Senior Director, Data Architecture and Engineering

Position Overview

Autodesk is shaping the future of the Design and Make by building a global, high-throughput Product Data platform that powers design, collaboration, and lifecycle workflows across multiple domains. If you are a hands-on technologist who enjoys leading teams solving petabyte scale problems and building the next generation of knowledge retrieval systems, this may be an opportunity for you.  

Product Data is Autodesk's transactional data platform that manages Design and Make Data generated by millions of customers across three industries – Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), Manufacturing (MFG) and Media & Entertainment (M&E). The platform is a collection of capabilities and highly scalable data services such as document management, fine grained permissions, stream processing, data pipelines, search, granular data management, and cross industry interoperability. We are also evolving our search capabilities to the next generation of Knowledge Representation and Retrieval systems with semantic search, GraphRAG and Context Graphs. 

Reporting to the VP Product Data, we are seeking a Senior Director of Data Architecture and Engineering to own the architectural vision of the overall data platform, while leading the engineering execution of our advanced knowledge retrieval systems. In this role you will lead a team of senior technical leaders (software architects, distinguished engineers) and engineering leaders to help scale and grow the platform. You will interface with architecture and engineering leaders across Autodesk to unify complex, historically fragmented design and make data across Autodesk’s ecosystem into a coherent, scalable platform.  

The successful candidate is an experienced engineering leader with a passion for large-scale systems and building high-performing teams. They combine deep technical expertise, cutting edge knowledge of distributed real-time data management systems with innovative engineering practices, and leadership presence to drive alignment and execution across product, platform, and ecosystem teams. 

As this role oversees a global organization, you will work across multiple time zones and travel up to 15% for team offsites and internal and customer events. The role can be based in the US or Canada remote, hybrid, or in person in one of our offices. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead the Architectural vision for the Product Data platform

• Drive complex architectural decisions and technology innovation in OLTP systems infrastructure

• Build and evolve the knowledge retrieval engineering organization to deliver predictable execution, high quality, and operational excellence

• Hire, mentor, and retain the next generation of engineering leaders

• Serve as a senior leader within the Product Data leadership team, shaping organizational strategy, prioritization, execution, and innovation across the portfolio

• Partner with product, platform, and ecosystem teams to drive adoption of the Product Data platform across Autodesk’s product portfolio, influencing architecture and data standards across the company and taking ownership of critical cross-product initiatives

• Define the long-term evolution of Autodesk’s domain data model and influence broader technical strategy around domain data, interoperability, and platform architecture

• Stay at the forefront of emerging technologies and engineering practices, identifying and driving adoption of innovations that materially improve platform capabilities and developer productivity

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years leading architects, managers and senior leaders across global teams

• Demonstrated ability to adopt and scale AI-driven engineering practices to accelerate delivery and improve developer effectiveness

• Proven track record of owning and delivering large-scale, complex systems or platforms with measurable business impact

• Experience building and scaling high-performing engineering organizations, including org design and leadership development

• Established history of driving operational excellence (quality, reliability, scalability, and execution predictability)

• Deep expertise in distributed systems, databases, cloud platforms, high-scale transactional environments, knowledge retrieval systems and modern software architecture patterns

• Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with the ability to align product, platform, external, and executive stakeholders

• Ability to understand complex business requirements and quickly and iteratively execute against them in a highly matrixed environment

• Systems thinker with a strong desire to understand how complex systems work

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building or leading domain-specific data platforms (e.g., AEC, BIM, GIS, manufacturing, or other complex object models)

• Experience with schema evolution, versioning, and backward compatibility in long-lived, large-scale systems

• Understanding of how operational product data interfaces with analytics, AI, and downstream data platforms

• Experience influencing industry standards, data interoperability frameworks, or open ecosystems

• Track record of driving platform adoption across large, federated organizations

• Strong grasp on object-oriented design principles and enterprise domain/data modeling

• Advanced degree in computer science, engineering, or related field