The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.
Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.
The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.
At The Trade Desk, we believe the open internet is the future of media, content, and commerce. Our platform empowers brands and agencies to reach audiences with greater transparency, precision, and control across the open internet.
As part of this vision, we are building VenturaOS — a next-generation Connected TV platform that brings together consumer experience, platform services, identity, discovery, monetization, and partner infrastructure to power premium streaming and entertainment experiences at global scale.
We are seeking a Head of Engineering for VenturaOS to lead the engineering organization and serve as the senior technical leader for the platform. This leader will own VenturaOS technical strategy, architecture, and execution while partnering closely with Product, Business, and Executive leadership to shape the platform roadmap, ecosystem, and business.
This is a highly strategic, CTO-caliber role for a leader who can build and scale a complex operating system across diverse hardware, OEM partners, and global markets.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:- Lead and scale the VenturaOS engineering organization across consumer experiences, platform software, device/OS engineering, backend services, monetization, partner integrations, and core infrastructure
- Own the long-term technical vision and architecture for VenturaOS, balancing near-term execution with long-term platform scalability and durability
- Partner with Product and Business leadership to shape platform strategy, roadmap, OEM partnerships, monetization, and ecosystem development
- Drive engineering strategy across diverse hardware environments, including chipset diversity, OEM customization, and fragmentation management
- Ensure platform reliability, performance, security, and scalability across millions of devices, with strong practices in OTA updates, observability, telemetry, and resilience
- Establish strong engineering principles, operating rhythms, and technical standards while building reusable platforms, APIs, tooling, and infrastructure that create long-term leverage
- Represent VenturaOS in executive and external partner discussions, serving as a trusted technical voice with OEMs, silicon partners, and senior leadership
- 15+ years of experience leading large-scale engineering organizations, including leaders of leaders
- Strong technical depth across operating systems, platform architecture, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure
- Proven track record building and scaling platform, OS, or infrastructure-focused teams in fast-moving environments
- Deep understanding of platform dynamics, including OEM ecosystems, partner incentives, and the tradeoffs between openness, standardization, and customization
- Demonstrated ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomes and operate as a peer to Product and Business leadership
- Exceptional communication, executive presence, and ability to influence senior stakeholders and external partners
- Experience in Connected TV, consumer operating systems, digital media platforms, or large-scale device ecosystems is strongly preferred
- Help define the future of Connected TV and the open internet
- Lead the technical vision for a global platform at massive scale
- Shape a platform at the intersection of hardware, software, and ecosystem strategy
- Work with world-class leaders on industry-defining challenges
The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.
[SF JOBS ONLY] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
In accordance with various US state laws, the range provided is the Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as variable compensation-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn more.
Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave
As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Please reach out to us at accommodations@thetradedesk.com to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process.
When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.
Skills Required
- 15+ years of experience leading large-scale engineering organizations, including leaders of leaders
- Strong technical depth across operating systems, platform architecture, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure
- Proven track record building and scaling platform, OS, or infrastructure-focused teams in fast-moving environments
- Deep understanding of platform dynamics, including OEM ecosystems, partner incentives, and tradeoffs between openness, standardization, and customization
- Demonstrated ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomes and operate as a peer to Product and Business leadership
- Exceptional communication, executive presence, and ability to influence senior stakeholders and external partners
- Experience in Connected TV, consumer operating systems, digital media platforms, or large-scale device ecosystems
The Trade Desk Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The Trade Desk and has not been reviewed or approved by The Trade Desk.
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Affordable Benefits — Healthcare premiums are often paid in full for employees and dependents, reducing out-of-pocket costs. Coverage includes medical, dental, and vision alongside mental health and wellness support.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Packages commonly include new-hire stock grants, a generous Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and equity refreshers tied to performance. Feedback suggests equity meaningfully boosts total compensation alongside base pay and bonuses.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays, paid sick time, and sabbaticals are available. Paid parental leave and extensive family-planning support broaden time-off and caregiving coverage.
The Trade Desk Insights
What We Do
The Trade Desk is changing the way global brands and their agencies advertise to audiences around the world. Our mission is to transform media for the benefit of humankind. Our media-buying platform helps brands deliver a more insightful and relevant ad experience for consumers — and sets a new standard for reach, accuracy, and transparency.
Why Work With Us
With up to 11 million queries per second and SLAs in the milliseconds, we’re tackling data and software challenges at massive scale. While we’re growing fast, investing in our value based company culture remains one of our top priorities. If you’re talented, driven, and hungry to bring something entirely new and wildly ambitious, let's talk.
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