Staff Engineer - Platform

AEO; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous Associate Discount

Summer Fridays

Casual Dress Code

Hybrid Schedule

In‑Person Connection

In‑Office Events

Job summary

AEO is seeking an experienced Staff Engineer in Pittsburgh to drive design, implementation, and evolution of our infrastructure and cloud architecture. You will lead modernization initiatives using Infrastructure-as-Code to automate orchestration, improve reliability, and optimize resources.

Build scalable, self-service platforms aligning with business objectives. You will collaborate with engineering leadership, handle 24x7 on-call support, and influence architecture decisions across the stack

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience managing large infrastructures using Automation and Cloud technologies, with a focus on cost optimization and deep technical stack knowledge (Windows, Linux, Compute, and Storage).
• Hands-on experience with DevOps tooling (IaC, Git, CI/CD, Configuration Management, and API integrations).
• Working knowledge of the Google Cloud Platform stack
• Working knowledge of Windows Server, Linux and hypervisor platforms
• Proficiency in system languages (BASH, Python, or PowerShell).
• Working understanding and implementation of IT best practices, policies and procedures
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk of technical changes
• Strong ability to proactively identify and evaluate incidents and problems, determining root cause
• Ability to take technical direction from the platform architect and work with engineers from multiple disciplines
• Strong analytical, prioritizing, interpersonal, problem-solving & planning skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to influence peers and management.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop infrastructure components with a cloud focus.
• Evolve processes to enable global scalability and dynamic business needs.
• Collaborate with Security, Network, and cross-functional teams.
• Maintain High Availability and Disaster Recovery readiness.
• Evaluate system requirements for performance, availability, and reliability.
• Transition legacy processes to IaC pipelines across cloud, on-prem, and edge environments.
• Manage CI for builds and deployments.
• Build and operate distributed systems in GCP.
• Lifecycle management: licensing, capacity planning, inventory, end-of-life.
• Create technology roadmaps for hardware and software evolution.
• Assist in vendor contracts and SLAs for enterprise services.
• Resolve complex technical issues and perform performance tuning.
• Communicate status and optimization progress to leadership.
• Oversee vendor installations and resource planning.
• Maintain system procedures and documentation.
• Stay current with IT trends and opportunities for growth.
• Mentor and train team members; participate in on-call rotations.
• Monitor and alert for health issues and bottlenecks.
• Coordinate with offshore teams for stability and timely resolution.

Skills

Cloud engineering

Automation

DevOps tooling

Python

Bash

PowerShell

Linux

Windows

SRE practices

GCP

IaC

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, or equivalent technical qualifications

Tools

Terraform

Packer

Bitbucket

Bamboo

Ansible

Jira

Confluence

GKE

OpenShift

Job description

Title: Staff Engineer

Reports To: Sr. Manager - Platform Services

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

American Eagle is a youth culture brand grounded in denim. Our purpose extends beyond making the best jeans–we embrace self expression, culture, optimism and connection. Through the brand platform Live Your Life, we empower our community to be who they want to be all while wearing the clothes that make them most confident.

Get to Know the Role:

As a Staff Engineer, you will drive the design, implementation, and evolution of AEO’s infrastructure and cloud architecture. You will spearhead modernization initiatives by leveraging Infrastructure-as-Code to automate orchestration, enhance system reliability, and optimize resource efficiency. Partnering with engineering leadership, you will build scalable, self-service infrastructure platforms that directly support and accelerate enterprise business objectives.

What You’ll Do:

