Director, AI Strategy (Engineering Operations)

Confirmed live in the last 24 hours

Zscaler

Compensation

$206,500 - $295,000/year

Bellevue, Washington, USA; San Jose, California, USA

Hybrid

Posted March 3, 2026

Job Description

About Zscaler

Zscaler accelerates digital transformation to ensure our customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. As an AI-forward enterprise, we are constantly pushing the envelope, leveraging the world’s largest security data lake to power our cloud-native Zero Trust Exchange platform. This innovation protects our customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location.

Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. We say, impact over activity. We seek innovators who actively use AI to amplify their impact and who thrive in an environment where we leverage intelligent systems to stay ahead of evolving threats. We believe in transparency and value constructive, honest debate—we’re focused on getting to the best ideas, faster. We build high-performing teams that can make an impact quickly and with high quality. To do this, we are building a culture of execution centered on customer obsession, collaboration, ownership, and accountability.

We value high-impact, high-accountability with a sense of urgency where you’re enabled to do your best work and embrace your potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges, and want to be part of the team that’s helping to secure the AI age, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler and help shape the future of cybersecurity.

Role

We are looking for an experienced Director, AI Strategy to join our Engineering Operations team. This role is hybrid and based in San Jose, CA or Bellevue, WA, reporting to the Director of Engineering Operations. Our Engineering team built the world’s largest cloud security platform from the ground up, and we keep building. You will lead the AI strategy, platforms, and programs that enable and accelerate AI adoption and measurable impact across the entire R&D organization.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

Own the centralized AI strategy, roadmap, and governance for R&D, managing use case identification, technology stacks, vendor evaluations, and the evolution of the AI operating model
Lead a team of AI/ML developers, analysts, and program managers to deliver scalable AI solutions that improve engineering velocity, quality, and productivity
Architect and operate the core AI platform layer, including MCP servers, agent frameworks, retrieval pipelines, model access patterns, and telemetry
Run cross-functional AI programs—managing intake, prioritization, and delivery—while partnering with DevSecOps and Architecture to embed AI into engineering workflows
Drive measurable AI adoption across engineering teams by leading Voice-of-the-Customer programs and change-management initiatives

Who You Are (Success Profile)

You thrive in ambiguity. You're comfortable building the path as you walk it. You thrive in a dynamic environment, seeing ambiguity not as a hindrance, but as the raw material to build something meaningful.
You act like an owner. Your passion for the mission fuels your bias for action. You operate with integrity because you genuinely care about the outcome. True ownership involves leveraging dynamic range: the ability to navigate seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.
You are a problem-solver. You love running towards the challenges because you are laser-focused on finding the solution, knowing that solving the hard problems delivers the biggest impact.
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