Staff Engineer - DevOps

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Staff Engineer - DevOps based in the United States. We are seeking an experienced Staff DevOps Engineer to shape the technical vision and long-term strategy of an internal developer platform built around Backstage. In this senior technical leadership role, you will drive platform architecture, establish engineering-wide standards, and scale self-service capabilities that improve productivity and accelerate software delivery. You will collaborate with DevOps, SRE, security, data, and product engineering teams to turn platform investments into measurable business and engineering outcomes. A key part of the role will be championing AI-enabled engineering practices, integrating intelligent workflows into developer tools, and helping teams adopt emerging technologies responsibly. You will have broad organizational influence, the opportunity to mentor senior engineers, and the autonomy to guide complex, multi-quarter initiatives in a global, regulated environment.

Define and drive the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for the internal developer platform, including Backstage catalog strategy, plugin architecture, and platform APIs. Establish organization-wide standards for golden paths, self-service workflows, and reusable infrastructure patterns across provisioning, CI/CD, environments, and observability. Evaluate build-versus-buy decisions, assessing Backstage plugins, third-party internal developer platform solutions, and custom development based on cost, scalability, and engineering impact. Partner with engineering leaders across product, SRE, security, and data teams to align platform priorities with organizational goals and identify high-value investments. Define, monitor, and report on platform health and developer experience metrics, including DORA metrics, self-service adoption, lead time to production, and ticket deflection. Lead platform adoption across engineering teams, developing migration strategies for legacy infrastructure and workflows toward standardized, self-service solutions. Architect scalable infrastructure and platform capabilities across multi-account AWS environments, EKS/Kubernetes, and Terraform/Terragrunt module ecosystems. Embed security, compliance, and automated guardrails into platform capabilities to ensure secure-by-default practices across a regulated, global environment. Champion AI-enabled engineering by evaluating and scaling AI coding assistants, agentic tools, and LLM-powered workflows, including AI-assisted scaffolding, incident triage, and documentation generation. Mentor senior engineers, influence technical direction across teams, and build alignment around platform standards and long-term engineering strategy. Requirements 8+ years of experience in DevOps, Platform Engineering, or Site Reliability Engineering, including at least 3 years in a senior, staff, or equivalent technical leadership role. Demonstrated experience owning the architecture and roadmap of an internal developer platform at scale; Backstage experience is strongly preferred, particularly with catalog design, plugin ecosystems, and extensibility. Proven ability to drive organization-wide adoption of self-service workflows and golden paths, including change management across multiple engineering teams. Expert knowledge of AWS services and cloud-native architecture at scale, including multi-account environments, VPC design, IAM policies, and networking. Deep experience with Kubernetes, preferably EKS, as well as Docker and Helm, including the design of platform-level abstractions for container orchestration. Advanced Infrastructure as Code expertise with Terraform and Terragrunt, including designing reusable module ecosystems that support self-service across teams. Strong scripting and automation skills in Python, Bash, and TypeScript/Node.js, including experience developing Backstage plugins and extensible platform tooling. Experience defining CI/CD strategy and standards across engineering organizations, using tools such as GitHub Actions, Argo CD, TeamCity, or comparable technologies. Strong understanding of observability and developer experience measurement, with the ability to connect platform investments to measurable outcomes such as DORA metrics, lead time, and adoption rates. Extensive knowledge of networking, security hardening, and regulatory compliance, including experience implementing automated, secure-by-default platform guardrails. A track record of mentoring senior engineers, influencing technical decisions across teams, and guiding broader engineering initiatives without relying on direct authority. AWS Professional Certification, such as Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, or SysOps Administrator, is strongly preferred. Demonstrated fluency with AI development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar solutions. A clear perspective on responsibly scaling AI-enabled engineering practices, including integrating AI-assisted workflows into internal platforms and helping teams improve development velocity through effective AI adoption. Strong communication, collaboration, and strategic problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and translate technical investments into organization-wide results. Benefits Competitive compensation and benefits. Flexible vacation allowance. Flexible working arrangements, including remote and hybrid options. A startup-style culture supported by the stability and reach of an established global brand. An inclusive and diverse working environment that values authenticity, individual contributions, and equal opportunity.