Lead Platform Engineer

Root; United States; Remote; USD 165,000 - 188,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative FinTech company is seeking a Lead Platform Engineer to evolve and scale their AWS-based platform. In this pivotal role, you will lead a talented team, driving technical excellence and collaboration. Your expertise in Terraform and AWS will be crucial as you refine cloud infrastructure and champion best practices. This forward-thinking firm values autonomy, impact, and collaboration, offering a unique opportunity to shape the future of technology in insurance. Join a diverse team dedicated to solving real problems and making a difference in the industry.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as a software engineer, with 2+ years as a lead developer.
• Advanced expertise in Terraform and AWS Cloud Architecture.

Responsibilities

• Design and set direction of platform engineering strategy and technical roadmap.
• Guide and mentor the platform engineering team to adhere to best practices.

Skills

Software Engineering

Leadership

Terraform

AWS Cloud Architecture

CI/CD

Ruby

Python

Communication Skills

Job description

CURRENT ROOT EMPLOYEES - Please apply using the career page in Workday. This career site is for external applicants only.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a Lead Platform Engineer who’s excited to help evolve and scale our AWS-based platform. As a Lead Engineer, you will be a strong technical leader within our domain. You’ll lead your team through coaching, mentorship, and also by example as a primary contributor during each iteration. In partnership with your Engineering Manager, Staff Engineer, and team you’ll clearly define problems the team will solve on a quarterly time horizon, and plan the projects and experiments that will solve those problems. Through this partnership, you will participate in defining the strategic direction of our platform and ultimately amplify the impact of every engineering team at Root.

You’ll collaborate closely with both Platform and Product Engineering teams to refine our cloud infrastructure, ensure we align with the AWS Well-Architected Framework, and champion best-in-class DevOps practices across the organization. You will play a key role in shaping how we adopt and integrate new tools—such as Spacelift—to further automate and streamline our operations. Working from our existing foundation, you'll help us achieve the next level of scalability without compromising our ability to move quickly and innovate.

Software Engineers at Root are accountable for project delivery and maintenance of their team’s systems. This role requires clear communication with peers and stakeholders, technical proficiency across domains, and strong collaborative instincts and skills – all to ensure high-quality and impactful changes are delivered reliably for our business. Successful engineers in this role work closely with their team.

Root is a “work where it works best” company. This means we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US.

Salary Range: $165,248 - $188,000 (Bonus and LTI Eligible)

How You will Make an Impact

Design and set direction of our platform engineering strategy, infrastructure best practices, and technical roadmap

Guide, mentor, and ensure the team’s adherence to established best practices

Perform code reviews and provide coaching where necessary

Ensure our infrastructure and internal platforms remain up to date with the latest practices and standards

Lead and participate in the development of platform features and capabilities required to support strategic initiatives

Work closely with the team’s Engineering Manager to help direct, motivate, and guide the platform engineering team

Educate and coach platform and product engineers on cloud infrastructure best practices

Actively seek to understand our stakeholder’s problems to ensure you are developing effective solutions

Increase the effectiveness of your team by suggesting code and process improvements

What You Will Need to Succeed

5+ years as a software engineer, with 2+ years as a lead developer.

Experience developing self-service capabilities for other engineering teams

Advanced expertise in Terraform and infrastructure-as-code best practices

Advanced expertise in AWS Cloud Architecture and foundational AWS Services

Expertise in CI/CD and related concepts

Proficiency in Ruby or Python

Proven leadership of projects involving multiple teams across functional domains

Excellent communication skills with engineering peers and stakeholders, with a proven record of guiding teams to successful project outcomes

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Root, Inc., we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway!

At Root, we judge people based on the merit of their work, not who they are. If you are passionate about what this role entails and solving real problems, we encourage you to apply. We want to learn about you and what you can add to our team.

Who we are

We’re harnessing the power of technology to revolutionize insurance. Using machine learning and mobile telematic platforms, we’ve built one of the most innovative FinTech companies in the world. And we’re just getting started.

What draws people to Root

Our success is in large part due to our unwavering standards in hiring. We recognize that our products are only as good as the people building and promoting them. We want individuals who find solutions by going through the cycle of ideation to implementation with curiosity, rigor, and an analytical lens. Ask anyone who works here and you’ll hear similar reasons for why they joined:

Autonomy—for assertive self-starters, the opportunities to contribute are limitless.

Impact—by challenging the way it’s always been done, we solve problems that have a big impact on our business.

Collaboration—we encourage rich discussion and civil debate at every turn.

People—we are inspired by the collection of crazy-smart people around us.