Senior Platform Engineer

Senior Platform EngineerWhy You'll Actually CareDistrict Partners is recruiting for an established investment firm that is rebuilding how its technology platform is designed, automated, and operated. The team is small, the surface area is large, and the cloud foundation now underpins everything from trading and analytics to a fast-growing set of AI-enabled capabilities. Leadership is investing heavily in modernization this year, which means the infrastructure has outpaced the headcount supporting it and they need someone to own the platform rather than just keep it running. This role exists now because the firm is moving from a single overloaded engineering function toward a deliberately built platform organization, and they want an engineer in the seat before the next wave of build-out. You would be shaping that foundation, not inheriting someone else's finished system.The BasicsThe client is a lean, well-capitalized investment firm operating in a regulated financial environment. Technology sits close to the business, and the engineering group is small enough that individual contributors carry real ownership and have visibility all the way up to senior technical leadership. This is a hands-on platform role inside a team that values judgment, automation, and people who can operate modern infrastructure in a performance-sensitive setting.What You'll Be OwningA cloud foundation built and governed as code across development, test, and production, with you owning the standards rather than chasing driftReliable, secure, repeatable delivery pipelines that let a small engineering team ship quickly without giving up controlProduction visibility that surfaces problems early, spanning monitoring, alerting, logging, and tracingA defensible security posture across identity, access, network segmentation, secrets, and workload hardening in a regulated contextResilient, highly available infrastructure, including failover and continuity strategies that hold up under real conditionsThe platform groundwork that modern data services and AI-enabled applications depend onPractical use of AI-assisted engineering tools to reduce toil and speed troubleshooting, applied with sound operational judgmentThe EnvironmentThis is a small team carrying a broad mandate, which is exactly why the role was created. Much of the deep platform work today is concentrated in a single senior leader, and the firm is intentionally distributing that ownership so the function can scale. You would report into the infrastructure group and work closely with software engineering on architecture decisions. Expect breadth over narrow specialization, direct access to decision-makers, and a short path from idea to production. The firm values builders and strong learners who bring energy and want to grow as the organization expands, not caretakers.What You Bring to the TableThis is a selective search and the client is prioritizing a focused group of high-caliber candidates.A stable, full-time career track with meaningful tenure and clear progression in each roleStrong hands-on experience with a major public cloud across compute, networking, identity, security, and storageDeep experience building and governing infrastructure as codeSolid cloud networking fundamentals, including virtual network design, routing, connectivity, and security controlsStrong Linux systems administration supporting production workloadsExperience designing and operating delivery pipelines for distributed or containerized applicationsExperience with enterprise observability toolingComfort with version-controlled, automation-first engineering workflowsScripting ability is required; broader coding ability in a JVM language or Python is a meaningful plus and opens additional scopeWorking familiarity with JVM-based application environments and distributed NoSQL data platforms is helpfulClear written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiencesAlso valued:Experience with highly available, multi-region architectures and automated failoverFamiliarity with identity, SSO, and zero trust access patternsRecognized cloud certifications across architecture, DevOps, or security tracksExposure to platforms supporting analytics, data engineering, or AI-enabled workloadsA strong plus, not required (financial services background):Experience operating infrastructure inside a regulated financial services environment, such as a mortgage REIT, fixed income investor, or similar buy-side firmWorking knowledge of SOX and IT general controls, audit expectations, and access governance in a regulated settingExposure to trading, investment, or other performance-sensitive financial platforms where uptime and security carry real business stakesA Few Things Worth KnowingCompensation (base plus bonus and equity): total compensation potential of approximately $190,000 to $250,000Base salary in the range of $160,000 to $215,000Annual performance bonus plus equity participation, with flexibility for an exceptional candidateEngagement: full-time, direct hire, individual contributor with room to growLocation: Washington, DC or New York metroWork model: hybrid, on site a few times a month and as needed, with direct exposure to senior technical leadership. The on-site cadence may become more regular over time, though that is not a current requirementWhat stands out: unusually broad ownership for a single role, real investment in modern infrastructure and AI tooling, strong quality of life, and a clear runway for advancement as the team scales