Principal Site Reliability Engineer

Vertafore; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Vision & Dental

401(k) + Employer Match

Parental Leave

Education Assistance

Flexible First Environment

Job summary

Vertafore seeks a Principal Site Reliability Engineer to define strategic vision and own enterprise‑wide reliability for critical production services. You will operate across AWS, hybrid data centers, and customer‑hosted environments, setting direction for operations as a software engineering challenge.

The role emphasizes end‑to‑end ownership, SLOs, and blameless postmortems to lift platform stability. Denver HQ with U.S., Canada, and India offices and a strong focus on growth and trust in the

Qualifications

• 12 to 15+ years in Cloud Operations, SRE, or reliability engineering.
• Experience at Principal/Architect scope driving global reliability outcomes.
• Expert-level software engineering in C#, .NET, Java, Python, or React.
• Mastery of AWS, Kubernetes, CI/CD, IaC, Linux/Windows, and relational DBs.

Responsibilities

• Define end-to-end service ownership and reliability standards.
• Lead cross-departmental initiatives for scalable, compliant systems.
• Drive observability strategy using Four Golden Signals.
• Lead enterprise incident response and blameless postmortems.

Skills

SRE / Cloud Ops

Architectural leadership

Observability / SRE practices

Programming experience (C#, .NET, Java

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Infrastructure‑as‑Code

Linux/Windows environments

Job description

$160,000 - $180,000 / year + Bonus

The insurance industry runs on Vertafore. We equip agencies, MGAs, and carriers with the core digital systems, specialized AI, and data‑driven foundation to eliminate distribution drag across the insurance lifecycle, spanning sales, servicing, and back‑office operations.

Underpinned by unmatched speed and performance power, we are the trusted backbone that’s taking the insurance industry from friction to flow with Distribution Velocity - speed, performance, and trust - to drive growth at scale.

With over 95% of the top agencies and insurers and 50% of industry compliance transactions running through Vertafore, we lead at the intersection of innovation and trust, giving insurance professionals the confidence to transform and win in the AI era.

Our reach is global, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, and offices across the U.S., Canada, and India.

We are seeking a Principal Site Reliability Engineer to define the strategic vision and own the enterprise‑wide reliability, scalability, and performance of our critical production services. As a foundational pillar of our engineering organization, this role drives architectural standards for the full‑service lifecycle—from initial design and deployment readiness to proactive production operations. At Vertafore, we view reliability as a core engineering responsibility. You will operate autonomously across AWS, hybrid data centers, and customer‑hosted environments, setting the technical direction for how we treat operations as a software engineering challenge. This role is pivotal in transitioning cross‑departmental teams toward a highly proactive, engineering‑first culture.

Roles And Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Reliability Architecture

• Enterprise-Wide Ownership: Define the standards for end‑to‑end service ownership, holding the organization accountable for availability, performance, and overall operational health.
• Architectural Influence: Lead cross‑departmental initiatives to influence system design at the architectural level, driving fault tolerance, strict compliance, and operational sustainability across public and private clouds.
• Advanced Observability Vision: Dictate the enterprise strategy for observability frameworks, ensuring the Four Golden Signals (Latency, Traffic, Errors, and Saturation) provide actionable, predictive insights across all platforms.

Data-Driven Reliability Governance

• SLO & Error Budget Authority: Establish the governance models for defining and managing SLIs and SLOs across multiple product lines.
• Delivery Alignment: Champion Error Budgets as the ultimate technical arbiter at the executive level, balancing feature velocity with the absolute requirement for platform stability.

Incident Management & Cultural Transformation

• Enterprise Incident Command: Lead incident response for the most critical, high‑severity events.
• Blameless Culture Champion: Foster a "Win Together" environment by championing a Blameless Postmortem culture globally, ensuring root cause analyses focus strictly on systemic and process improvements rather than individual error.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 12 to 15+ years of hands‑on Cloud Operations, SRE, or reliability‑focused engineering experience, with a proven track record of end‑to‑end enterprise service ownership.
• Proven Scope: Demonstrated ability to operate at a Principal/Architect scope, driving large‑scale reliability outcomes and operational excellence across global organizations.
• Software Engineering: Expert‑level software engineering skills in C#, .NET, Java, Python, or React.
• Principles: Deep expertise in scaling core SRE principles (SLIs, SLOs, error budgets) across complex, distributed systems.
• Technical Stack: Mastery of AWS, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure‑as‑Code, and extensive knowledge of Linux and Windows environments and relational databases.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• Commitment: Participation in an executive on‑call rotation with flexible hours as required

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• A fast learner.
• A problem solver.
• Ability to document procedures.
• Able to meet deadlines.
• Good communication skills. Able to deliver the message effectively to a technical and non‑technical audience.
• Able to comply with processes and procedures.
• Able to maintain professional composure in any situations.
• Flexible in working extended hours on occasions or as required.
• Exposure in the insurance industry is desired but not mandatory.
• Driven to improve, personally and professionally
• Operate best in a fast‑paced, flexible work environment with ability to work in a team.