• Design and develop innovative software or hardware components for infrastructure, with a specialized focus on Cloud services.
• Proactively evolve processes and technologies to ensure global scalability and meet dynamic business demands.
• Collaborate with Security, Network, and cross-functional teams to engineer solutions that strictly adhere to internal best practices.
• Maintain and enhance High Availability and Disaster Recovery readiness across all infrastructure environments.
• Evaluate system requirements for performance, availability, interoperability, and reliability, optimizing for the best cost-to-value ratio.
• Transition legacy processes to repeatable Infrastructure-as-Code pipelines across cloud, on-premises, and edge environments.
• Manage continuous integration for software builds and deployments, specifying the necessary tools and environments.
• Build and operate distributed, large‑scale systems within the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) environment.
• Manage the system lifecycle, including licensing, capacity planning, inventory, and end‑of‑life strategy.
• Create and maintain technology roadmaps to guide hardware and software evolution.
• Assist in negotiating vendor contracts and service-level agreements (SLAs) for enterprise services.
• Resolve complex technical issues and perform system performance tuning.
• Communicate project status and optimization progress to leadership while effectively managing interdependencies.
• Contribute to the identification of resource requirements and oversee vendor installations.
• Maintain and update detailed system procedures and technical documentation.
• Stay current with IT trends and best practices, proactively identifying personal development opportunities.
• Mentor and cross‑train team members to foster a culture of knowledge sharing.
• Participate in a 24x7 "On-Call" rotation and support off‑hour system maintenance activities.
• Oversee system monitoring and alerting to proactively identify health issues and performance bottlenecks.
• Partner with operational and offshore teams to ensure system stability and timely issue resolution.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What You Bring:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, or equivalent technical qualifications
• 5+ years of experience managing large infrastructures using Automation and Cloud technologies, with a focus on cost optimization and deep technical stack knowledge (Windows, Linux, Compute, and Storage).
• Hands‑on experience with DevOps tooling (IaC, Git, CI/CD, Configuration Management, and API integrations).
• Working knowledge of the Google Cloud Platform stack
• Working knowledge of Windows Server, Linux and hypervisor platforms
• Proficiency in system languages (BASH, Python, or PowerShell).
• Working understanding and implementation of IT best practices, policies and procedures
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk of technical changes
• Strong ability to proactively identify and evaluate incidents and problems, determining root cause
• Ability to take technical direction from the platform architect and work with engineers from multiple disciplines
• Strong analytical, prioritizing, interpersonal, problem‑solving & planning skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to influence peers and management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced experience with devops tooling (Terraform, Packer, Bitbucket, Bamboo, Ansible Automation Platform, API integrations).
• Intermediate knowledge of the Google Cloud Platform stack
• Intermediate knowledge of architectural design for infrastructure and enterprise services.
• Intermediate knowledge of Windows Server, Linux (RHEL preferred), Hypervisor Platforms (OpenShift preferred)
• Intermediate knowledge of preferred compute, storage, and networking technologies:
  • NetApp storage (AFF/FAS) and NetApp Cloud (CVO/CVS)
  • IBM Flash Storage
  • IBM Virtual I/O Server (VIOS)
  • Cisco UCS in both Manager and Intersight managed modes
  • SAN Switch (Cisco MDS preferred)
  • Cohesity Data Protect
  • Palo Alto firewalls and Panorama firewall manager
  • Meraki portal and switches/APs
  • CloudGenix routers and Prisma portal
  • Enified Enpoint Management (Bigfix, Satellite preferred)
  • Redhat Ansible
• Working knowledge of microservices and kubernetes (GKE or OpenShift preferred)
• Working knowledge of BMC Control‑M; Application and data workflow orchestration platform
• High degree of proficiency with Google G‑Suite (E‑Mail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc.)
• Experience with Jira for ticketing and Confluence for documentation

Perks: Why You’ll Love it Here

• Generous Associate Discount: Treat yourself to the best our brands offer!
• Summer Fridays (For Pittsburgh, NYC and Remote Corporate Associates): More time for the sun and the weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Casual Dress Code: Come as you are (and stay comfy).
• Hybrid Schedule: Enjoy a blend of home‑office focus and in‑office collaboration.
• In‑Person Connection: While we love our digital tools, we love our people even more! To keep our culture thriving, in‑person presence is required at one of our Pittsburgh or NYC headquarters, distribution centers or field locations for interviews, orientation and periodic quarterly meetups.
• In‑Office Events: Exciting company‑wide events you won’t want to miss!

Pay/Benefits Information:

• Actual starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to relevant experience and location.
• Subject to eligibility requirements, associates may receive health care benefits (including medical, vision, and dental); wellness benefits; 401(k) retirement benefits; life and disability insurance; employee stock purchase program; paid time off; paid sick leave; and parental leave and benefits.
• Paid Time Off, paid sick leave, and holiday pay vary by job level and type, job location, employment classification (part‑time or full‑time / exempt or non‑exempt), and years of service. For additional information please click HERE.
• AEO may also provide discretionary bonuses and other incentives at its discretion.

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