_MADE Platform Engineering Lead

HKS•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

Overview: Leads the development and maintenance of HKS's internal platform infrastructure that enables application development teams to build and deploy solutions faster, safer, and more consistently. This role focuses on reducing cognitive load for application developers through platform engineering principles, treating internal infrastructure as a product with developers as customers. Open mindset and willingness to embrace emerging platform technologies. Manages the firm’s resources (people, processes and tools) and assignments with proficiency, fluency and aptitude. Teaches and mentors staff and effectively embodies and expresses the firm’s values and mission. Responsibilities: Designs, builds and maintains CI/CD pipeline infrastructure for all applications Implements Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and ARM templates for Azure resource management Establishes and evolves microservices framework, API standards, and service contracts Creates and maintains developer self-service capabilities and internal tooling Leads Azure cloud infrastructure strategy, optimization and cost management Manages environment provisioning (dev, test, staging, production) through automation Implements disaster recovery, backup strategies and security frameworks Handles Azure networking, load balancing and application gateway configuration Reduces cognitive load on application development teams through platform abstractions Creates "golden path" templates, patterns and scaffolding tools for rapid development Gathers and acts on developer feedback to continuously improve platform services Streamlines onboarding processes and reduce environment setup time for new developers Designs and implements data models that represent architectural concepts, project hierarchies and design workflows Establishes architectural workflow automation capabilities and data standardization across design phases Implements centralized logging, monitoring, and alerting systems using Azure Monitor and Application Insights Builds distributed tracing capabilities and performance monitoring across microservices Establishes security frameworks, authentication/authorization systems and secrets management Ensures compliance with architectural industry standards and security best practices Shared Team Responsibilities : Collaborates closely with Application Development teams to understand platform requirements Facilitates platform-application integration and resolves cross-team dependencies Provides technical leadership in combined sprint planning and dependency management Conducts platform adoption sessions and knowledge transfer with application teams and measures platform adoption, usage metrics, and developer satisfaction Maintains platform roadmap aligned with application team needs and business objectives Prioritizes platform features based on developer feedback and organizational impact Manages platform versioning, deprecation policies and backward compatibility Architects test automation strategy for platform services and integration points and implements automated testing frameworks for CI/CD pipelines Leads cross-team integration testing between platform and application services Coaches application developers on testing practices and platform testing tools Leads sophisticated CI/CD implementation for both platform and application deployments Manages complex deployment orchestration across multiple microservices Implements automated rollback mechanisms and deployment safety measures Optimizes deployment frequency and reduces lead-time for changes Experiments with emerging technologies (AI/ML, containers, serverless) for platform enhancement Integrates Azure AI services to enable intelligent capabilities across platform services to show how AI fits into platform strategy Identifies opportunities to reduce manual processes through platform automation Makes strategic architectural decisions that enable sustainable team scaling Stays current with platform engineering trends, tools, and industry best practices Qualifications: Education and Experience Computer Science, Software Engineering Bachelor's degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience Typically, 7+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or senior software development roles Typically, 3+ years of experience leading infrastructure or platform initiatives Typically 5+ years with Microsoft Azure including App Services, Functions, Container Instances; advanced proficiency in Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Storage Proven experience scaling development teams through platform engineering Proven experience managing multi-team technical coordination and dependencies Knowledge, Skills, Abilities Advanced – expert-level experience, knowledge or skills Intermediate – experience, knowledge or skills required to produce high-quality solutions or work Basic – familiar with primary concepts or capabilities and may perform elementary functions depending on role Advanced experience designing and operating CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps), Infrastructure as Code (ARM, Terraform), internal developer platforms, self-service tooling, observability, and platform-as-a-product practices focused on developer experience required Advanced proficiency in ASP.NET, React, modern web frameworks required; intermediate experience required with microservices, API design, service contracts, containerization (Docker), orchestration, and SQL/NoSQL database design and optimization Intermediate knowledge of networking, security, monitoring, governance, compliance, and Azure AI services (Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning) required Advanced experience designing complex, domain-specific data models particularly for architectural and engineering contexts required Advanced experience implementing AI/ML solutions using Azure AI platforms required Intermediate experience integrating architectural and engineering software (AutoCAD, Revit, BIM/CAD APIs) preferred Intermediate strong understanding of architectural design processes, project phases, and data relationships across design workflows preferred Advanced background in Team Topologies and platform engineering frameworks required Proven ability to balance technical excellence with business requirements required Advanced ability to lead cross-functional teams in agile development environments required Advanced communication skills for technical and non-technical stakeholders required Advanced experience managing platform adoption and change management processes required Advanced ability to work on multiple platform initiatives simultaneously while maintaining quality required Advanced attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence required Advanced ability to handle sensitive infrastructure information with high confidentiality required Intermediate knowledge of security frameworks, compliance requirements, and governance required Intermediate experience implementing AI/ML solutions using Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, or Azure Machine Learning required Travel may be required If you currently work for HKS, please submit your application via the Internal Careers Portal . HKS is an EEO/AA Employer: M/F/Disabled/Veteran

Requirements

Computer Science, Software Engineering Bachelor's degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience
Typically, 7+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or senior software development roles
Typically, 3+ years of experience leading infrastructure or platform initiatives
Typically 5+ years with Microsoft Azure including App Services, Functions, Container Instances; advanced proficiency in Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Storage
Proven experience scaling development teams through platform engineering
Proven experience managing multi-team technical coordination and dependencies
Advanced experience designing and operating CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps), Infrastructure as Code (ARM, Terraform), internal developer platforms, self-service tooling, observability, and platform-as-a-product practices focused on developer experience required
Advanced proficiency in ASP.NET, React, modern web frameworks required; intermediate experience required with microservices, API design, service contracts, containerization (Docker), orchestration, and SQL/NoSQL database design and optimization
Intermediate knowledge of networking, security, monitoring, governance, compliance, and Azure AI services (Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning) required
Advanced experience designing complex, domain-specific data models particularly for architectural and engineering contexts required
Advanced experience implementing AI/ML solutions using Azure AI platforms required
Advanced background in Team Topologies and platform engineering frameworks required
Proven ability to balance technical excellence with business requirements required
Advanced ability to lead cross-functional teams in agile development environments required
Advanced communication skills for technical and non-technical stakeholders required
Advanced experience managing platform adoption and change management processes required
Advanced ability to work on multiple platform initiatives simultaneously while maintaining quality required
Advanced attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence required
Advanced ability to handle sensitive infrastructure information with high confidentiality required
Intermediate knowledge of security frameworks, compliance requirements, and governance required
Intermediate experience implementing AI/ML solutions using Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, or Azure Machine Learning required

Nice To Haves

Intermediate experience integrating architectural and engineering software (AutoCAD, Revit, BIM/CAD APIs) preferred
Intermediate strong understanding of architectural design processes, project phases, and data relationships across design workflows preferred

Responsibilities

Designs, builds and maintains CI/CD pipeline infrastructure for all applications
Implements Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and ARM templates for Azure resource management
Establishes and evolves microservices framework, API standards, and service contracts
Creates and maintains developer self-service capabilities and internal tooling
Leads Azure cloud infrastructure strategy, optimization and cost management
Manages environment provisioning (dev, test, staging, production) through automation
Implements disaster recovery, backup strategies and security frameworks
Handles Azure networking, load balancing and application gateway configuration
Reduces cognitive load on application development teams through platform abstractions
Creates "golden path" templates, patterns and scaffolding tools for rapid development
Gathers and acts on developer feedback to continuously improve platform services
Streamlines onboarding processes and reduce environment setup time for new developers
Designs and implements data models that represent architectural concepts, project hierarchies and design workflows
Establishes architectural workflow automation capabilities and data standardization across design phases
Implements centralized logging, monitoring, and alerting systems using Azure Monitor and Application Insights
Builds distributed tracing capabilities and performance monitoring across microservices
Establishes security frameworks, authentication/authorization systems and secrets management
Ensures compliance with architectural industry standards and security best practices
Collaborates closely with Application Development teams to understand platform requirements
Facilitates platform-application integration and resolves cross-team dependencies
Provides technical leadership in combined sprint planning and dependency management
Conducts platform adoption sessions and knowledge transfer with application teams and measures platform adoption, usage metrics, and developer satisfaction
Maintains platform roadmap aligned with application team needs and business objectives
Prioritizes platform features based on developer feedback and organizational impact
Manages platform versioning, deprecation policies and backward compatibility
Architects test automation strategy for platform services and integration points and implements automated testing frameworks for CI/CD pipelines
Leads cross-team integration testing between platform and application services
Coaches application developers on testing practices and platform testing tools
Leads sophisticated CI/CD implementation for both platform and application deployments
Manages complex deployment orchestration across multiple microservices
Implements automated rollback mechanisms and deployment safety measures
Optimizes deployment frequency and reduces lead-time for changes
Experiments with emerging technologies (AI/ML, containers, serverless) for platform enhancement
Integrates Azure AI services to enable intelligent capabilities across platform services to show how AI fits into platform strategy
Identifies opportunities to reduce manual processes through platform automation
Makes strategic architectural decisions that enable sustainable team scaling
Stays current with platform engineering trends, tools, and industry best practices