Senior Engineering Manager, Cloud Platform

Upstart•San Mateo, CA

15d•Remote

About The Position

About Upstart Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload. Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas. Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you! The Team The Cloud Platform organization provides the foundational infrastructure that powers Upstart’s engineering teams. Within this organization, the Compute and Infrastructure teams enable scale, reliability, cost-efficiency, and developer velocity across our cloud ecosystem. The Compute team owns our Kubernetes-based compute platform, ensuring it is performant, resilient, and easy to use. They focus on enabling scalable infrastructure patterns and self-service capabilities for product teams. The Infrastructure team manages our cloud architecture and platform tooling, maintaining Infrastructure-as-Code standards, automating pipelines, and designing secure, observable, and future-proof systems. Their charter spans network architecture (e.g., VPCs, service mesh, SaaS integrations) and reusable platform patterns (e.g., AWS CDK, Backstage, CI/CD). Together, these teams are building the next generation of Upstart’s internal cloud platform, secure by default, scalable by design, and built for developer experience. The Role This role leads both the Compute and Infrastructure teams within the Cloud Platform organization. You’ll define and execute the technical and organizational strategy for Upstart’s internal platform, balancing scale, simplicity, and developer empowerment. You’ll also oversee our cloud cost efficiency program, ensuring infrastructure investments are measurable and aligned with company priorities. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity with broad visibility across engineering. You’ll help shape core platform capabilities, reduce complexity for product teams, and invest in growing a strong, inclusive team culture.

Requirements

5+ years of engineering leadership experience, including managing managers or overseeing multiple technical domains.
7+ years of hands-on experience building and operating distributed systems or infrastructure in a cloud-native environment.
Proven ability to lead multiple technical domains (e.g., compute, networking, automation) under a unified platform strategy.
Strong technical judgment with the ability to define clear charters and structure teams for speed, clarity, and cross-functional alignment.
Demonstrated success in hiring, mentoring, and retaining top engineering talent while fostering an inclusive and high-performing culture.

Nice To Haves

Deep expertise in Kubernetes, cloud networking, service meshes (e.g., Istio or Linkerd), and Infrastructure-as-Code tools like CDK or Terraform.
Experience architecting AWS-native solutions, including VPC design, IAM, and multi-account strategies.
History of delivering platform capabilities that measurably improved developer experience and operational efficiency.
Strong background in infrastructure automation, observability, and platform reliability best practices.
Experience building internal developer platforms, libraries, or CI/CD pipelines that abstract cloud complexity (e.g., via Backstage).
Experience managing cloud vendor spend, cost attribution, and optimization across a large organization.

Responsibilities

Lead and scale two high-impact platform engineering teams. Compute and Infrastructure within the Cloud Platform organization.
Define and execute a cohesive strategy for Upstart’s multi-cluster, cross-region compute and infrastructure platforms that prioritizes simplicity, performance, security, and scale.
Partner with engineering and product leaders to deeply understand developer needs and drive platform improvements that boost development velocity.
Shape platform abstractions that streamline compute scaling, infrastructure provisioning, and network management for engineering teams.
Champion automation, observability, and platform ownership across both teams.
Lead Upstart’s cloud cost efficiency initiatives, including workload optimization and governance practices.
Invest in your team’s growth through mentorship, clear expectations, and opportunities for technical and leadership development.
Contribute to the evolution of our Cloud Platform vision by applying first-principles thinking to complex technical and organizational challenges.

Benefits

Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart
401(k) with 100% company match up to $4,500 and immediate vesting and after-tax savings
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
Life and disability insurance
Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave
Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices