Senior Lead Platform Engineer

Thought Industries, Inc. • Boston, MA

6h • $200,000 - $230,000

About The Position

This is an Architect-Practitioner role. You are joining the Architecture & Platform Team to lead a serious stack modernization effort.
We are not looking for someone to patch legacy code; we are looking for someone to strangle it. You will be responsible for designing and implementing the new core architecture—moving a B2B LMS platform into a modern, Hexagonal, Event-Driven future on Kubernetes. You will build the "paved road" that our product squads drive on.
The Stack & Standards
Core: TypeScript (Strict), NestJS, Next.js, React.
Architecture: Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters), DDD, Event Sourcing.
Data & Transport: GraphQL, REST, Enterprise Queuing (AWS SQS/SNS/Kafka).
AI Platform: Building the internal AI Gateway (LiteLLM) and Orchestration Layer (evaluating AI SDK/Mastra).
The Mandate (What You Will Own)
The Modernization Strategy: You will lead the technical execution of migrating our legacy LMS capabilities into the new stack. You must understand how to peel off services without causing downtime or data inconsistency.
The AI Foundation: You aren't just writing prompts. You are building the AI Platform for the company. You will implement the gateway (LiteLLM), choose the libraries (Mastra/AI SDK), and define the schema for how our application interacts with LLMs deterministically.
Platform Standards: You set the rules. You will define the patterns for strong typing, dependency injection, and error handling. If the Platform Team ships sloppy interfaces, the Product Teams ship sloppy features. You are the firewall against technical debt.
LMS Core Engine: You will architect the deep backend services that handle industry standards (SCORM, xAPI). You need to treat these widely-used, older standards with modern engineering rigor.

Requirements

• You don't understand "Why": If you use a framework feature just because it’s there, don’t apply. We need someone who uses Dependency Injection to enforce architectural boundaries, not just because NestJS implies it.
• You can't handle Legacy: This is a modernization role. You will be looking at old code to understand the business logic before rebuilding it. If reading legacy code ruins your day, this role isn't for you.
• You are a "Happy Path" coder: On the Platform team, edge cases are the main cases. You need to obsess over queuing failures, idempotency, and type safety.

Nice To Haves

• LMS Internals: Deep understanding of the SCORM runtime environment or xAPI statements
• Migration Scars: You have successfully migrated a monolith to microservices (or modular monoliths) before and lived to tell the tale.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical execution of migrating our legacy LMS capabilities into the new stack. You must understand how to peel off services without causing downtime or data inconsistency.
• Implement the gateway (LiteLLM), choose the libraries (Mastra/AI SDK), and define the schema for how our application interacts with LLMs deterministically.
• Define the patterns for strong typing, dependency injection, and error handling.
• Architect the deep backend services that handle industry standards (SCORM, xAPI).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed