Asana

Head of Engineering Operations

Asana$250K — $330K *
Enterprise Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in engineering operations, technical program management, or related roles supporting large software teams.
  • Proven success in driving complex, cross-functional initiatives within fast-paced environments.
  • Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets and analytical data.
  • Exceptional understanding of the software development lifecycle and emerging tools.
  • Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, adaptable to different audience levels.
  • Demonstrated ability to operate independently and navigate ambiguity.

Responsibilities

  • Translate company strategy into actionable engineering plans alongside cross-functional partners.
  • Design and implement lightweight operating models to enhance engineering execution.
  • Hire, mentor, and lead a global team of engineering operations professionals.
  • Manage financial governance including budget oversight and resource allocation.
  • Define and maintain engineering metrics to provide actionable insights to leadership.
  • Facilitate clear communication strategies and roadmap reviews with CTO and R&D teams.
  • Enhance onboarding and learning initiatives to empower engineering staff.

Benefits

  • Mental health, wellness & fitness benefits
  • Career coaching & support
  • Inclusive family building benefits
  • Long-term savings or retirement plans
  • In-office culinary options to cater to dietary preferences.
Full Job Description
As the Head of Engineering Operations, you will be a key leadership partner to the CTO and the engineering leadership team, owning the operational backbone of our global R&D organization. In this role, you will serve as a critical bridge to other cross-functional groups, driving operational excellence, organizational effectiveness, and strategic initiatives. We are looking for a strategic leader who can translate company strategy into actionable engineering plans while building lightweight operating models that accelerate velocity and maintain high quality. You will empower our engineering organization to thrive and deliver exceptional impact at scale.

This role is based in our San Francisco or Vancouver office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. The standard in-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Most Asanas have the option to work from home on Wednesdays. Working from home on Fridays depends on the type of work you do and the teams with which you partner. If you're interviewing for this role, your recruiter will share more about the in-office requirements.
What you'll achieve
  • Translate overarching company strategy into actionable engineering and operating plans in close collaboration with cross-functional partners.
  • Design and build lightweight operating models, frameworks, and processes to optimize engineering execution and delivery, integrating evolving AI agentic engineering workflows.
  • Hire, mentor, and lead a high-performing, global team of engineering operations professionals and Technical Program Managers to steer complex horizontal programs.
  • Oversee financial and resource governance, including budget management, program spend, headcount strategy, and vendor/tooling allocations across public cloud and LLMs.
  • Define and own the engineering metrics program (KPIs covering delivery, quality, reliability, efficiency, and capacity) to deliver data-driven insights to leadership.
  • Serve as a trusted proxy and connective tissue for the CTO and R&D leadership, driving clear engineering communication strategies, roadmap reviews, QBRs, and all-hands forums.
  • Cultivate engineering enablement by overseeing robust onboarding programs, learning initiatives, and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
About you
  • Demonstrates curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, with a willingness to learn and leverage them to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making.
  • Bring 8+ years of experience in engineering operations, technical program management, chief-of-staff, or strategy & operations roles, ideally supporting a large software engineering organization.
  • Possess a proven track record of driving complex, cross-functional initiatives to successful completion within a fast-paced environment.
  • Exhibit strong financial and analytical fluency, with comfort owning a budget, building headcount models, and transforming complex data into clear, actionable dashboards.
  • Demonstrate exceptional technical fluency with an understanding of the software development lifecycle and the ability to quickly master emerging tools and new domains.
  • Show outstanding written and verbal communication skills, capable of tailoring messaging seamlessly from executive summaries to deep operational reviews.
  • Operate with exceptional organization, strong judgment, and the independent drive necessary to navigate ambiguity successfully.
What we'll offer

Our comprehensive compensation package plays a big part in how we recognize you for the impact you have on our path to achieving our mission. We believe that compensation should be reflective of the value you create relative to the market value of your role. To ensure pay is fair and not impacted by biases, we're committed to looking at market value which is why we check ourselves and conduct a yearly pay equity audit.

For this role, the estimated base salary range is between $250,000 - $330,000. The actual base salary will vary based on various factors, including market and individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process. The listed range above is a guideline, and the base salary range for this role may be modified.

In addition to base salary, your compensation package may include additional components such as equity, sales incentive pay (for most sales roles), and benefits. If you're interviewing for this role, speak with your recruiter to learn more about the total compensation and benefits for this role.

We strive to provide equitable and competitive benefits packages that support our employees worldwide and include:
  • Mental health, wellness & fitness benefits
  • Career coaching & support
  • Inclusive family building benefits
  • Long-term savings or retirement plans
  • In-office culinary options to cater to your dietary preferences

#LI-Hybrid

About Asana

Asana is a web and mobile work management platform designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. It is produced by the San Francisco based company of the same name. The company was founded in 2008 by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein. The product launched commercially in April 2012. In September 2020, the company was valued at $5.5 billion following its direct listing.
Learn more about Asana
Size
1,200 employees
Market Cap
$2.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$211.7 million
Founded
2008
Revenue
$227 million
NASDAQ

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