Sr Lead Platform Engineer

Job Title: Sr. Lead Platform Engineer
REQUIRES A VERY SENIOR LEAD WITH 10 years experience and depth in the 5 listed must haves
Initial Duration: 6 month Contract to Hire
Location: ONSITE Hybrid> Hartford CT preferred; or Charlotte, NC; or Columbus, OH; or Chicago, IL (NO REMOTE)

KEY REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Top 5 Must Haves:
• 1. Pipeline Automation including GITHUB Actions/ Runners
• 2. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• 3. Full-Stack Software Engineering in Python
• 4. Lead experience in Platform Engineering including SRE and Monitoring experience
• 5. AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Professional Engineer, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)

PLEASE NOTE:

Overview: The Platform Engineering team is responsible for building and managing the platforms that power our software delivery practices. We are seeking a product-centric and customer-focused engineer to help shape the future of software delivery.

This role requires a Hybrid work arrangement. Candidates who live near one of our 4 locations (Hartford, CT - preferred; Charlotte, NC; Columbus, OH; Chicago, IL) will have the expectation of working in an office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday).

What You'll Be Doing: Insurance is transforming how we deliver software to our end customers as part of our cloud modernization initiative. The Platform Engineering team plays a central role in accelerating our progress in that initiative and in driving innovation across the organization.

You will play a pivotal role in defining and implementing innovative solutions that enhance our development process and drive efficiency across the organization. Your deep expertise in the SDLC tooling landscape will be instrumental in transforming how we deliver software.
What does the structure/makeup of the team currently look like?
- Team of 8 primarily all based in the US.
What will this contractor be accomplishing for your team?
- Working across our suite of developer tools to build pipelines, create scalable secure and automated solutions.
What will this contractor be working on / are there specific projects
- Migration of Github on-prem to Github Saas
- Building scalable and ephemeral Github Actions self-hosted runners.
- Enhancing resuable Github Actions workflows
- Migrating users from Jenkins and CodePipeline to Github Actions
- Delivering GenAI solutions to simplify various aspects of the SDLC
What makes this role stand out / what are some unique selling points?
- n opportunity to work with the latest tools to build solutions that scale across a large enterprise.
- very engaged team and great culture
Describe your expectations for training once a worker starts and expected ramp up.
- We provide necessary time to ramp up. Expectations are to have deep experience working within the CI/CD ecosystem and be able to contribute early.
What type of development will this contractor be doing? (Back end, front end, full stack?) and what will they be responsible for developing?
- Full stack, with a focus on API's, IaC, pipelines, and automation
What type of application will they be developing? Will this contractor primarily be working on new development or maintaining the current environment?
- A solid mix of both
Will this contractor be testing the application/software they are developing?
- Yes
What programming languages do you want this contractor to have experience with? (How many years of experience with each language)
- Extensive experience in at least one of: Nodejs, Java, Python
What other tools or technologies do you want this contractor to have experience with/how will they be interacting with these tools in this role?
- Github Actions, AWS, CodePipeline, Jenkins, uDeploy
What type of background should this contractor have in order to meet the needs of your team? Do they need to hold a specific degree or certification?
- Extensive experience building enterprise solutions for DevSecOps and software delivery

Responsibilities:

• Design and Implement Scalable, Reliable, and Secure Solutions: Develop and maintain robust software delivery platforms that meet the evolving needs of our engineering teams. Ensure these solutions align with organizational objectives and industry best practices.
• Lead Architectural Decisions and Thought Leadership: Drive key architectural decisions, providing strategic direction and thought leadership to the team. Act as a trusted advisor to stakeholders and partners, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Mentor and Develop Junior Engineers: Guide and mentor junior engineers, fostering their professional growth and development. Provide technical leadership and support to help them achieve their career goals.
• Cultivate a Culture of Innovation and Problem-Solving: Promote a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and problem-solving throughout the platform engineering lifecycle. Encourage the adoption of best practices and methodologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Proactively Identify and Implement Improvements: Demonstrate a proactive approach by identifying opportunities for improvement and swiftly implementing effective solutions. Maintain a bias for action to drive positive change and achieve organizational objectives.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Extensive experience in platform engineering, with a focus on leading complex projects.
• Proven track record of designing and maintaining reliable, scalable systems.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS and/or Google Cloud.
• Expertise in containerization and orchestration technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.
• Proficient in using monitoring and observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk).
• Proficiency in programming languages such as PHP, Go, Python and Java.
• Strong familiarity with SRE principles and methodologies, demonstrated through the implementation of proactive monitoring strategies and performance optimization techniques.
• Expertise in building CI/CD solutions with tools such as Jenkins, uDeploy, GitHub Actions, CodePipeline, and more.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Knowledge of database management systems (SQL and MySQL) and caching technologies.
• Deep expertise with infrastructure as code (IaC) and configuration management tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible).
• Strong bias for action, with a proactive approach to problem-solving and implementation.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive projects to completion.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapting to changing priorities.
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Professional Engineer, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), etc.
• Commitment to continuous learning and staying updated with the latest industry trends and technologies