[Hiring] Staff Platform Engineer @Robots and Pencils

Role Description

We’re looking for a Staff Platform Engineer to define and lead platform engineering strategy across complex, multi-environment cloud systems. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who can own infrastructure architecture end-to-end, drive DevSecOps and compliance practices, and serve as a technical leader on the engagements they support.

In this role, you will work as a key technical contributor on a cross-functional team, defining standards and owning platform reliability, performance, and security at scale. You’ll mentor engineers, partner with leadership on infrastructure direction, and lead complex migrations and modernization initiatives.

What You’ll Do

• Craft & Delivery
  • Define DevOps strategy and lead infrastructure architecture across multi-environment, multi-region cloud systems
  • Architect and own scalable Kubernetes platforms and containerized infrastructure at scale
  • Own infrastructure as code strategy and standards across environments
  • Lead DevSecOps implementation including secrets management, compliance, auditing, IAM, and zero-trust networking
  • Drive platform reliability, performance SLAs, and cost optimization across production systems
  • Lead complex cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives
  • Own observability strategy and production reliability practices
  • Lead the design and operation of AI/ML platform infrastructure, including model serving and deployment, GPU workload orchestration, LLM gateway and observability, vector store infrastructure, and CI/CD for AI/ML systems
  • Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace
• Collaboration & Communication
  • Partner with engineering, product, and leadership to align platform strategy with business and delivery goals
  • Communicate complex infrastructure decisions and tradeoffs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Lead design reviews, architecture discussions, and release readiness assessments
• Leadership & Influence
  • Establish platform engineering standards and best practices on the engagements you support
  • Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, helping them grow their craft, confidence, and impact
  • Act as a technical escalation point on complex infrastructure and platform challenges
  • Evaluate emerging tools and technologies, recommending patterns that improve platform reliability and developer experience

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional DevOps or platform engineering experience, with experience leading complex platform initiatives
• Expert scripting and programming skills (e.g., Python, Go, Java, Bash)
• Deep cloud expertise across at least one major platform
• Expert Kubernetes and container orchestration skills
• Expert IaC skills across multiple tools
• Strong CI/CD architecture experience at scale
• Strong DevSecOps experience including secrets management, compliance, and auditing
• Experience with networking, IAM, security architecture, and zero-trust principles in cloud environments
• Experience with service mesh, distributed systems, and microservices architecture
• Strong experience with AI/ML platform infrastructure, including model serving and deployment, GPU workload orchestration, LLM gateway and observability, vector store infrastructure, and CI/CD for AI/ML systems
• Demonstrated leadership and technical mentoring experience across a team or organization
• Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiences
• Demonstrable, day-to-day usage and expert knowledge of AI-forward tools such as Claude and Cursor
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate highly ambiguous technical and business challenges with sound judgment
• Cloud certifications (e.g., AWS DevOps Engineer Professional, CKA, Azure DevOps Engineer) or FinOps experience is a plus

Helpful Extras and Unique Skills

• Designing and provision HPC cluster infrastructure using CI/CD pipeline across AWS, CoreWeave, GCP, and OCI
• Experience with HPC job schedulers and workload managers such as Slurm or equivalent for job submission and queue management

You’ll Do Well Here if You Are

• A doer.
• A fast learner who knows you don't know everything.
• Direct in a way that makes the work better.
• Obsessed with craft.
• Built for ownership.
• All in.
• Resourceful when the budget, timeline, or team is tight.
• Glad to be in the room with people who care as much as you do.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this role is $104,000 - $143,000 USD.

• Comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, and RRSP Plan to eligible employees.