Director of Engineering Operations & Strategy

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><p>Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com® has been at the forefront of online real estate for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights and expert guidance to find their perfect home. Through its robust suite of tools, Realtor.com® not only makes a significant impact on the real estate industry at large, but for consumers, navigating the biggest purchase they will make in their life, by providing a user experience that is easy to use, easy to understand, and most of all, easy to make decisions.</p> <p>Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.</p></div><h3><strong>About the Role</strong></h3> <p>Consumer Engineering is transforming into an AI-led engineering organization focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences through world-class engineering execution, platform excellence, and operational rigor.</p> <p>We are seeking a <strong>Director of Engineering Operations &amp; Strategy</strong> to partner directly with the SVP of Consumer Engineering to build, scale, and continuously improve the engineering operating model. This leader will be responsible for driving organizational execution, engineering metrics, strategic planning, portfolio governance, business operations, executive reporting, and cross-functional alignment across a large engineering organization.</p> <p>This role is ideal for a strategic operator who combines strong business acumen, engineering understanding, operational excellence, and executive presence. The successful candidate will help transform engineering into a highly measurable, data-driven, AI-enabled organization capable of delivering predictable business outcomes.</p> <h3><strong>What You'll Do</strong></h3> <p><strong>Engineering Strategy &amp; Operations</strong></p> <ul> <li>Partner with the SVP to define and execute the Consumer Engineering operating strategy.</li> <li>Build and continuously improve the Engineering Operating System, including planning, governance, execution reviews, and organizational rhythms.</li> <li>Drive execution of strategic engineering initiatives across the organization.</li> <li>Facilitate quarterly and annual planning processes.</li> <li>Ensure alignment between engineering investments and business priorities.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Engineering Metrics &amp; Executive Dashboards</strong></p> <p>Develop and own engineering scorecards across:</p> <ul> <li>Delivery</li> <li>Quality</li> <li>Reliability</li> <li>Security</li> <li>AI Engineering</li> <li>Organization Health</li> </ul> <p><strong>Business Operations</strong></p> <ul> <li>Lead Monthly Business Reviews (MBRs) and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).</li> <li>Manage engineering planning and investment reviews.</li> <li>Develop executive dashboards and leadership reporting.</li> <li>Drive portfolio governance across engineering initiatives.</li> <li>Build executive presentations for the CTO, CEO, and senior leadership.</li> <li>Ensure strategic initiatives remain on track through structured follow-up and execution management.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Portfolio, Capacity &amp; Financial Planning</strong></p> <ul> <li>Partner with engineering leaders to manage organizational capacity and resource allocation.</li> <li>Develop engineering investment models across product, platform, AI, operational excellence, and technical debt.</li> <li>Track headcount, contractors, vendor investments, and engineering spend.</li> <li>Support annual planning, budgeting, and workforce planning.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Engineering Excellence</strong></p> <p>Partner with engineering leaders to improve organizational maturity across:</p> <ul> <li>Observability</li> <li>Quality Engineering</li> <li>Engineering Productivity</li> <li>Performance Engineering</li> <li>Engineering Security</li> <li>AI Enablement</li> <li>Architecture Governance</li> </ul> <p>Develop benchmarks and maturity models to measure continuous improvement.</p> <p><strong>Governance &amp; Leadership Support</strong></p> <p>Own operational governance for:</p> <ul> <li>Engineering Leadership Staff Meetings</li> <li>Architecture Council</li> <li>Engineering Excellence Council</li> <li>Portfolio Reviews</li> <li>Risk Reviews</li> <li>KPI Reviews</li> <li>Quarterly Planning</li> <li>Decision Tracking</li> <li>Organizational Health Reviews</li> </ul> <p>Serve as a strategic advisor to the SVP by ensuring alignment, accountability, and execution across leadership teams.</p> <p><strong>What Success Looks Like</strong></p> <p>Within the first 12 months, you will have:</p> <ul> <li>Established a scalable Engineering Operating System.</li> <li>Built executive dashboards that provide real-time visibility into engineering performance.</li> <li>Improved delivery predictability and execution transparency.</li> <li>Standardized planning and governance across Consumer Engineering.</li> <li>Developed benchmarking capabilities against industry-leading engineering organizations.</li> <li>Enabled engineering leaders to spend more time leading teams and less time managing operational overhead.</li> <li>Baseline measurable KPIs across delivery, quality, reliability, security, AI adoption, and organizational health.</li> </ul> <h3><strong>What You'll Bring</strong></h3> <p><strong>Required</strong></p> <ul> <li>10+ years of experience in Engineering Operations, Strategy, Technical Program, or Engineering Leadership.</li> <li>Experience supporting engineering organizations of 150+ engineers.</li> <li>Strong understanding of modern software engineering organizations and SDLC.</li> <li>Strong analytical and financial acumen.</li> <li>Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.</li> <li>Proven ability to drive large-scale cross-functional initiatives.</li> <li>Experience working directly with senior engin