A Head of Platform & Infrastructure is a senior technology executive responsible for the foundational systems that power an organization's digital products and services. This strategic leadership role sits at the intersection of engineering, operations, and business strategy, ensuring that the technological backbone is robust, scalable, secure, and efficient. Professionals in these jobs are the architects of an organization's internal developer platform and cloud ecosystem, enabling product teams to build, deploy, and operate software with velocity and reliability. They are pivotal in transforming raw infrastructure into a cohesive, self-service platform that accelerates innovation. The common responsibilities for a Head of Platform & Infrastructure are broad and critical. They typically own the vision and roadmap for cloud infrastructure, platform engineering, site reliability engineering (SRE), and internal IT. A core duty is leading multiple teams—often comprising platform engineers, SREs, and DevOps specialists—fostering a culture of technical excellence and operational rigor. They drive the adoption of modern practices like Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), GitOps, and DevSecOps to automate and secure the software delivery lifecycle. Ensuring high availability, disaster recovery, and proactive monitoring of production systems is paramount. Furthermore, they are accountable for cloud cost management and optimization, ensuring infrastructure spending is efficient and aligned with business value. A significant part of the role involves close collaboration with product engineering leadership to improve developer experience, providing the tools, guardrails, and automated pipelines that allow engineers to focus on building features rather than managing infrastructure. They also often oversee the internal IT function, managing business applications and the corporate tech stack. Typical skills and requirements for these leadership jobs are extensive. Candidates must possess deep, hands-on expertise in public cloud platforms (like AWS, Azure, or GCP), container orchestration (especially Kubernetes), and modern software delivery methodologies. A proven track record of building, mentoring, and leading high-performing engineering teams is essential. Beyond technical prowess, strategic thinking is crucial; they must translate business objectives into a pragmatic, long-term technology roadmap. Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills are required to align technical initiatives with company goals and to articulate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. A strong background in security and compliance, with the ability to embed security practices throughout the development process, is also a standard requirement. Ultimately, successful Heads of Platform & Infrastructure are enablers, removing friction for engineering teams while ensuring the underlying systems are resilient, cost-effective, and poised for future growth.
