Director of Engineering - infrastructure & Operations

Reposted 7 Days Ago
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2 Locations
In-Office
229K-285K Annually
Expert/Leader
Artificial Intelligence • Fintech • Hardware • Information Technology • Sales • Software • Transportation
Unlock the potential of the physical economy.
The Role
Lead and scale a multi-functional platform engineering organization (SRE, Operations, Data & AI Platform, Database Engineering). Own the cloud platform and infrastructure-as-product, drive multi-quarter initiatives to improve developer velocity and reliability, solve scalability and system reliability problems, partner with product and engineering leaders, manage vendors and cost governance, and raise engineering quality and operational excellence.
Summary Generated by Built In

Who we are:

Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time ever, safety, operations and finance teams can manage their drivers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet related spend in a single system. Combined with industry leading AI, the Motive platform gives you complete visibility and control, and significantly reduces manual workloads by automating and simplifying tasks.

Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers – from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses – across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, and the public sector.

Visit gomotive.com to learn more.

About the Role: 

We are looking for a seasoned engineering leader who will lead the Core Infrastructure and Operations Engineering. You will be responsible for managing and mentoring a multi-functional team across SRE, Operations, Data & AI Platform, and Database Engineering. You will own our cloud platform, run infrastructure as a product, and drive enterprise-grade reliability for mission‑critical systems. As an engineering leader you’ll be be called on to lead during critical moments and operate with executives of the company

What You’ll Do: 
  • Lead and scale a high-performing engineering team responsible for core platform systems used across the company
  • Define and drive multi-quarter platform initiatives that improve system reliability, and product leverage
  • Partner closely with product and engineering leaders to evolve the platform as a product, balancing long-term architecture with near-term business needs
  • Take ambiguous, high-impact problem areas (e.g., system scalability, reliability, platform abstractions) and turn them into clear execution plans
  • Drive alignment across multiple teams working on complex, interdependent systems including internal platforms, infrastructure as well as cloud governance.
  • Raise the bar on engineering quality, operational excellence, and execution across the platform organization
What We’re Looking For: 
  • 12+ years in software/infrastructure engineering, including 5+ years leading Infra/SRE/ops orgs and managing managers with a strong sense for systems architecture.
  • Degree in Computer Science or equivalent
  • Ability to collaborate and work effectively cross functionally with a strong sense of ownership 
  • Deep experience with AWS at scale (VPC, IAM, multi‑account, core services, observability, cost optimization).
  • High AI fluency – able to evaluate, integrate, and govern LLM/AI platforms (AWS Bedrock, Anthropic/Claude, OpenAI) for engineering and ops.
  • Experience in interfacing with vendors, partners and cost governance
  • Experience and strong understanding of databases and data platforms (OLTP and analytics), Data and ML/AI infrastructure.
  • Proven record running high‑reliability platforms (SLOs, incidents, on‑call, postmortems). Experience driving processes and programs to raise the bar and engineering excellence
  • Clear communication skills and ability to manage escalations with CEO-level visibility
  • Track record of running infrastructure as a product (roadmaps, stakeholder comms, adoption).
  • Nice to have
    • Background in B2B SaaS or other high‑reliability domains (payments, logistics, safety).
    • Leadership of global, distributed teams across time zones.
Pay Transparency
Your compensation may be based on several factors, including education, work experience, and certifications. For certain roles, total compensation may include restricted stock units. Motive offers benefits including health, pharmacy, optical and dental care benefits, paid time off, sick time off, short term and long term disability coverage, life insurance as well as 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). Learn more about our benefits by visiting
Motive Perks & Benefits
The base compensation range for this role is:
$229,000$285,000 USD

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is one of Motive's core values. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives. 

Please review our Candidate Privacy Notice here.

UK Candidate Privacy Notice here.

The applicant must be authorized to receive and access those commodities and technologies controlled under U.S. Export Administration Regulations. It is Motive's policy to require that employees be authorized to receive access to Motive products and technology. 

All job postings are for existing vacancies. Please note; some interviews or new-hire training sessions may be held in person at one of our global offices.

Skills Required

  • 10+ years of experience as an engineering leader, with deep expertise running cloud platforms at scale
  • Degree in Computer Science or equivalent
  • Experience managing teams of engineers and owning multiple projects concurrently
  • Strong domain knowledge in cloud infrastructure and observability
  • Experience with Data and ML infrastructure
  • Experience interfacing with vendors, partners, and cost governance
  • Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and take strong ownership
  • Experience driving processes and programs to raise engineering excellence and operational quality
  • Authorized to receive and access commodities and technologies controlled under U.S. Export Administration Regulations

What the Team is Saying

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Motive Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Healthcare Strength The package includes medical, dental, and vision coverage along with free mental‑health support through Lyra Health, indicating strong core healthcare provisions. Materials also reference life and disability insurance and tax‑advantaged accounts, reinforcing breadth in health-related support.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth Generous or unlimited PTO, local holidays, sick leave, and enhanced parental leave are highlighted, pointing to wide coverage across time‑off categories. Employer pages and benefits listings consistently present time away from work as a standout element.
  • Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits A remote‑first, flexible work setup with a work‑from‑home stipend and optional in‑office perks (e.g., meals/snacks) supports day‑to‑day wellbeing. The presence of ERGs and development programs adds lifestyle and culture-oriented benefits beyond core insurance.

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The Company
HQ: San Francisco, CA
4,000 Employees
Year Founded: 2013

What We Do

Motive builds technology to improve the safety, productivity, and profitability of businesses that power the physical economy. The Motive Automated Operations Platform combines IoT hardware with AI-powered applications to automate vehicle and equipment tracking, driver safety, compliance, maintenance, spend management, and more. Motive serves more than 120,000 businesses, across a wide range of industries including trucking and logistics, construction, oil and gas, food and beverage, field service, agriculture, passenger transit, and delivery. Visit gomotive.com to learn more.

Why Work With Us

We work hard, with humility and we see our efforts rewarded in tangible ways every day. At Motive, you’ll have the chance to make a difference for the drivers who keep our world moving. We trust each other to do great work because together we can achieve collective goals that reach beyond the physical economy.

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