Lead Platform Architect

We are seeking a Lead Platform Architect to serve as the primary architect and strategic leader for our global infrastructure. In this role, you will be the guardian of our core platform products while steering the organization toward a future defined by financial efficiency, ironclad security, and AI-driven automation. You will act as the bridge between technical execution and executive strategy, providing the high-level oversight and mentorship necessary to keep our Platform Engineering team aligned with the company's long-term vision. Architectural Mastery: 8+ years in Platform/DevOps/SysOps with deep expertise in GCP, Self-Managed Kubernetes, and Bare-Metal (Hetzner). Mentorship Experience: Proven track record of conducting rigorous architecture/code reviews and mentoring mid-to-senior level engineers. Security & Compliance: Experience leading successful audits (SOC2/GDPR) and implementing CSPM solutions. Product Thinking: Ability to treat internal tools (Sandbox, Observability) as products with long-term roadmaps and "customers" (internal developers and students). Strategic Communication: Ability to translate complex infrastructure risks and technical debt into business-level discussions for the C-suite. Preferred Certifications CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator) CKS (Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist) Google Professional Cloud Architect Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer CyberSecurity Professional 1. Key Strategic & Technical Pillars1. Technical Leadership & Mentorship Engineering Oversight: Act as the primary reviewer for all architectural designs, infrastructure changes, and code produced by the Platform Engineering team. Mentorship: Provide consistent, high-level technical guidance to the Platform Engineers, ensuring they have the support and feedback needed to execute complex migrations and builds. Standards Enforcement: Define and enforce organization-wide engineering standards to ensure a sane, consistent, and secure product outlook. 2. Product Ownership: Sandbox & Observability Sandbox Automation: Take ownership of our in-house GCP Sandbox solution. Monitor progress on ephemeral environment automation, providing critical inputs on "self-destruct" logic, cost-control guardrails, and user experience. Observability Stack: Maintain and evolve the unified observability framework (Monitoring, Alerting, Logging). Ensure the stack provides actionable data not just for engineers, but for business stakeholders as well. 3. Executive Strategy & AI Innovation C-Suite Collaboration: Participate in strategic calls with executives. Represent the engineering department’s health, budget, and technological roadmap. AI & Agentic Solutions: Research and embed cutting-edge AI and agentic solutions into our internal engineering services. AI Governance: Partner with the CTO to define and govern the Organization-wide AI Policy, ensuring that AI adoption across all departments is optimized, secure, and compliant. 4. FinOps & Org-Wide Optimization Financial Stewardship: Drive organization-wide FinOps initiatives within GCP. Manage budgets across multiple projects, optimize CUDs, and ensure infrastructure costs scale efficiently with business growth. Cross-Collaboration: Work with department heads to ensure their project-specific infra requirements stay in line with defined financial guardrails. 5. Cybersecurity & Compliance Security Initiatives: Drive CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management) and Vulnerability Management (VM) workflows. Enforce standards across GCP, MongoDB, Redis, and other critical data stores. Compliance Lead: Lead efforts to achieve and maintain SOC2 Type 2 and GDPR compliance. Build a flexible compliance framework that can adapt to future global regulatory requirements. Fully Remote: Work from anywhere—yes, your couch in pajamas is totally fine. Big Impact: We’re a small team, so your contributions will directly shape our future. Lots of Learning: We’re growing, and so will you—there’s plenty of room to expand your skills and take on new challenges. People & Culture: Expect to be surrounded by a bunch of super passionate and pretty awesome people, and a culture of trust and transparency. Great Benefits: We care about our people, so our benefits are designed in a way to take care of all aspects of your life—professional growth, productivity, health and wealth.