Global Head of Platform Engineering

Northern Trust; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 240,000 - 375,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

401k and pension

Discretionary bonus program

Job summary

Northern Trust is seeking a global lead for Platform Engineering in Chicago. This role is pivotal in managing developer tools and foundational services across Global Engineering. Responsibilities include enhancing productivity through modern DevSecOps practices and leading the product management for shared engineering platforms.

The ideal candidate should have over 20 years in software engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity, and a strong background in DevOps and infrastructure.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in a technical leadership role.
• Strong background in platform engineering, DevOps, and infrastructure.
• Ability to translate business, developer, and platform needs into clear product strategy.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end developer experience across build, test, deployment, and runtime.
• Design, build, and maintain DevSecOps integrations and pipelines.
• Drive adoption of agile practices and outcomes through tooling and measurement.
• Measure and improve engineering productivity using qualitative feedback.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Technical leadership

Platform engineering

DevOps

Infrastructure

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

CI/CD tools

Automation tools

Cloud-native architectures

Job description

Position Overview

The global lead for Platform Engineering leads the strategy, development, and operationalization of shared developer tools and foundational services used across Global Engineering and the BU CIO Engineering teams. The role reports to the Global Head of Engineering and is accountable for improving engineering consistency, scalability, security, and reliability by delivering high‑quality shared tools and services.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end‑to‑end developer experience across build, test, deployment, and runtime by partnering with application engineering leaders across Engineering and BU CIO to understand needs, identify opportunities, and reduce friction across the software development lifecycle.
• Design, build, and maintain DevSecOps integrations and pipelines to enable efficient, reliable, and predictable software delivery across the firm while ensuring platform stability and resilience.
• Deliver developer productivity and flow metrics by collecting, integrating, and maintaining data and analytics across disparate systems.
• Design, build, and maintain AI agents that support the end‑to‑end SDLC and contribute to more predictable, efficient software delivery.
• Maintain common shared services and tools, including API gateways, Confluence, and other core engineering platforms.
• Maintain current and approved open‑source libraries and dependencies.
• Lead the product management function for Platform Engineering by defining the vision, roadmap, and priorities for shared engineering platforms and services in partnership with engineering leaders and key stakeholders.
• Drive adoption of common standards, tools, and practices across Global Engineering and BU CIO, including:
  • Establish standards for tooling, platform usage, and service reliability.
  • Modernize legacy engineering tools and workflows.
  • Implement and standardize agile delivery practices in partnership with Scaled Agile coaches:
    • Establish tools, technologies, standards, and best practices to accelerate agile delivery.
    • Own execution of the agile operating model in partnership with Scaled Agile coaches, and continuously adapt processes to improve performance, efficiency, and outcomes.
    • Enhance software engineering productivity through continuous integration and delivery, automation, and innovation.
    • Drive adoption of agile practices and outcomes through tooling, enablement, and measurement.
• Partner closely with Security, SRE, Risk, Control, and Architecture teams to embed best practices into shared tooling and platforms.
• Measure and improve engineering productivity using qualitative feedback and quantitative metrics such as DORA and cycle time.
• Improve the stability of tools and platforms to increase developer productivity and enhance the overall developer experience.
• Partner with the business and key technology stakeholders to transform the software delivery platform by infusing modern methods and tools, including AI, to drive efficiency and improve speed to market for the Engineering and BU CIO teams.
• Be accountable for platform delivery metrics, including stability, velocity, and other measures that demonstrate the success of the platform.

Skills / Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Experience:
  • 20+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in a technical leadership role.
  • Strong background in platform engineering, DevOps, and infrastructure.
• Competencies:
  • Influence without authority by motivating, inspiring, and guiding others toward defined outcomes without direct reporting relationships.
  • Drive efficiency and results by using data and metrics to set priorities, optimize productivity, and deliver high‑quality business outcomes.
  • Strong problem‑solving skills, including the ability to solve complex challenges within matrixed teams and fixed resource constraints.
  • Strong business acumen, with the ability to understand how the business creates value and translate strategy and requirements into high‑quality solutions.
  • Demonstrated experience applying product management disciplines to internal engineering platforms, including vision setting, roadmap development, prioritization, and stakeholder alignment.
  • Ability to translate business, developer, and platform needs into a clear product strategy, measurable outcomes, and an actionable backlog.
• Knowledge:
  • Emerging technology trends, including AI, automation, and intelligent workflows.
  • Modern CI/CD practices, cloud‑native architectures, and automation tools.
  • Agile engineering and delivery practices.
  • Security frameworks (for example, NIST) and data protection and privacy requirements.
  • SDLC governance and technical debt management.
  • SaaS ecosystems and application portfolio rationalization and modernization.
  • IT operations and service management, including incident management, reliability, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
  • Financial services domain knowledge, including products, services, data, and applications.
  • Awareness of risk, control, and regulatory requirements relevant to financial services technology.

The Successful Candidate Will Benefit From Having

• Experience with application modernization, DevOps, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE).
• Experience leading teams through change at scale.

Salary Range

$240,000 - 375,000

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well‑being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment‑based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H‑1B, L‑1, TN, O‑1, E‑3, H‑1B1, F‑1, J‑1, OPT, CPT or any other employment‑based visa).

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.