Additional Requirements And Details

• High speed internet to accommodate working from home needs.
• Occasional lifting and/or moving up to 10 pounds.
• Frequent repetitive hand and arm movements required to operate a computer.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision (working on a computer, etc.).
• Frequent sitting and/or standing.

THE VERTAFORE STORY

Over the past 50 years, Vertafore has advanced the entire insurance distribution channel with the best software solutions in the industry. Today, we’re proud to say hundreds of thousands of Vertafore users rely on our solutions to write business faster, reduce costs, and fuel growth by increasing collaboration and streamlining processes. Vertafore leads the industry with secure, cloud‑based mobile products that provide superior reporting and analytics, delivering actionable insight— right when customers need it most. We partner with other leading technology companies to deliver comprehensive solutions to improve the way our customers do business and serve their customers.

The Vertafore Way

Insurance is about relationships, and technology should make those relationships stronger. That’s why, at Vertafore, it’s our mission to transform the way the industry operates by putting people at the heart of insurance technology. By focusing on our customers, becoming better every day, and delivering results you can see, we provide the level of trust and security that insurance is all about.

• Bias to Action: We're united by an innate drive to take action and make a difference in the technology and insurance spaces.
• Win Together: We work together as one team, showing empathy and respect along the way.
• Show Up Curious: We work to challenge one another to push boundaries and think beyond the box.
• Say It, Do It: We honor every one of our commitments because integrity is important to us.
• Customer Success is Our Success: We cultivate authentic relationships and follow up by actively listening to their needs.
• We Love Insurance: We appreciate the impact insurance has on the world.

Is this role not an exact fit for you? Keep an eye on our Careers Page for other positions!

Vertafore is a drug free workplace and conducts preemployment drug and background screenings

The selected candidate must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the job responsibilities, duties, skill, or working conditions. In addition, this document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.

Vertafore strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

We do not accept resumes from agencies, headhunters, or other suppliers who have not signed a formal agreement with us.

Why Vertafore is the place for you: *

*Canada Only

• The opportunity to work in a space where modern technology meets a stable and vital industry
• Medical, vision & dental plans
• Life, AD&D
• Short Term and Long Term Disability
• Pension Plan & Employer Match
• Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave
• Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)
• Education Assistance
• Additional programs - Employee Referral and Internal Recognition

Why Vertafore is the place for you: *

*US Only

• The opportunity to work in a space where modern technology meets a stable and vital industry
• We have a Flexible First work environment! Our North America team members use our offices for collaboration, community and team‑building, with members asked to sometimes come into an office and/or travel depending on job responsibilities. Other times, our teams work from home or a similar environment.
• Medical, vision & dental plans
  • PPO & high‑deductible options
• Health Savings Account & Flexible Spending Accounts Options:
  • Health Care FSA
  • Dental & Vision FSA
  • Dependent Care FSA
  • Commuter FSA
• Life, AD&D (Basic & Supplemental), and Disability
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plain & Employer Match
• Supplemental Plans - Pet insurance, Hospital Indemnity, and Accident Insurance
• Parental Leave & Adoption Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Education & Legal Assistance
• Additional programs - Tuition Reimbursement, Employee Referral, Internal Recognition, and Wellness
• Commuter Benefits (Denver)

Vertafore strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

The Professional Services (PS) and Customer Success (CX) bonus plans are a quarterly monetary bonus plan based upon individual and practice performance against specific business metrics. Eligibility is determined by several factors including: start date, good standing in the company, and actives status at time of payout.

The Vertafore Incentive Plan (VIP) is an annual monetary bonus for eligible employees based on both individual and company performance. Eligibility is determined by several factors including: start date, good standing in the company, and actives status at time of payout.

Commission plans are tailored to each sales role but common components include quota, MBO's and ABPMs. Salespeople receive their formal compensation plan within 30 days of hire.

We want to make sure our recruiting process is accessible for everyone. if you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact [e-mail]

Just a note, this contact information is for accommodation requests only.