Job description

At BuildOps, we build software for modern commercial contractors, from service management through project delivery. We care deeply about the mission and look for people who are driven, self motivated, and excited by fast moving, high ownership environments. Data sits at the center of BuildOps' AI first strategy. The operational data our customers generate on BuildOps is a long term advantage, but only if it is clean, reliable, and well governed. As Director of Engineering, Data, you will build and lead our unified Data & AI engineering function. You will own the platforms, pipelines, quality standards, and operating discipline that power AI and ML products and help customers trust BuildOps as their system of record. Reporting to the VP of Engineering, you will help define BuildOps' data strategy over the next three to five years and shape how we build data powered products. This is a foundational leadership role for someone who can think long term about architecture while staying close to the work. You have built and scaled data organizations before and know how to take a team from early stage scrappiness to operational excellence. What You'll Do Own BuildOps' data platform and architecture end to end, including ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and an ML and streaming strategy that evolves with the business and scales efficiently Build scalable, repeatable customer and partner data onboarding capabilities that bring data into BuildOps quickly and reliably, reducing time to first value Run data systems with production grade discipline, including monitoring, alerting, SLAs, incident response, lineage, freshness, and clear ownership for critical datasets Create the data foundation required for AI and ML products, with accurate, well documented inputs today and the right training, inference, and feature infrastructure as those products mature Establish governance that supports speed, including access controls, data classification, audit trails, PII handling, and practical data contracts that teams can depend on Hire, develop, and lead a strong data engineering team, and establish the right operating rhythms across planning, on call, and stakeholder intake What We Look For 10+ years in data or software engineering, including experience building and scaling teams of 10+ engineers, with a track record of hiring well, growing leaders, and leading through managers as well as individual contributors Deep hands on experience with modern data platforms, including a cloud warehouse or lakehouse such as Snowflake or Databricks, dbt and ELT patterns, orchestration tools like Airflow, and streaming technologies such as Kafka or Kinesis, with AWS experience strongly preferred Direct experience building data systems that support production ML use cases, not just analytics, with an understanding of feature stores, training data, real time inference, and the tradeoffs involved in building versus buying ML platform capabilities A track record of operational excellence in data, including monitoring, SLAs, incident response, and data quality practices applied with the same rigor as customer facing systems Experience delivering customer facing data products such as reporting, analytics, or APIs in B2B SaaS environments where performance, reliability, and trust matter Strong architectural judgment, including when to build, when to buy, how to design for change, and how to sequence investments behind validated needs instead of overbuilding A pragmatic approach to governance, with security and compliance built in, documentation and contracts that stay current, and access models that balance control with self service Early stage or scale up experience in Series B through D companies is a plus, and experience in vertical SaaS or construction tech is helpful but not required Who You Are A builder who is comfortable with ambiguity and greenfield work, and can move quickly, ship an MVP, and still make sound decisions for long term scale Both hands on and strategic, willing to write code, debug issues, and carry operational responsibility when needed while maintaining a clear multi year vision You know how to influence across Product, Engineering, GTM, Finance, and the executive team, build trust, communicate clearly, and push back when priorities are misaligned Able to translate technical decisions into business impact and business goals into technical direction You have seen this stage of growth before and know what good looks like in a high growth data organization Compensation $203,000 - $271,000 base salary range + annual bonus + meaningful equity What we offer: Generous equity grant, become an owner in our company! A comprehensive benefits package Flexible PTO and hybrid work schedules One-time work-from-home allowance Hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and Raleigh with hybrid work schedules and lunch provided for in-office days Company events and team-building activities, both in-person and virtual Fast-paced, collaborative, and dynamic work environment Opportunities for growth and career advancement Chance to work with cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions The chance to get in on the ground floor and build something truly groundbreaking for ourselves and our amazing customers We welcome applicants from across the U.S. where we are registered to do business and able to support employment. Currently, this excludes the following states: Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. This list is based solely on operational and compliance considerations and is reviewed from time to time as our footprint grows. About BuildOps Join BuildOps, the largest commercial trade platform in the country, as we transform the multi-billion dollar commercial contracting industry! We’re not just talking incremental improvements—we’re talking a full-scale revolution, empowering the hardworking heroes who build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps our world running. See why contractors choose Buildops here . This is your chance to be part of a rocketship. We’re fresh off a $1 billion valuation and a $127M Series C funding round (part of over $275M raised to date) led by industry-leading investors like Meritech Capital, BOND, and SE Ventures, backed by Schneider Electric ( Reuters , TechCrunch , LA Business Journal ) . Our latest investors join our team of industry heavyweights like Next47, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, former Salesforce President Gavin Patterson, and Boost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols. Their investment is fueling our aggressive growth and our commitment to equipping contractors with AI-driven tools to conquer chaos, boost efficiency, skyrocket profitability, and ultimately, deliver exceptional service. At BuildOps, we’re changing the game and doing the best work of our careers. You’ll be a key player in a company that’s truly making a difference for the backbone of our economy. If you’re ready to tackle big challenges, work with a passionate team, and build something extraordinary, BuildOps is the place for you. 🚀 BuildOps is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. BuildOps will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act pursuant to applicable local and state laws. BuildOps recruiters will only contact candidates through official channels and will never ask for payment, banking details, or sensitive personal information during the interview process. Verify all openings at buildops.com . Report suspicious outreach to reportfraud.ftc.gov and fraud@buildops.com. We review every report, but may not be able to respond individually. BuildOps is not responsible for losses from fraudulent postings.

Requirements

Must-haves

Own BuildOps' data platform and architecture end to end, including ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and an ML and streaming strategy that evolves with the business and scales efficiently
Build scalable, repeatable customer and partner data onboarding capabilities that bring data into BuildOps quickly and reliably, reducing time to first value
Run data systems with production grade discipline, including monitoring, alerting, SLAs, incident response, lineage, freshness, and clear ownership for critical datasets
Create the data foundation required for AI and ML products, with accurate, well documented inputs today and the right training, inference, and feature infrastructure as those products mature
Establish governance that supports speed, including access controls, data classification, audit trails, PII handling, and practical data contracts that teams can depend on
Hire, develop, and lead a strong data engineering team, and establish the right operating rhythms across planning, on call, and stakeholder intake
What We Look For
A track record of operational excellence in data, including monitoring, SLAs, incident response, and data quality practices applied with the same rigor as customer facing systems
Experience delivering customer facing data products such as reporting, analytics, or APIs in B2B SaaS environments where performance, reliability, and trust matter
Strong architectural judgment, including when to build, when to buy, how to design for change, and how to sequence investments behind validated needs instead of overbuilding
A pragmatic approach to governance, with security and compliance built in, documentation and contracts that stay current, and access models that balance control with self service
A builder who is comfortable with ambiguity and greenfield work, and can move quickly, ship an MVP, and still make sound decisions for long term scale
Both hands on and strategic, willing to write code, debug issues, and carry operational responsibility when needed while maintaining a clear multi year vision
You know how to influence across Product, Engineering, GTM, Finance, and the executive team, build trust, communicate clearly, and push back when priorities are misaligned
Able to translate technical decisions into business impact and business goals into technical direction
You have seen this stage of growth before and know what good looks like in a high growth data organization

Nice-to-haves

Early stage or scale up experience in Series B through D companies is a plus, and experience in vertical SaaS or construction tech is helpful but not required

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

aimlaws

Platform: greenhouse
Effort: quick

Benefits

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Vision

Pto