Lead Platform Engineer - Solutions

Kraken; United States; On-site; USD 175,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Great benefits

Paid time off

401(k) match

Parental leave

Pre-tax commuter benefits

Flexible work environment

Equity options

Modern office or co-working spaces

Job summary

Kraken is seeking a Lead for Global Platform Engineering Solutions to drive strategic objectives and manage a distributed team across the US and EU. You will coordinate with APAC counterparts and global leadership to ensure timely, automated app delivery, with an emphasis on security, reliability, and KPI improvements.

You will deliver features, guide architecture, perform code reviews, and mentor engineers in a high-scale, AWS-based environment using EKS, Terraform, and CI/CD tooling.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills across timezones and countries.
• Proven track record delivering critical path projects on time and at scale.
• Experience mentoring and coaching highly autonomous teams.
• Proficiency with AWS, including Amazon EKS in production.

Responsibilities

• Define strategic objectives and team direction in collaboration with senior leaders.
• Line manage 7-10 Platform Engineers across US and EU; co-manage follow-the-sun teams.
• Set performance expectations; provide feedback and support career growth.
• Deliver technical improvements, code reviews, and architectural guidance.

Skills

Platform Engineering

Leadership

AWS

EKS

Terraform

CI/CD

Python

Communication across timezones

Tools

CircleCI

ArgoCD

Kubernetes (EKS)

Terraform

Job description

Help us use technology to make a big green dent in the universe! Kraken powers some of the most innovative global developments in energy. We create the technology that redefines utilities and unlocks a new energy system of the future. By optimising renewable generation, building a more intelligent grid, and empowering utilities to deliver an exceptional customer experience, our operating system is transforming the industry worldwide. It’s an incredibly exciting time to work in energy. Join us on our mission to improve the lives of ONE BILLION humans within the decade and shape a cleaner, better future for everyone.

Where You'll Fit In

Our Global Platform Engineering Solutions team builds custom integration solutions with our clients and automates the build of the main Kraken Customer application.

As the Lead, you will manage people across the US and EU, as well as coordinate with your APAC counterpart, delivery management, and global Platform leadership to ensure a smooth process for just-in-time Kraken app delivery, champion automation, and solve unique client requirements to ensure networking, regulatory, data safety, and other needs are met.

What You’ll Own

Technical Leadership

• Work closely with the APAC Solutions lead, Director, Heads of Platform Engineering and Client Engineering to define strategic objectives and team direction
• Manage team priorities and ensure initiatives are completed within deadlines
• Work with Client Engineering and pre-Sales teams to support client use cases and integrations, with a continuous improvement workstream to streamline and automate app builds
• Provide production support for highly-available, large-scale internet-facing distributed systems

People Management

• Line manage 7-10 Platform Engineers in Solutions team across the US and EU, and co-manage the global, follow-the-sun team and pipeline to support new client infrastructure builds
• Set clear performance expectations and regularly review individual and team performance, offering actionable insights and constructive feedback to support and grow team members
• Lead a strong team culture with open communication, trust, and inclusive team environment
• Participate in Platform Engineering leadership and org-wide efforts as well as setting high standards for team health, code hygiene, and ways of working

Technical Delivery

• Deliver technical improvements such as small features and bug fixes
• Support team delivery through code reviews, technology research and architectural guidance

Technologies We Use

• Build platform tooling and automation primarily in Python and Django
• CI/CD pipelines in CircleCI; GitOps workflows using ArgoCD
• Kubernetes-based environments - we use Amazon EKS
• Terraform for IaC

What You’ll Bring To The Party

• Excellent communication skills, with a focus on doing this asynchronously across multiple timezones and countries
• Demonstrable impact working effectively with developers, product managers and other business stakeholders to understand and deliver impactful projects or improve KPIs
• Record of successfully and consistently delivering critical path projects, on time and at scale
• Meticulous organisation and planning skills
• Experience of mentoring and coaching highly-autonomous teams
• Proficiency with AWS. We use a lot of different AWS services and including Amazon EKS in production
• Knowledge of Platform Engineering best-practices, including security, CI/CD tooling and methodologies

Bonus Points

• Experience working on SaaS platforms, including engaging product teams to ensure up-skilling and knowledge sharing across teams
• Proactive, problem-solving orientation with an interest in continual improvement
• Prior experience in globally distributed teams

Why You'll Love It Here

• Great medical, dental, and vision insurance options.
• Paid time off - we know working hard means also being able to recharge as needed, we trust our employees to get the work done and take the time they need.
• 401(k) plan with employer match.
• Parental leave. Biological, adoptive and foster parents are all eligible.
• Pre-tax commuter benefits.
• Flexible working environment: you need to shift around your schedule? You do you, we genuinely believe in work/life balance.
• Equity Options: every Kraken employee owns part of the business. We’re a team, working together towards huge goals. Every person is crucial to our success, you should be rewarded as such.
• Modern office or co-working spaces depending on location.
• The salary range for this role ranges on average from $175,000 - $225,000 per year. Where you sit within this range will depend on your relevant experience.

Kraken is a certified Great Place to Work in France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Australia, and USA. In the UK we are one of the Best Workplaces on Glassdoor with a score of 4.5, and in Germany we rate 4.7 on Kununu as a Top Company. Check out our Welcome to the Jungle site (FR/EN) to learn more about our teams and culture.

Are you ready for a career with us? We want to ensure you have the right tools and environment to unleash your potential. If you have any accommodation requests, please contact us at [e-mail]. We’ll do our best to tailor the experience to your needs so you can feel comfortable, confident and be at your best!

Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we’re looking for! At Kraken, we're creating a team of genuine, honest, empathetic people. Our people are our strongest asset and the unique skills and perspectives people bring to the team are the driving force of our success. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. We consider all applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

• Our (i) Applicant and Candidate Privacy Notice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Notice, (ii) Website Privacy Notice and (iii) Cookie Notice govern the collection and use of your personal data in connection with your application and use of our website. These policies explain how we handle your data and outline your rights under applicable laws, including, but not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your information, object to processing, or withdraw consent. By applying, you acknowledge that you’ve read, understood and consent to these terms

Please note that, in line with our current recruitment policy, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position; applicants must have the right to work in the country that they're applying to, at the time of application.*