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Salary: USD 258,000 - 355,000 / annual
Okta is seeking a Senior Director of R&D Planning & Operations to lead the financial and workforce operating engine for the Product & Technology organization—a 2,000+ person R&D function spanning Okta Platform (ORD) and Auth0.
This role owns the complete operating infrastructure for R&D, including budget and workforce strategy, program spend governance, financial compliance (Capitalized Software, R&D tax credits), vendor operations, and headcount governance in partnership with Recruiting. You will translate corporate strategy into a fully resourced annual plan, direct budget governance for 2,000+ people, and own the P&L framework for R&D lines of business.
Key responsibilities include: modeling and governing AI token spend across the organization; leading engineering cost modeling and partnering with FP&A on margin analysis for pricing and deal decisions; owning financial compliance including Capitalized Software entries and tax credit capture; building and owning an expense data platform on Snowflake for cost distribution and self-service visibility; setting fiscal year workforce strategy with Recruiting leadership; owning the contingent workforce program end-to-end; managing vendor operations and third-party relationships; refining financial and workforce processes for efficient scaling; partnering with Product and Engineering on fiscal year goals and OKRs; setting the standard for AI-first operations; and building, mentoring, and developing the operations team, including hiring Director-level leaders.
This is a team leadership role with five direct reports. The role reports to the Head of Strategy & Operations and Chief of Staff to the President of Okta R&D. The position is hub-based in San Francisco, Seattle, or Chicago, with expectation of multiple days per week in office. Candidates must live within commutable distance of one of these offices.
QUALIFICATIONS (Must Have):
- 12+ years of work experience, including 6+ years leading business operations, R&D/engineering operations, or FP&A functions within a technology company
- Demonstrated ownership of an engineering or R&D budget at scale—annual planning, in-year governance, variance management, and executive budget review
- Proven ownership of workforce planning and headcount governance in close partnership with Recruiting and Finance
- Experience managing a vendor portfolio, including contract negotiation and renewal, SLA management, and capacity planning
- Hands-on experience with Capitalized Software accounting and R&D tax credit programs in the US and/or Canada
- Strong understanding of B2B SaaS business models and engineering cost structures
- Track record of building and developing high-performing operations teams, including hiring and developing Director-level leaders
- Extensive experience navigating complex data sets and operating with ambiguity where clean data is not available
- Demonstrated use of AI to do the substance of finance and operations work—analysis, reporting, dashboard generation, and workflow automation—with a clear point of view on where to apply it next
QUALIFICATIONS (Good to Have):
- Experience operating across multiple product units or post-acquisition entities with distinct financial and operational systems
- Familiarity with Snowflake or comparable experience building financial data platforms and self-service reporting
- Experience modeling or governing consumption-based spend, such as cloud infrastructure or AI/LLM token usage
- Experience with global workforce and location strategy, including India-based engineering centers
- Understanding of the B2B enterprise technology space, specifically Enterprise Security
- Experience running an annual goal-setting or OKR process for a technology organization, including the review cadence that tracks progress
- Prior experience in FP&A, management consulting, or a central strategy and operations function
- MBA or undergraduate degree with concentration in Finance, Economics, Statistics, or Engineering
