Director, Engineering - Avalara Developer Experience Platform Remote, United Sta
Socotra, Inc., California, MO, United States
What You’ll Do
We are seeking a Director/Sr. Director to lead Avalara’s
Agentic Developer Experience (DX) Platform — focused on enabling developers and AI agents to seamlessly discover, understand, and integrate with Avalara’s products.
This role owns the
external developer experience layer , including exposing documentation for agent-facing interfaces (e.g., MCP), documentation and knowledge systems, interactive tooling, and AI-powered integration accelerators. You will partner closely with domain-focused product engineering who own APIs, MCP tools, backend systems and the partner engineering team, and ensure these capabilities are exposed in a
consistent, intuitive, and agent-friendly manner for developer and partners .
#LI-Remote
What Your Responsibilities Will Be Agent Experience Layer
Build and evolve the external
MCP-based interface and tool catalog for building integrations
Standardize how APIs and capabilities are exposed to AI agents
Define best practices for agent-tool interactions (schemas, patterns, guardrails)
Developer Portal & Knowledge Experience
Own the
developer documentation platform , IA, and UX
Ensure
documentation freshness and accuracy
via automation (spec ↔ docs sync, drift detection)
Deliver task-oriented, cross-product integration guides
Interactive Sandbox & Exploration
Provide
API exploration, testing, and simulation environments
Enable safe experimentation for developers and agents (mock + sandbox)
Sample Apps & AI Integration Kits
Build and maintain
reference implementations and starter kits
Deliver
agent-ready examples , prompts, and integration patterns
Define and promote “golden paths” for common integrations
Integration Acceleration (AI-first)
Develop
AI-powered tools and workflows
that reduce time-to-integration
Create reusable “skills” for common use cases (e.g., tax calculation flows)
Enable partners to build faster using AI-assisted approaches
DX Standards & Cross-Team Alignment
Define and drive adoption of
API, MCP, and documentation standards
Partner with product teams to ensure
consistent external experience
Establish versioning, deprecation, and usability guidelines
Partner Enablement & Ecosystem Growth
Lead
developer onboarding and partner integration journeys
Support strategic partners with
co-build and acceleration frameworks
Improve integration success rates across the ecosystem
Observability & Continuous Improvement
Define and track
DX metrics
(time-to-first-success, integration success rate, agent task completion)
Build feedback loops from usage, errors, and developer input
Continuously improve experience based on real-world signals
What You’ll Need To Be Successful Education
B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
AND
12+ years of relevant experience in developer platforms, APIs, or DX leadership roles.
Experience
Experience leading developer platforms or DX initiatives at scale
Experience building external platforms or partner ecosystems
Proven ability to influence across teams
Experience defining and driving platform standards
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Deep understanding of API design and developer workflows
Demonstrated experience with AI/LLM or agent-based systems
Strong data-driven mindset
Strong product and platform thinking
Proven ability to
influence across teams without direct ownership .
Curiosity
that uncovers opportunities where none seemingly exist.
Customer obsession
that inspires product engineering teams to reduce debt and backlog and improve overall consistency.
Hands-on leadership mindset
Roll-up-your-sleeves mindset
with willingness to leverage the latest tools, demonstrate how things should be done, and raise the bar for your team and peers.
Avalara is an AI-first Company You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.
You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.
How We’ll Take Care Of You Total Rewards
In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.
Health & Wellness
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.
Inclusive culture and diversity
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.
We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer
Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Agentic Developer Experience (DX) Platform — focused on enabling developers and AI agents to seamlessly discover, understand, and integrate with Avalara’s products.
This role owns the
external developer experience layer , including exposing documentation for agent-facing interfaces (e.g., MCP), documentation and knowledge systems, interactive tooling, and AI-powered integration accelerators. You will partner closely with domain-focused product engineering who own APIs, MCP tools, backend systems and the partner engineering team, and ensure these capabilities are exposed in a
consistent, intuitive, and agent-friendly manner for developer and partners .
#LI-Remote
What Your Responsibilities Will Be Agent Experience Layer
Build and evolve the external
MCP-based interface and tool catalog for building integrations
Standardize how APIs and capabilities are exposed to AI agents
Define best practices for agent-tool interactions (schemas, patterns, guardrails)
Developer Portal & Knowledge Experience
Own the
developer documentation platform , IA, and UX
Ensure
documentation freshness and accuracy
via automation (spec ↔ docs sync, drift detection)
Deliver task-oriented, cross-product integration guides
Interactive Sandbox & Exploration
Provide
API exploration, testing, and simulation environments
Enable safe experimentation for developers and agents (mock + sandbox)
Sample Apps & AI Integration Kits
Build and maintain
reference implementations and starter kits
Deliver
agent-ready examples , prompts, and integration patterns
Define and promote “golden paths” for common integrations
Integration Acceleration (AI-first)
Develop
AI-powered tools and workflows
that reduce time-to-integration
Create reusable “skills” for common use cases (e.g., tax calculation flows)
Enable partners to build faster using AI-assisted approaches
DX Standards & Cross-Team Alignment
Define and drive adoption of
API, MCP, and documentation standards
Partner with product teams to ensure
consistent external experience
Establish versioning, deprecation, and usability guidelines
Partner Enablement & Ecosystem Growth
Lead
developer onboarding and partner integration journeys
Support strategic partners with
co-build and acceleration frameworks
Improve integration success rates across the ecosystem
Observability & Continuous Improvement
Define and track
DX metrics
(time-to-first-success, integration success rate, agent task completion)
Build feedback loops from usage, errors, and developer input
Continuously improve experience based on real-world signals
What You’ll Need To Be Successful Education
B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
AND
12+ years of relevant experience in developer platforms, APIs, or DX leadership roles.
Experience
Experience leading developer platforms or DX initiatives at scale
Experience building external platforms or partner ecosystems
Proven ability to influence across teams
Experience defining and driving platform standards
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Deep understanding of API design and developer workflows
Demonstrated experience with AI/LLM or agent-based systems
Strong data-driven mindset
Strong product and platform thinking
Proven ability to
influence across teams without direct ownership .
Curiosity
that uncovers opportunities where none seemingly exist.
Customer obsession
that inspires product engineering teams to reduce debt and backlog and improve overall consistency.
Hands-on leadership mindset
Roll-up-your-sleeves mindset
with willingness to leverage the latest tools, demonstrate how things should be done, and raise the bar for your team and peers.
Avalara is an AI-first Company You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.
You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.
How We’ll Take Care Of You Total Rewards
In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.
Health & Wellness
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.
Inclusive culture and diversity
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.
We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer
Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
#J-18808-Ljbffr