Explore Head of Platform Engineering jobs and discover a pivotal leadership role at the intersection of technology, strategy, and people management. A Head of Platform Engineering is a senior executive responsible for building and leading the internal technology foundation that enables product engineering teams to innovate, develop, and deploy software efficiently, securely, and at scale. This strategic position is critical in modern technology-driven organizations, focusing on maximizing developer productivity and ensuring system reliability through robust internal platforms. Professionals in these roles typically oversee several core domains, including cloud infrastructure, developer tooling, internal platforms, site reliability engineering (SRE), and often data or AI enablement pipelines. Their primary mission is to abstract complexity away from product teams, providing self-service, automated, and standardized systems. Common responsibilities involve developing and executing a multi-year technical vision and roadmap for the platform organization. This includes managing substantial budgets for cloud services and tooling, and making critical build-vs.-buy decisions. A significant part of the role is people leadership: recruiting, mentoring, and growing teams of engineers and engineering managers, fostering a culture of collaboration, high performance, and continuous improvement. They are also accountable for the operational health of the platform, ensuring scalability, security, resilience, and cost-effectiveness. Crucially, they act as a key liaison, collaborating closely with product, security, and business leadership to align platform capabilities with overarching company goals. When searching for Head of Platform Engineering jobs, candidates will find that typical requirements emphasize a blend of deep technical expertise and exceptional leadership. A strong technical background in cloud-native architectures (AWS, GCP, or Azure), distributed systems, DevOps principles, and modern software development practices is essential. Experience with infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and observability tools is standard. Leadership-wise, a proven track record of managing multiple teams or a large organization, with at least 5-10 years of engineering management experience, is expected. The role demands strategic thinking, the ability to communicate a compelling vision to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, and a talent for building empowering, inclusive team environments. Skills in navigating ambiguity, driving cultural change, and a steadfast focus on improving developer experience are paramount. This career path is ideal for those who aspire to shape the technological backbone of an organization and amplify the output of entire engineering departments. Discover your next career-defining opportunity in Head of Platform Engineering jobs.
