# Director, Engineering Operations & Strategy at Metropolis

> United States · Director+ · Engineering management · open. Source: https://alderhq.app/jobs/greenhouse%3Ametropolis%3A8036062003 (read 2026-11-10).

## Facts (observed)

- Company: [Metropolis](https://alderhq.app/companies/metropolis)
- Location text: Seattle, Washington, United States; Los Angeles, California, United States; New York, New York, United States; Seattle, Washington, United States
- Where it can be done from (inferred): United States (evidence: "Location: Seattle, Washington, United States; Los Angeles, California, United States; New")
- Posted: 2026-10-20 (21 days ago)
- First seen by alder: 2026-11-07 · last verified: 2026-11-07
- Reposted: 0 times · edited: 0 times
- Apply on the employer's site: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/metropolis/jobs/8036062003
- Skills listed (inferred): AWS

## Pay and sponsorship

- Posted pay: not posted
- Market band for similar posted roles (Seattle, n 3): p25 $272k, median $319k, p75 $335k

## Description (the employer's text)

### Who we are

The real world is the next frontier, and at Metropolis, we are creating the artificial intelligence to make it responsive. We are pioneering the Recognition Economy — a future where mundane repetition disappears and being known unlocks access, comfort, and belonging everywhere you go. From transforming parking into a seamless drive-in, drive-out experience for millions of Members to expanding our intelligence layer across retail and hospitality, we are building a world that feels instinctive and magical. The future isn’t coming; it’s here, and we need builders, innovators, and problem solvers to help us create it.

### Who you are

Metropolis is seeking a Director, Engineering Operations & Strategy to own technology strategy, operational leadership, and strategic problem-solving across our engineering organization. In this role, you will lead with high autonomy, managing a multi-million dollar engineering budget, cutting through deeply complex problems, exhibiting exceptional leadership without authority, and defining simple, scalable solutions to challenging problems at a hyper growth company. You will partner directly with senior leadership to execute M&A due diligence, streamline shared technical processes, and navigate high-stakes operational challenges. The ideal candidate thrives in uncertainty, takes full ownership of outcomes, and brings a unique blend of hands-on technical grounding and high-intensity strategic experience.

### What you'll do

- Own shared processes across the engineering department, including hiring workflows, onboarding, and training, to keep practices consistent as the org scales.
- Cut through deeply complex, multifaceted operational challenges to deliver simple, actionable solutions without waiting for top-down instruction
- Direct and manage a $50M a $100million+ P&L budget, coordinating resources to align with high-level corporate objectives
- Own hardware and service forecasting for critical vendors (AWS, Twilio, and similar), maintaining ongoing visibility into spend trends and flagging risks or opportunities before they become urgent.
- Own emerging strategic decisions for the engineering organization — M&A due diligence, major vendor migrations, and similar high-stakes calls — in close partnership with senior executives.
- Build alignment at the highest levels of leadership, navigating the nuances of multi-stakeholder decisions on multifaceted or high-risk initiatives
- Keep teams unblocked and moving forward rapidly, demonstrating comfort acting with incomplete information as long as directionally correct
- Leverage curiosity and formal methodologies to break down cross-functional silos, challenge status-quo assumptions, and drive cross-team alignment
- Forecast operational trends and deliver strategic recommendations that favor proactive disruption over routine maintenance
- Own all vendor management across the engineering organization, from contract negotiation and renewals to performance accountability and day-to-day vendor relationships.
### What we're looking for

- 6+ years in high-intensity, rigorous environments 2+ years of hands-on working engineering experience in software or similar engineering roles
- A demonstrated history of working relentlessly to get hard things done: someone who runs through walls rather than around them. This intensity often comes from backgrounds like top-tier management consulting, investment banking, or strategic finance, but we care about the trait itself, not the pedigree: what matters is a track record of outworking a problem because you genuinely care about the outcome.
- Proven experience leading a strategic function with significant autonomy, managing resources, and taking full ownership of organizational outcomes
- Exceptional ability to build trust with technical teams and influence without authority
- Experience owning meaningful budget or resource decisions within a high-growth or complex organization, with a bias toward action over waiting for perfect information.
- Track record of operating effectively in fast-moving, high-ambiguity environments, making sound decisions without complete data

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Data: alder (https://alderhq.app). Cite https://alderhq.app/jobs/greenhouse%3Ametropolis%3A8036062003 and the date you read it. Observed facts come from the employer's own listing; location reach, level, family and skills are inferences.