Director of Engineering - Product Engineering

This role is based at the Company’s headquarters in Redwood Shores, CA and requires you to be onsite 3x/week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). We will only consider candidates already based in the Bay Area.

This is a senior leadership role at the core of how Zūm scales its platform. You will lead a team of 10–15 experienced engineers, set the technical direction for Zūm's Connected Mobility Experience (CMX), and partner closely with Product, Design, and Leadership teams to deliver a platform that moves millions of students safely every day. You report to the CTO.

Who You Are:

• You've led engineering teams and stayed close enough to the code to have real opinions about how things get built.

• A builder and a leader — you set the technical direction, and work alongside the team to deliver it.

• Calm in ambiguity, decisive under pressure.

• You’re low ego, high curiosity, and care about the mission: safer, smarter rides to school for every kid.

What You'll Do:

• Own the product architecture of CMX — routing algorithms, real-time dispatch, fleet management, marketplace, and the AI layer underneath it all.

• Stay hands-on enough to earn credibility with a senior team — you can read system designs, hold the line on quality, and if needed, roll up your sleeves to write/debug code

• Hire, develop, and retain exceptional engineers. The team is small but mighty today and expanding quickly.

• Instill strong engineering practices: code review, incident response, and delivery cadence.  Build a culture of execution with urgency and ownership.

• Run engineering operating cadences (sprint reviews, roadmap planning) that give leadership an honest view of progress and risk.

• Embed AI capabilities directly into how CMX is built — real-time dispatch, predictive exceptions, AI-optimized navigation.

• Evaluate and adopt new tools. If a new model, framework, or architecture improves outcomes, you move on it.

What You Bring To Zūm:

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in an engineering leadership role.

• Track record building and scaling complex, multi-component platforms.

• Demonstrated ability to hire and grow senior engineering teams at a scaling company.

• Hands-on experience with AI integration in production systems.

• Excellent written and verbal communication — deep with engineers, clear with executives

• Bonus points for a background in mobility, logistics, marketplaces, or other physical-plus-software platforms or experience with enterprise SaaS sold into the public sector or regulated industries.

The targeted base salary range for this role is listed in the compensation section below.  Actual salary may be above or below this range based on factors such as location, skills, and relevant experience. In addition, this position may include additional compensation in the form of equity or commissions. If you are a full-time salaried or hourly worker, we offer the following benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Holidays, Wellness, Vacation, and more. The targeted pay range for this role in CA, USA is: $280,000 - $320,000 plus stock options.