CloudDistributed SystemsKubernetesCI/CDLeadershipPrototypingCommunicationDecision Making
About this role
Role Overview
Define and drive the multi-year technical strategy for Shippo's platform capabilities across cloud infrastructure, developer experience, and security
Establish architectural guardrails and governance frameworks that enable teams to move fast while maintaining security and reliability
Design high-level systems that solve significantly complex problems involving cloud infrastructure, deployment pipelines, and security tooling
Partner with Staff Engineers across Engineering to ensure clear ownership, system boundaries, and operational health
Establish company-wide engineering standards for infrastructure, deployment practices, and security by default
Create organizational mechanisms (templates, service catalogs, automated guardrails) that ensure teams maintain excellence without requiring direct oversight
Drive stronger application standards through self-service tooling and golden paths; reduce platform fragmentation and prevent siloed solutions
Identify and eliminate systemic organizational barriers that slow engineering velocity or create toil
Design and deliver solutions that maximize impact across the organization
from cost optimization to security automation to developer productivity
Conduct early investigation, prototyping, and experimentation to validate approaches before scaling across teams
Mentor and influence the career growth of Senior and Staff Engineers across platform teams
Navigate complex trade-offs (cost vs. security vs. velocity) with company-wide implications and drive adoption of difficult decisions
Partner with Security team to drive automation and secure-by-default practices into engineering workflows
Drive ownership and cost transparency for platform services that product teams consume
Maintain tight feedback loops with product teams to ensure platform capabilities directly address pain points
Lead proactive reviews of operational and system health across platform services
Produce long-lasting artifacts (talks, documentation, frameworks) that serve as force multipliers for the organization
Typically split time between shipping code, prototyping, libraries, and tooling (30%) and driving designs and standards in reviews (70%)
Requirements
12+ years of software engineering experience with deep expertise in platform engineering, distributed systems, or infrastructure
Strong hands-on software development skills with the ability to write production-quality code, build prototypes, and develop internal tooling and libraries
Proven track record leading multi-year, org-wide technical initiatives at high-growth technology companies
Hands-on experience with cloud cost optimization, infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, and/or container orchestration (Kubernetes)
Experience building developer tooling, internal platforms, or improving engineering productivity at scale
Demonstrated ability to define technical strategy that aligns with business objectives and anticipate industry changes
Track record of building consensus across engineering leadership on complex architectural decisions
Experience establishing engineering standards and/or governance frameworks that scale
Proven ability to mentor senior technical talent and influence career growth
Excellent judgment in navigating trade-offs between competing priorities (cost, security, velocity, technical debt)
Strong communication skills
able to translate complex technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences
Comfortable with ambiguity
able to investigate, analyze, and prototype solutions before committing to broad rollouts
Strong analytical and data-driven decision making skills
Proven ability to build trust and collaborate effectively with product teams, security teams, and engineering leadership
Track record of driving engineering culture improvements and best practices adoption
Experience participating in hiring processes with a strong bar for technical excellence
BS or MS degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
Tech Stack
Cloud
Distributed Systems
Kubernetes
Benefits
Healthcare coverage for medical, dental, and vision (90% covered by the company, incl. dependents).
Pets coverage is also available!
Take-as-much-as-you-need vacation policy & flexible working hours
One week-long company wide winter slow down
3 Volunteer Days Off (VTOs)
WFH stipend to set up your home office
Charity donation match up to $100
Dedicated programs, coaching, tools, and resources for your professional and career growth as well as an individual learning stipend for your personal and focused growth
Fun team in person time through our Shippos Everywhere program which includes regular team and company off-sites throughout the year as well as local Shippos gatherings throughout the year.