Director of Engineering, Data Platform

Summary

Join Discord as a Data Platform leader and set the strategic direction for our data infrastructure. You will oversee the development of data infrastructure, tools, and applications, leading teams responsible for designing, scaling, and maintaining these systems. This leadership role blends technical expertise with organizational strategy to empower all areas of Discord. You will define and own the vision for Discord’s data ecosystem while building and leading a high-performance engineering team. This U.S.-based position offers a competitive salary and benefits package. The role requires extensive experience in software engineering and data platform leadership.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with 6+ years in a technical leadership or management role
• 3+ years of experience managing other managers
• Demonstrated success in building and leading teams responsible for large-scale data platforms and infrastructure
• Proven experience managing high-performing engineering teams and growing engineers up to and through the senior staff level
• Strong expertise in distributed systems, data infrastructure, modern data technologies (e.g., Kafka, Spark, BigQuery), and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Solid understanding of data governance, privacy, and compliance principles
• Exceptional strategic thinking with the ability to align technical solutions with organizational goals
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the company

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic vision and technical roadmap for the Data Platform function by working with your leads, the broader Data+ML org, and executive partners across the company
• Build and lead a high-performing engineering team, providing mentorship, fostering growth, and promoting a culture of collaboration and curiosity
• Drive technical excellence and innovation, championing best practices in software development, data architecture, and system reliability
• Collaborate with Core Technology, Product Engineering, and ML Platform teams to make sound, first-principle decisions
• Leverage your technical expertise to continually improve the team and ensure Data Platform achieves extraordinary results

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as a senior engineering leader or head of data platform in a high-scale, consumer-focused organization
• Experience with Machine Learning infrastructure and tools
• Experience hiring for rapidly growing startups

Benefits

$400,000 to $450,000 + equity + benefits