Principal - Platform Engineering

Director of Engineering, Developer Platform
Join to apply for the Director of Engineering, Developer Platform role at Discord .
Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but theres one thing nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games. Discord\'s Developer Platform team is responsible for building the Discord Social SDK, on-platform connected gaming experiences, and a commerce platform that power Discord\'s gaming ecosystem. Our platform enables game developers to integrate Discord directly into their games, bringing features like text and voice chat along with Discord\'s social graph to enhance player engagement. We\'re building the infrastructure to make Discord the platform for all gamers and all games.
Discord is looking for an experienced, technical, and mission-driven Director of Engineering to lead our commerce platform and on-platform player experience teams. You will report directly to the VP of Engineering and will be instrumental in building out our commerce strategy while managing the teams responsible for how game developers show up on Discord.
Build and lead multiple teams focused on commerce platform development and the in-Discord player experience by hiring, coaching, and instilling a sense of ownership and impact
Define and drive our commerce platform strategy from the ground up, including organizing existing team members and building out new capabilities to support game developers in managing shop queues and enabling purchases through Discord
Partner closely with major publishers and large game developers to drive adoption of our platform, understanding the entire customer lifecycle journey and building tools that create value for developers, Discord, and players
Use your technical expertise to build high-performance engineering teams capable of supporting a commerce platform at scale
Work with other Engineering leaders to continuously improve the Engineering organization and uphold our workplace philosophy
You have 5+ years of experience as a Software Engineer with a strong technical foundation
You have 5+ years of experience as an Engineering Manager and have successfully managed groups of 3+ Engineering Managers and 15+ Software Engineers
You enjoy coming up with pragmatic solutions to concrete problems using first principles thinking
You are passionate about coaching and leading other engineers, but remain technically hands-on enough to engage in architecture discussions and lead conversations with technical directors at game companies
You understand the mindset of developers and have experience building products or platforms for developer audiences
Bonus Points
Experience in the gaming industry (AAA publishers, platform providers, or game studios)
Experience building commerce platforms, microtransaction systems, or web shops at scale
Background building out revenue-generating infrastructure that supports high-volume transactions
SDK design or platform API experience
Experience defining and building new teams and strategies from scratch
Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties). For this role, the hiring manager would like folks to be in the office 2-3 days per week. Relocation assistance may be available.
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $400,000 to $450,000 + equity + benefits. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.
Why Discord? Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We\'re a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discords collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process.
#