Site Reliability Engineering Lead

Job TypeFull-timeDescriptionHybrid: Boston, MA Headquarters (1-2 days/week in office)Lead the establishment of LineVision's SRE practice and shape how we deliver grid-grade reliability.We are seeking a Site Reliability Engineering Lead to build our first dedicated SRE function from the ground up-defining the standards, practices, and frameworks that ensure our grid intelligence platform meets the exceptional reliability requirements of utility customers operating mission-critical infrastructure. This is a high-impact, individual contributor role where you'll be both hands-on implementing reliability infrastructure and strategic in driving organizational adoption of SRE practices. If you are looking to combine deep technical expertise with cross-functional influence to establish reliability practices that directly impact grid operations, join us at LineVision, Built In Boston Best Places to Work !What will you do?Core Responsibilities and Key Performance ObjectivesEstablish LineVision's SRE practice from the ground up - define Service Level Objectives, implement observability frameworks, and build deployment safety guardrails while driving organizational adoption of SRE methodologiesBe hands-on with reliability infrastructure - instrument services, configure monitoring tools, build dashboards, create alerting frameworks, and establish incident response proceduresPlan and influence across teams - partner strategically with engineering, platform, product, and customer support to sequence SRE initiatives, balance competing priorities, and drive adoption of reliability standards without direct authorityCommunicate reliability as business value - translate technical metrics, error budgets, and system health into business impact for both technical teams and executive stakeholdersWithin the first 3 months:Conduct comprehensive assessment of current infrastructure and establish baseline reliability metrics for critical servicesBuild relationships with engineering, platform, product, and customer support teams to understand pain points and align on prioritiesHands-on: Define initial SLOs for 2-3 highest-priority services and implement foundational monitoring dashboardsEstablish incident response framework with escalation paths and blameless post-incident review processWithin the first 6 months:Hands-on: Deploy production observability framework with instrumented golden signals, actionable alerting, and comprehensive dashboardsImplement CI/CD improvements including automated testing gates, canary deployments, and rollback capabilitiesPartner with engineering teams to operationalize SLOs and use error budgets to inform roadmap decisionsDocument SRE standards and runbooks that become organizational reference materialsWithin the first year:Achieve measurable improvements in deployment success rates, MTTR, and system reliability through hands-on implementation and organizational influenceEstablish error budget framework that influences product and engineering decision-making across teamsBuild LineVision's SRE capability as a recognized practice with documented processes and frameworks that scale with company growthHow to succeed in this roleKey CompetenciesCritical Thinking: Lead problem-solving efforts around complex reliability challenges, consistently applying critical thinking to identify root causes and prevent future incidentsTaking Ownership: Lead reliability initiatives with minimal supervision, taking full ownership of both hands-on implementation and organizational SRE practice developmentStakeholder Management: Manage relationships and influence priorities across engineering, platform, product, and support teams. Translate reliability metrics into business impact for executive leadership. Leverage influence without authority to drive adoption of SRE standardsDelivering Innovative Solutions: Lead implementation of modern SRE practices, bringing proven methodologies from previous experience and adapting them to utility infrastructure constraintsEssential SkillsSRE Practice Building: Demonstrated experience establishing SRE practices including defining SLOs, implementing error budgets, and driving organizational adoption-not just maintaining existing practicesCross-Functional Planning & Influence: Proven ability to plan and sequence complex initiatives across multiple teams, influence without authority, and drive technical standards adoptionAWS Expertise: Deep hands-on experience with production AWS services including EC2, RDS, Lambda, VPC configuration, and networkingObservability & Monitoring: Expert proficiency with tools like Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, or CloudWatch for instrumenting distributed systemsInfrastructure as Code: Strong experience with Terraform, CloudFormation, or PulumiProgramming & Automation: Python and TypeScript experience for instrumentation, automation, and toolingWhat Sets the Best Candidates ApartExperience establishing SRE practices at high-scale technology companies and translating them to different organizational contextsBackground in energy, utility, or critical infrastructure sectors where reliability directly impacts operationsTrack record driving technical standards adoption across engineering organizations without direct authorityStrategic thinking about balancing quick wins with long-term infrastructure investmentsCan operate at both tactical (hands-on implementation) and strategic (organizational influence) levelsReporting & Team StructureReports to the Senior DevOps ManagerIndividual contributor role - no direct reports, influence through expertise and cross-functional partnershipsCollaborates with Platform, Engineering, Product, and Customer Support teams across LineVision's technology stackFunctions as technical leader and subject matter expert on SRE practices company-wideInterview ProcessApply Online.Round 1: Phone screen (Recruiter)Round 2: Hiring Manager InterviewRound 3: Panel InterviewsPanel 1: Technical competency & SRE methodology - AWS architecture, observability frameworks, deployment reliability, hands-on problem-solvingPanel 2: Cross-functional influence & stakeholder management - organizational influence, strategic planning, culture fitFinal Round: Leadership Team & Hiring Manager Sign-Off What does joining LineVision mean for you?Impact. Your talent, time, and energy will critically impact our success in accelerating our mission of providing utilities with grid intelligence to enable affordable, reliable power.Ownership. You will hold broad responsibilities with high autonomy and trust in a communicative, collaborative, and fast-paced environment.Flexibility. You will be empowered to maintain work-life balance with trust-based PTO and a flexible work schedule.Real World Innovation. You will join a motivated and high-performing team working with cutting edge, patented technology to help solve key obstacles to meet the demands of an AI-powered future.Who we are...LineVision is a grid-enhancing technology company enabling electric utilities to deliver affordable, reliable power and accelerate the electrification of the global economy. Our grid intelligence platform delivers the most accurate, network-wide dynamic line ratings and enables safer, more reliable grid operations with a combination of optical sensors and advanced environmental modeling. LineVision's global customer base includes eight of the ten largest US utilities, including National Grid, Southern Company, and Exelon.We are LineVisionaries:We are Innovators: We light the way with tenacious creativity and do good work.We are Empowered: With high trust and high autonomy, the floor is yours, and the opportunity is ours.We are Welcoming: Come as you are, our doors are open. We are better together.We are Trusted Partners: We elevate our customer champions through shared thought leadership. We deliver on commitments.We are All In: We are building a community of passionate individuals who want to dent the universe.At LineVision there's no such thing as a "perfect" candidate. We are looking for exceptional people who want to make a positive impact through their work and facilitate an organization where everyone can thrive. So whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this role would make you excited to come to work every day.Meet our team, and understand our mission: https://www.linevisioninc.com/about-usSalary Description