Head of Platform Engineering

Harnham; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Leadership exposure

Job summary

Harnham in Amsterdam is seeking a Director of Platform Engineering to shape the technical direction at scale. You will own the platform engineering strategy, lead a multi-layered engineering organisation and guide the adoption of AI in core development practices across the company.

You will partner with product, data and commercial stakeholders while driving reliability, performance and cost efficiency in cloud infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in large-scale engineering environments.
• Deep experience with distributed systems and modern backend architecture.
• Experience with event-driven architectures, data platforms and scalable infra.
• Strong knowledge of cloud, containers, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders across technology and business.
• Commercial awareness with experience managing tech spend and budgets.
• Clear view of AI role in software engineering and adoption experience.
• Data-driven mindset focusing on performance and reliability.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive platform engineering strategy across core services, infrastructure and developer experience.
• Lead and mentor a large engineering organisation including engineering managers.
• Oversee architecture for distributed systems and event-driven platforms at scale.
• Set engineering standards across backend, frontend and mobile environments.
• Improve reliability, scalability and cost efficiency of cloud infrastructure.
• Own platform budgets including cloud spend and tooling investments.
• Advocate and accelerate AI adoption within engineering workflows and platform capabilities.
• Collaborate with product, data and commercial teams to align technical and business priorities.
• Implement metrics to track performance, productivity and platform health.

Skills

Distributed systems

Platform engineering

Cloud environments

CI/CD

Leadership

Budget management

AI adoption

Stakeholder management

Job description

This is a rare opportunity to shape the technical direction at a pivotal stage of growth for a multiuser digital platform. You will take ownership of platform engineering strategy, lead a high-performing engineering organisation, and play a key role in embedding modern technologies, including AI, into core development practices.

The Company

They are a well-established digital business operating at significant scale across multiple markets, supporting millions of users each month. Their business underpins a diverse ecosystem of transactions, interactions, and services, making engineering excellence critical to their continued success.

They are investing heavily in platform capabilities, developer experience, and AI-driven innovation to maintain their position as a leader in their space. The business offers a collaborative, forward-thinking environment where technical leadership has real influence on strategic outcomes.

The Role

You will lead the platform engineering function, shaping the architecture, standards, and infrastructure that support the entire organisation. Responsibilities include:

• Defining and driving platform engineering strategy across core services, infrastructure, and developer experience
• Leading and mentoring a large, multi-layered engineering organisation, including engineering managers
• Overseeing architecture for distributed systems and event-driven platforms at scale
• Establishing engineering standards across backend, frontend, and mobile environments
• Driving improvements in reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency across cloud infrastructure
• Owning platform budgets, including cloud spend and tooling investments
• Championing the adoption of AI within engineering workflows and platform capabilities
• Partnering closely with product, data, and commercial stakeholders to align technical and business priorities
• Implementing metrics to track performance, productivity, and platform health

Your Skills & Experience

• Strong leadership experience within large-scale engineering environments
• Deep technical expertise in distributed systems and modern backend architecture
• Experience with event-driven systems, data platforms, and scalable infrastructure
• Strong understanding of cloud environments, containerisation, and CI/CD practices
• Proven ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across technology and business teams
• Commercial awareness with experience managing budgets and optimising technology spend
• A clear perspective on the role of AI in modern software engineering and experience driving its adoption
• Data-driven mindset with a focus on performance, reliability, and continuous improvement

What They Offer

• Significant leadership scope with high visibility across the organisation
• Opportunity to shape engineering strategy at scale
• A culture that prioritises technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning