believe the future of HR technology isn't more people managing more systems. It's fewer, smarter people operating smaller teams enabled by generative and agentic intelligence.

As the Director of Engineering, HR Service Delivery, you will establish a new operational model for how engineering teams scale their impact through AI and automation. Your mandate is to reduce the organizational footprint required to operate and evolve HRSD while simultaneously expanding what the product can do. You'll prove this model works on a focused scope, then grow into a bench leader for a broader engineering area.

This requires both technical depth and strategic clarity. You'll architect end-to-end automation across the engineering process itself, from defect detection through complete pull requests. You'll translate complex AI concepts into scalable, production-ready systems. And you'll build a team culture that balances velocity with engineering rigor, where automation increases quality rather than just speed.

02 / Core Responsibilities

Engineering Efficiency & AI Automation (50%)

Design and execute a comprehensive automation strategy for your engineering organization. This spans defect identification and triage through code review and pull request generation. Evaluate where AI can genuinely reduce work without sacrificing oversight, and where human judgment remains critical.

Build the infrastructure for AI-assisted development: integrating LLM tooling into your development pipeline, establishing monitoring and validation loops, and creating feedback mechanisms so the team continuously improves the automation itself.

Measure relentlessly. Track engineering velocity, defect rates, time to resolution, and team satisfaction. Use productivity gains to fund new capabilities and expand into adjacent areas. The goal is reinvestment, not cost extraction.

Product Leadership & Strategic Scope (40%)

Own the HRSD product roadmap and technical architecture. Start with a tightly defined scope and use it to establish product-market fit and team credibility. As you prove the model works, expand into adjacent areas within HR Service Delivery.

Lead cross-functional partnerships. Work with product management to translate market needs into engineering roadmap priorities. Collaborate with customer success to understand where automation creates the most value for customers.

Partner deeply with Design. You'll shape how users experience the product. Work with the design team to translate technical capabilities into intuitive workflows, ensure product decisions are grounded in both feasibility and user need, and foster a shared language between engineering and design about trade-offs. Strong design thinking is how lean teams ship products users actually want to use.

Establish technical standards and cultural norms. Define what good looks like for code quality, testing rigor, and AI system governance. Instill confidence that automation makes the product safer and more reliable, not faster and more brittle.

Organizational Leadership & Growth (10%)

Build and lead a team of 8-12 engineers. Hire for potential and rigor; invest in their growth. As you expand, mentor new engineering managers and share the playbook for lean, AI-enabled teams across the broader engineering organization.

03 / Candidate Profile

We are searching for someone who combines deep technical credibility with operational clarity and entrepreneurial judgment.

Classical Computer Science Foundation: You have rigorous training in computer science, software engineering, or machine learning. You've built production systems in complex, real-world environments where you learned what it means to operate at scale. You understand algorithms, systems design, and the difference between elegant code and code that works.

AI and Automation Fluency: You're not just aware of LLMs and AI tooling. You use them in your own workflow, you understand their limitations as well as their potential, and you have conviction about where they genuinely reduce toil versus where they add complexity. You can design systems that use AI to amplify human judgment rather than replace it.

Design Sensibility and Cross-Functional Leadership: You have conviction about user experience, not just technical implementation. You've worked closely with designers, product managers, and researchers. You understand that good engineering leadership means making space for other disciplines to do their best work. You can argue intelligently about trade-offs between technical elegance and user clarity.

Honest about Trade-offs: You understand that lean teams executing quickly sometimes ship tech debt. You also understand that some constraints protect quality and stability. You can make thoughtful decisions about which is which, and you're honest with leadership about the consequences either way.

04 / Experience & Qualifications

B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a highly quantitative technical field.

12+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 4+ years in technical leadership roles (staff engineer, engineering manager, or equivalent).

Proven track record shipping complex systems in production, with evidence of shipping at least one system where you personally guided the architecture and engineering process.

Practical experience with at least one strong classical background: distributed systems, machine learning, compilers, systems programming, or large-scale data infrastructure.

Strong communication skills. You can write clearly, present to executives and technical audiences, and translate between business and engineering languages.

05 / Benefits & Compensation

We believe elite talent should be compensated at the highest tier of the global market.

Top-market base salary paired with highly aggressive equity packages.

Comprehensive, world-class medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Flexible hybrid workspace options across our modern engineering hubs in San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Diego.

Note on Location Strategy:

Our hubs in San Francisco and Santa Clara grant direct access to the world's densest concentration of core foundation model researchers and platform engineers, while our San Diego presence taps into an incredibly rich talent pool of hardware, silicon, and systems engineers who understand the physical and operational constraints of enterprise scale.

ServiceNow is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all elite builders.

JV20

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $221,200 - $387,100, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity,  veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements.  

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [email protected] for assistance. 

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities. 

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