Director, Platform Engineering

Harbourvest Partners (U.K.) Limited; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

HarbourVest Partners (U.K.) Limited is seeking a Director of Platform Engineering to define cohesive architecture, modernize legacy systems, and scale enterprise solutions. You will lead through influence, mentoring senior engineers while delivering scalable, secure patterns across cloud and on-prem environments.

You will partner with product, delivery, data, and security stakeholders to advance the One Platform strategy and drive reusable building blocks across the organization.

Qualifications

• Hands-on knowledge of microservices and micro-frontend patterns in complex environments.
• Experience with cloud-native architecture and Azure cloud infrastructure.
• Strong DevOps discipline with CI/CD, automation and release governance.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for platform engineering within the organization.
• Guide modernization projects toward microservices, event-driven systems, and micro-frontend UX.
• Define shared frameworks and services to reduce complexity and reuse.
• Mentor engineers in modern web tech stacks and API-centric services.
• Foster engineering excellence and ongoing modernization across teams.
• Support additional critical initiatives as needed.

Skills

Microservices

Micro-frontend

Event-driven

Azure cloud

CI/CD

Angular

React

TypeScript

Node.js

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in technology

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Job description

Job Summary

For over forty years, HarbourVest has been home to a committed team of professionals with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to deliver impactful solutions to our clients and investing partners. As our global firm grows, we continue to add individuals who seek a collaborative, open-door culture that values diversity and innovative thinking. In our collegial environment, that’s marked by low turnover and high energy, you’ll be inspired to grow and thrive. Here, you will be encouraged to build on your strengths and acquire new skills and experiences. We are committed to fostering an environment of inclusion that promotes mutual respect among all employees. Understanding and valuing these differences optimizes the potential of both the individual and the firm.

HarbourVest is an equal opportunity employer.

Role Overview

We are seeking a director to lead our Platform Engineering. We are searching for a highly respected, hands‑on technology leader. They define a cohesive platform architecture, set long-term technical direction, and lead modernization efforts across the firm. This enables scale, agility, resilience, and growth. As a Director of Platform Engineering, you will adhere to the firm’s target-state architecture across applications, integration, cloud environments, and shared engineering capabilities! You will partner closely with engineering leadership, product and delivery teams, data and security stakeholders, vendors, and enterprise technology partners to enhance and grow our One Platform strategy and guide sophisticated modernization initiatives from concept through adoption. This role will simplify a fragmented technology landscape and improve interoperability. It will enable reusable platform capabilities. It ensures the company’s technological infrastructure can support future business expansion.

Technical Expertise

You bring deep expertise in modern application build and platform structure and apply that expertise to build scalable, secure, and durable technology patterns across the enterprise. You are fluent in architectural design patterns and modern engineering practices, including microservices, micro‑frontends, event‑driven systems, cloud‑native development, DevOps, and modern web application engineering. You lead through influence and hands‑on technical credibility, helping teams make sound architectural decisions while raising engineering quality, consistency, and ongoing structural durability within the organization.

Ideal Candidate

• Hands‑on knowledge of microservices architecture, micro‑frontend architecture, and event‑driven design patterns in complex enterprise environments
• Strong experience with cloud infrastructure development and cloud‑native architecture, preferably in Azure, including scalable application patterns, integration, identity, networking, observability, and resilience
• Proven grasp of DevOps principles and the processes involved in delivering software, including CI/CD, infrastructure automation, environment strategy, and release governance
• Expertise in contemporary web application development and architecture, including frameworks and technologies like Angular, React, TypeScript, Node.js, and development dedicated to web‑based interfaces
• Experience developing distributed systems that make use of Redis for caching, Kafka for messaging, and robust data access layer patterns
• Strong understanding of integration, interoperability, data flow, and domain boundaries across enterprise software and infrastructures
• Outstanding communication skills, confirmed by the capacity to translate architectural strategy and technical tradeoffs into clear recommendations for engineering leaders, executives, and non‑technical partners

What You Will Do

• Set technical direction for platform engineering within the organization.
• Guide modernization projects that transition legacy applications and platforms toward modern architectures such as microservices, event‑driven systems, and micro‑frontend‑based user experiences.
• Drive standardization and reuse across the engineering organization by defining shared frameworks, common services, and architectural building blocks that reduce redundancy and complexity.
• Provide hands‑on technical mentorship for modern web system development involving technologies such as Angular, React, TypeScript, Node.js, alongside service layers built on APIs.
• Mentor senior engineers, and foster a culture of engineering excellence, simplification, and continuous modernization.
• Support additional critical initiatives as needed.

What You Bring

• Proven success driving enterprise‑wide modernization initiatives across applications, platforms, cloud, and integration domains.
• Deep hands‑on experience with modern architecture patterns such as distributed services, component‑based frontends, event‑centric architecture, principles driven by a passion for the core business logic, and API‑based integration.
• Solid understanding of cloud engineering and distributed systems design, with experience building scalable, resilient, and observable solutions in enterprise environments.
• Practical expertise with modern application development stacks and frameworks, featuring Angular and React technologies, TypeScript and Node.js programming, and up‑to‑date web application architecture patterns.
• Experience with messaging, caching, and data access technologies and patterns, including Kafka, Redis, API integration, persistence strategies, and service‑to‑service communication.
• Solid understanding of DevOps and software delivery processes, with a focus on CI/CD, automation, source control strategy, environment management, and release lifecycle considerations.
• Ability to connect business goals to architecture strategy, translating organizational priorities into actionable technical roadmaps and standards.
• Strong mentoring, collaboration, and communication skills, capable of raising architectural maturity and improving engineering efficiency within the enterprise.

Nice to Have

• Experience with application portfolio modernization, platform rationalization, and defining transition states for legacy‑to‑modern architecture journeys.
• Familiarity with container platforms and orchestration technologies, such as Kubernetes or OpenShift, and how they contribute to current application architecture.

Employment Details

Experience: 10+ years of experience spanning management, software engineering, cloud platforms, and large‑scale technology modernization across sophisticated corporate landscapes.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in a technology‑related field, advanced degree preferred, or equivalent experience.

Job type: Hybrid.

This position will be a hybrid work arrangement. You will receive 18 remote workdays per quarter to use at your discretion, subject to manager approval. For example, you may choose to work in the office 4 days per week and take one remote day weekly (typically 13 weeks per quarter), leaving 5 additional remote days to be used as needed.

Base Salary Range

#LI-Hybrid Base Salary Range $200,000.00 - $210,000.00

This USD base salary range represents only one component of total compensation for this role and is provided in accordance with local requirements. This role is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, which is determined based on individual and overall firm performance. In addition to salary and bonus eligibility, total compensation may include participation in long‑term reward programs (typically for more senior‑level roles). We also offer a comprehensive total rewards package that may include retirement contributions, health insurance, income protection, paid time off and leave benefits as well as well‑being programs. Our total rewards offerings are influenced by several business factors, and eligibility for certain components will vary by position and geography. Please note the posted ranges do not apply outside the U.S. and should not be converted to other currencies as a proxy for compensation in other countries.

Company Overview

HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets firm with over 43 years of experience and more than $146 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2025. Our interwoven platform provides clients access to global primary funds, secondary transactions, direct co‑investments, real assets and infrastructure, and private credit. Our strengths extend across strategies, enabled by our team of more than 1,270 employees, including more than 230 investment professionals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Across our private markets platform, our team has committed more than $64 billion to newly‑formed funds, completed over $66 billion in secondary purchases, and invested over $49 billion in direct operating companies. We partner strategically and plan our offerings innovatively to provide our clients with access, insight, and global opportunities.