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Salary: USD 290,000 - 398,000 / 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.
In this role, you will own the budget and workforce strategy components of the R&D Operating Plan, translating corporate strategy into a fully resourced annual plan. You will direct R&D budget governance for 2,000+ people, including program spend oversight, variance reporting, and executive-level budget reviews with the President of Okta R&D and Finance leadership. Key responsibilities include:
• Own and evolve the P&L framework for R&D lines of business, providing cost and investment data to support portfolio decisions.
• Model, govern, and optimize AI token spend across the P&T organization—establish cost baselines, forecasting models, and frameworks for measuring return on investment.
• Lead engineering cost modeling and partner with FP&A and Deal Desk on account-specific margin analysis for pricing, packaging, and large-deal decisions.
• Own financial compliance for R&D, including Capitalized Software entries and maximizing US/Canada R&D tax credit capture.
• Build and own the P&T expense data platform on Snowflake to enable clean line-of-business cost distribution and self-service cost visibility for engineering leaders.
• Set fiscal year workforce strategy in partnership with Recruiting leadership—headcount governance, real-time allocation tracking, backfills, organizational growth mapping, and location strategy.
• Own the contingent workforce program end-to-end, including contractor and agency lifecycle, capacity, and spend.
• Own vendor operations for R&D—third-party relationships, capacity management, contract renewals, and performance SLAs.
• Continuously refine financial and workforce operating processes to eliminate friction and ensure efficient scaling.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to develop fiscal year goals and OKRs, and run the program cadence (monthly and quarterly reviews) that gauges performance.
• Set the standard for AI-first operations—apply AI to financial analysis, dashboard generation, and workflow automation.
• Build, mentor, and develop the operations team as a source of durable advantage, including hiring and developing Director-level leaders.
This is a team leadership role with five direct reports. The role sits within Okta's R&D organization, reporting to the Head of Strategy & Operations and Chief of Staff to the President of Okta R&D. This is a hub-based role in San Francisco, Seattle, or Chicago; candidates must live within commutable distance and work from the office multiple days per week.
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 an undergraduate degree with a concentration in Finance, Economics, Statistics, or Engineering.
