Who you are

• Are you an experienced Engineering Director with a track record of leading infrastructure-focused teams?
• Has 5+ years of leadership experience in software engineering, including 3+ years leading Platform Engineering or Technical Operations teams
• Is experienced in developing and executing strategies across complex technical domains
• Demonstrates strong relationship-building and leadership skills, fostering cohesive, high-performing teams and handling challenges with confidence and empathy
• Effectively manages complex, cross-functional projects and brings proven experience in project management, problem-solving, and change management
• Excels at collaboration and influence, bringing people on board with ideas across diverse teams
• Loves to learn and grow. They’ve found (and keep looking for) ways to level up their skills in this field, whether that’s through formal education, gaining professional experience, or maybe even building their own business
• Experience with common SaaS software stacks (Ruby on Rails, Golang, Node.js)
• Experience managing cloud hosting environments (AWS, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Fastly)
• Experience building strategy for infrastructure, delivery pipelines, QA, and shared services
• Proven ability to design scalable, reliable, and maintainable architectures
• A strong network of A-players to support recruiting and people development
• Experience working within—or helping build—a large (50+) Engineering organization

What the job involves

• We’re looking for a Director, Platform Engineering to join us at Thinkific
• As the Director, Platform Engineering, you’ll lead, guide, and mentor Platform teams responsible for advancing and maintaining Thinkific’s core platform functionality—ensuring systems-wide performance, reliability, and scalability
• Reporting to the VP, Engineering, you’ll collaborate with Team Leads, Managers, Architects, and Principal Engineers to drive Thinkific’s platform strategy and technical evolution
• You’ll play a key role in setting direction, empowering your teams, and supporting the growth and development of Engineering leaders through coaching and mentorship
• Your goal will be to set the strategic direction and objectives for our Platform teams, ensuring they deliver a resilient, efficient, and innovative technical foundation for the company
• Guide Engineering leaders in developing and executing quarterly Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that align with Thinkific’s overarching multi-year strategy
• Lead, mentor, and develop an exceptional team of Engineering Managers and Technical Leads across our core services, site platform, and technical operations
• Collaborate with Engineering leadership to mature and optimize key processes such as on-call, production reporting, and risk mitigation
• Define and oversee the multi-year strategy for Thinkific’s technical foundation—including infrastructure, delivery pipelines, and core services—with a focus on global scalability and resilience
• Manage and optimize the engineering budget for Platform initiatives; partner with Finance on vendor relationships, cloud cost management, and forecasting
• Champion the product and platform lifecycle from strategic concept through to go-live, ensuring alignment with business objectives
• Recommend and implement new architectural patterns, technologies, and tools to improve developer velocity and platform stability
• Continue to grow our Engineering organization by recruiting and retaining top technical talent
• Track and report on technical R&D initiatives (such as SR&ED or IRAP) to ensure compliance and documentation requirements are met

Benefits

• Open vacation policy: We're big proponents of sand, sun, and taking time to recharge. As long as you're getting your work done and keeping your team supported, take vacation when you need it. We encourage Thinkers to take at least 4 weeks vacation each year
• Flexible work environments: Whether you’re working from Thinkific HQ or working from home, set your own hours to find a rhythm that works for you and your team. Finding the time for workouts, laundry, daycare dropoffs, or appointments is easier than ever.
• Learning opportunities and personal development: Interested in a course, conference, or career coaching? We’ve got you covered with our $1500 Learn and Grow fund to support your personal and professional growth, on top of regular lunch & learns, internal courses and workshops, and a coaching program. Our people leaders will work with you to ensure you’re taking advantage of the learning opportunities you want and need
• Competitive benefits package: Our benefits kick in on your first day at Thinkific and include coverage for health, vision, dental, prescriptions, and up to $3000 for your mental health. Our Employee and Family Assistance Program will also take care of you and your family, providing everything to support your well-being
• Parental leave: We care about helping you grow your career AND your family. Family is important to us, and our paid parental leave gives you a little extra help while you're beginning this new adventure. Learn more about our family leave benefits here
• We actually hang out: Thinkers are some of the kindest (and most fun!) people out there. We're into boat parties, hackathons, company retreats, and celebrating everything from Canada Day to Brazilian Carnival. Wherever you’re based, you’ll have opportunities to connect with your team both virtually and IRL
• The bow-wow benefits: Office dogs. Plural. Meet them on Instagram at @dogsofthinkific