Senior Manager, Platform Engineering
WFA Digital Insight
As the demand for skilled platform engineers grows, with a 25% increase in job postings over the past year, Marqeta stands out with its flexible work environment and cutting-edge technology stack. With a strong focus on Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure, this role requires a unique blend of technical expertise and leadership skills. Candidates should be prepared to leverage their experience in driving platform modernization and cost optimization, while also fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. Before applying, it's essential to understand the current market landscape and the evolving needs of the digital payments industry.
Job Description
About the Role
The Senior Manager, Platform Engineering is a critical technical leadership role at Marqeta, responsible for leading the infrastructure software engineering team that supports the company's Kubernetes-based compute platform. This platform is at the heart of Marqeta's infrastructure, processing millions of payment transactions with ultra-high availability requirements. The successful candidate will drive platform modernization, cost optimization, and operational excellence, while leading a team of skilled infrastructure software engineers.The role entails developing and implementing the technical roadmap for Marqeta's Kubernetes compute platform, championing a platform-as-a-product mindset, and fostering collaboration with application development teams, SRE, security, and other infrastructure teams. The Senior Manager will also be responsible for recruiting top talent, developing career growth paths for team members, and driving technical decision-making while empowering engineers to own their solutions.
As a leader in the engineering organization, the Senior Manager will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure the platform meets the evolving needs of the business. This includes driving continuous platform modernization, evaluating and integrating emerging technologies, and leading architectural decisions for container orchestration, service mesh, observability, and developer tooling.
What You Will Do
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of infrastructure software engineers focused on Kubernetes platform engineering
- Build a culture of innovation, operational excellence, and customer-focused platform development
- Recruit top talent and develop career growth paths for team members
- Foster collaboration with application development teams, SRE, security, and other infrastructure teams
- Drive technical decision-making while empowering engineers to own their solutions
- Define and execute the technical roadmap for Marqeta's Kubernetes compute platform
- Develop and implement strategies to optimize Kubernetes infrastructure costs without compromising performance or reliability
- Monitor and analyze compute resource utilization, identifying opportunities for right-sizing and efficiency gains
- Implement FinOps practices, including chargeback/showback models, budget alerting, and cost allocation
- Lead incident response for platform-level issues and drive continuous improvement through blameless postmortems
What We Are Looking For
- 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on infrastructure and platform development
- 3+ years of experience in leading engineering teams, with a strong track record of mentoring and growing talent
- Strong technical expertise in Kubernetes, container orchestration, and cloud infrastructure
- Experience with platform-as-a-product mindset and treating internal engineering teams as customers
- Strong understanding of FinOps practices and cost optimization strategies
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work with cross-functional teams
- Experience with Agile development methodologies and CI/CD pipelines
Nice to Have
- Experience with Terraform and other automation tools
- Knowledge of emerging technologies, such as serverless computing and machine learning
- Experience with security and compliance frameworks, such as PCI-DSS and SOC 2
- Familiarity with AWS services and cloud infrastructure
Benefits and Perks
- Competitive salary and equity package
- Flexible work environment, with the option to work remotely
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) matching and retirement planning
- Generous PTO and holiday schedule
- Access to cutting-edge technology and tools
- Opportunities for professional growth and development
- Collaborative and dynamic work environment
- Recognition and reward programs for outstanding performance
How to Stand Out
- To stand out as a candidate, be prepared to share specific examples of your experience with Kubernetes and platform engineering.
- Showcase your ability to drive technical decision-making and empower engineers to own their solutions.
- Highlight your understanding of FinOps practices and cost optimization strategies.
- Emphasize your experience with Agile development methodologies and CI/CD pipelines.
- Be prepared to discuss your approach to platform modernization and cost optimization, and how you would drive these initiatives at Marqeta.
- Research Marqeta's technology stack and be prepared to ask informed questions about the company's infrastructure and engineering organization.
- Demonstrate your ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
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