EMEA App Platform Technologies Director

MetLife; Warszawa; Hybrid; PLN 316,000 - 485,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Annual performance bonus

Vacation bonus

Private medical subscription

MultiSport card

Job summary

MetLife Poland is seeking a senior leader to drive regional strategy and operations for EMEA platform services, including container platforms, databases, middleware, and cloud engineering. You will standardize processes, automate operations, and ensure secure, scalable platforms across on‑prem and cloud environments.

The role emphasizes collaboration with application teams, security, and cloud governance to deliver reliable platforms, manage SLAs, and enable digital transformation for the

Qualifications

• Advanced degree and/or professional certifications underpin leadership of enterprise platform services.
• Experience with Kubernetes-based platforms and CI/CD tooling is required.
• Strong security, networking, observability and platform lifecycle management are essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead regional teams covering container platforms, databases, middleware, and cloud platform engineering; align with global standards.
• Create the platform roadmap with automation, observability, and performance enhancements.
• Oversee on‑prem Kubernetes/OpenShift and cloud platforms to ensure high availability and compliance.
• Manage enterprise database services, middleware, incident/change processes, and SRE practices.
• Develop operational KPIs, enforce SLAs, and drive FinOps for cost and performance optimization.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to support migrations, vulnerability management, and disaster recovery planning.

Skills

Leadership

DevOps mindset

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

Master’s in Computer Science/Engineering

Certifications: CKA/CKAD, AWS/Azure/GCP Architect, ITIL, PMP

Tools

Kubernetes/OpenShift platforms

Terraform/Ansible/Helm/CloudFormation

Job description

As part of MetLife’s Technology organization, you will report directly to the EMEA CTO. The team plays a pivotal role in supporting regional application and infrastructure teams across EMEA, ensuring that core platform services are robust, scalable, and aligned with both regional and global standards. Working at the intersection of technology strategy and operational excellence, the team partners with application owners, infrastructure engineers, and global leadership to drive digital transformation and deliver reliable, secure platforms that empower MetLife’s business across the region. Every team member’s expertise is valued, and collaboration is at the heart of how we deliver impact.

The Opportunity

*We will consider applications from European locations where MetLife has a presence. Warsaw, Poland would be the preference.

Our company is currently undergoing a significant transformation across the EMEA region. We operate six regional data centers that play a key role in supporting our test environments. Historically, each region has managed its own processes and infrastructure independently. However, we are now moving toward a more unified, global operating model. The goal of this transformation is to strengthen our internal knowledge base and improve collaboration between regional and global teams. By consolidating expertise and standardizing our practices, we aim to increase efficiency and reduce duplication of effort. This shift will also allow us to provide more consistent and scalable support worldwide. This transformation also focuses on improving collaboration with our internal business partners and responding more effectively to their needs.

The EMEA App Platform Technologies Director is responsible for defining and executing the regional strategy and operational excellence for container platforms, databases, middleware, and cloud platform engineering. This role is critical to MetLife’s purpose by ensuring resilient, compliant, and cost‑optimized platforms across the EMEA region, enabling faster delivery of business capabilities. It’s an exciting opportunity to lead modernization at scale—accelerating containerization, cloud‑native architectures, automation, and observability—while shaping standards that improve performance, scalability, and security for mission‑critical workloads.

Success in this role requires strategic leadership and deep platform engineering expertise. The Director is responsible for setting directions and delivering outcomes for EMEA platform services, ensuring they are standardized, automated, observable, and governed to rigorous SLAs. You’ll collaborate closely with application teams, enterprise architecture, security, cloud governance, and regional stakeholders in an environment where every contribution is respected and every perspective is heard.

The EMEA App Platform Technologies Director is responsible for leading the regional strategy, operations, and delivery of infrastructure platforms across on-premise and cloud environments. This role oversees container platform technologies, databases, middleware services, and cloud platform engineering support. The director ensures reliability, scalability, and modernization of platforms, while driving alignment with global standards and enabling digital transformation initiatives across the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead regional teams and the portfolio covering container platforms (on‑prem and cloud), enterprise databases, middleware, and cloud platform engineering; set direction aligned to global architecture and platform standards.
• Create the EMEA platform roadmap, standards, and automation/observability patterns that advance containerization, cloud‑native designs, performance, and security.
• Oversee the design, deployment, and lifecycle of on‑prem Kubernetes/OpenShift and cloud container platforms (AKS/EKS/GKE), ensuring high availability and compliance.
• Manage enterprise database services (SQL/NoSQL, distributed data), middleware technologies (integration, messaging, API gateways, app servers), incident/problem/change processes, and SRE practices.
• Develop operational KPIs and enforce SLAs; drive standardization, automation (IaC), observability, and FinOps to optimize cost, performance, and resource utilization.
• Coordinate with application teams, enterprise architects, security, and cloud governance to support migrations, technology rollouts, vulnerability management, patching, and disaster recovery planning.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree (e.g., Master’s in Computer Science/Engineering) and/or professional certifications such as CKA/CKAD, AWS/Azure/GCP Architect, ITIL, PMP that underpin leadership of enterprise platform services.
• Tools/Platforms: Kubernetes‑based platforms (OpenShift, AKS, EKS, GKE) for orchestration, service mesh, CI/CD integration, and cluster operations.
• Tools/Platforms: Public cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP) with Infrastructure‑as‑Code (Terraform, Ansible, Helm, CloudFormation) and strong security, networking, and observability.
• Skillset/Work style: Proven ability to run enterprise‑scale distributed systems with DevOps/automation mindset and rigorous platform lifecycle management.
• Characteristic/Trait: Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and the ability to operate effectively in a matrixed global organization.

Preferred Qualifications

The expected salary range for this position is 316900 - 485 990 PLN annually. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.

Benefits We Offer

Our benefits address holistic wellbeing with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We offer comprehensive healthcare paid for by the company and access to a private medical subscription, as well as a MultiSport card that gives you access to a wide range of sports facilities. You’ll also enjoy a hybrid way of work with flexible hours, financial subsidies, an annual performance bonus, and a vacation bonus. In addition to your standard paid time off, you also get one “special day” off to use when you choose.

About MetLife

MetLife Poland, based in Warsaw, is a Center of Excellence (CoE) providing services focused mainly on Finance, Actuarial, Procurement and IT. Our CoE supports EMEA markets including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Hungary, Romania, UK & Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Cyprus, Turkey, Gulf , Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, and services global teams in the United States.

Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" and Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI-enabled, people-centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to