Senior Manager of Platform Engineering

Opala; Seattle, Northern (WA, KY); Hybrid; USD 113,000 - 188,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

AD&D

EAP

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

PTO 16 days

8 paid holidays

Fully paid holiday closure

401k

Stock options

Annual bonus

Job summary

Opala is seeking a hands-on Senior Manager of Platform Engineering to lead our cloud infrastructure and corporate IT initiatives. This role focuses on scaling a data-centric healthcare SaaS platform while maintaining secure, compliant operations.

You will design architectures, write infrastructure as code (Terraform), mentor teams, and partner with security, engineering, data, and customer success to align IT with business goals and deliver reliable services at scale in a fast-moving startup.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' progressively responsible experience in an infrastructure environment.
• 5+ years leading and building cloud infrastructure and IT operations in a SaaS/data product setting (Azure preferred).
• 2+ years' experience at early-stage startups; comfortable with ambiguity and risk.
• Strong hands-on expertise with infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform preferred).
• Deep understanding of architectures that support data platforms and service-oriented systems.
• Strong ability to drive decisions quickly, balancing delivery needs with engineering maturity.
• Experience supporting security and compliance requirements while maintaining productivity.
• Mentoring and developing technical team members.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of cloud infrastructure and corporate IT operations with cross-functional teams.
• Architect scalable, reliable, and secure cloud solutions for the data platform and services ecosystem.
• Write infrastructure-as-code (Terraform) and guide best practices for automation and configuration management.
• Grow observability and monitoring to support products and customers.
• Design disaster recovery and business continuity strategies.
• Ensure reliability while scaling SaaS services with business growth.
• Collaborate with leadership to align IT strategy with organizational goals.
• Promote an agile DevOps culture and seamless developer experience.
• Establish and refine infrastructure and IT best practices, tools, and processes.
• Act as hands-on leader, mentoring and coaching team members.

Skills

Cloud leadership

DevOps champion

Mentoring

Stakeholder communication

Infrastructure as Code

Tools

Terraform

Azure

Job description

Opala delivers robust, secure solutions to tackle the most complex data challenges faced by healthcare payers and providers. As a startup originating from a major healthcare plan in the Northwest, we combine deep health-techexpertisewith top-tier data engineering talent to create products that our customers find meaningful and valuable. These products empower payers and their partners to findtimelyinsights andtake action to intervenein areas like value-based care analytics, interoperability compliance, and real-time streaming of clinical data.

In this remote position, we are looking for a hands-onSenior Manager of Platform Engineeringto lead our cloud infrastructure and corporate IT initiatives. This critical role will drive the scalability and reliability of our data focused healthcare SaaS platform while ensuring seamless corporate IT operations.

As Senior Manager of Platform Engineering in anearly-stagestartup, you will not only manage teams andsetstrategiesbut also actively contribute to implementing infrastructure solutions. You’llwrite infrastructure-as-code (primarily in Terraform), design architectures to support our data platform and services, and solve complex technical challenges alongside your team. Collaborating closely with cross-functional leaders in security, engineering,dataand customer success,you’llalign cloud infrastructure and IT strategy with organizational goals andexecuteit with precision and efficiency.

Our most critical interactions are with our own people. You will be an effective champion of our DevOps culture, fostering open collaboration across teamsto make the right investments at the right time on the pathway to excellence. As a director, you will play a keyrole inmentoring and inspiring your people to grow their talent and passion for building a best-in-class infrastructure practice that has a real impact on healthcare.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of cloud infrastructure and corporate IT operations while effectively partnering with our security, engineering, data, customersuccessand leadership teams.
• Architect and implement scalable, reliable, and secure cloud solutions to support the needs of our data platform and services ecosystem.
• Write infrastructure-as-code (primarily in Terraform) and guide the team in adopting best practices for automation and configuration management.
• Grow our investment in observability to effectively support our products and customers.
• Design and exercise effective disaster recovery and business continuity strategies.
• Ensure customers trust our reliability and performance while scaling our data and SaaS services with business growth.
• Collaboratewith leadership and team leads tounderstandorganizational needs anddevelopstrategies that meet both technical and business goals.
• Promote an agileDevOps culture, ensuring sound CI/CDandaseamlessdeveloper experincethatbalances quickness to market withsecurity and complianceteamconcerns.
• Establish and refine infrastructure and IT best practices, tools, and processes to improve operational efficiency.
• Act as a hands-on leader, actively contributing to solving technical challenges while mentoring and coaching team members.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' progressively responsibleexperience working in an Infrastructure environment.
• 5+ years leading and building cloud infrastructure and IT operations in a SaaS and/or data product setting. Azure environment preferred.
• 2+years' experienceworking forearly-stagestartups– must becomfortable withambiguity and risk.
• Strong hands-onexpertisewith infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform preferred)
• Deep understanding of designing and implementing architectures that support data platforms and service-oriented systems.
• Strong ability to drive decisions quickly, investing at the rightlevel to meet delivery needs but step maturity forward,without over or under engineering.
• Strong ability tosupportsecurity andcomplianceteamrequirements while balancingbusiness productivity.
• Demonstrated success in mentoring and developing technical team members.
• Experience overseeing Corporate IT teams and keeping companies running smoothly.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across diverse teams and stakeholders while comfortable supporting our customers directly.

This role reports directly to the CTO and offers an opportunity to make a significant impact at the intersection of technology and business. If you’re a strategic thinker, a hands-on leader, and a DevOps champion who thrives in a start-up environment, we’d love to hear from you!

Benefits

• The Seattle base salary range for this full-time position is up to $188k. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and AD&DD insurance, EAP, short-term and long-term disability, 16 days PTO, 8 paid holidays, fully paid holiday closure, parental and family medical leave, 401k, stock options and annual bonuses and salary increases based on merit.

Diversity and Inclusivity Statement

• At Opala, we believe that diversity and inclusivity are critical to our success. We encourage and value diverse perspectives and experiences, and we believe that they are essential for driving innovation and creating products that meet the needs of our diverse customer base.

Opala is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We are committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We celebrate the unique differences of our employees because that is what drives curiosity, innovation, and the success of our business. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities.

If you were to accept an offer w/Opala, how soon could you start?*

Are you currently authorized to work indefinitely in the US on a Full Time basis for any employer?*

If yes, will you require visa sponsorship now or in the near future?*

What prompted you to apply to this opening?*

How many years of experience do you have working for early stage startups?*

How many years of experience do you have leading cloud infrastructure and IT operations teams?* 0-4 5-7 8+

How many years of experience do you have building SaaS / data product infrastructure?* 0-1 2-4 5+

How many years of experience do you have working in progressively responsible roles within an Infrastructure environment.*