Lead Platform Engineer

Innovative technologies, MVP mindset, AI-first - everyone is talking about it. With us you are right in the middle of it. Together with established clients, we develop efficient software solutions, move along product development and share our knowledge with the world. We consider ourselves AI-native: we are curious about how AI is reshaping our field and actively explore and integrate it into our daily work, from ideation to delivery. Making a real impact and delivering high standard quality while staying authentic and treating each other with respect and fairness are prerequisites for all our projects and a core value within the team.

You thrive in building the backbone of modern software development and internal developer platforms. You create smooth, automated, and scalable developer experiences by designing robust platforms, streamlining pipelines, and optimizing delivery processes. If you love solving infrastructure challenges, enabling development teams, and shaping the way software is delivered—this is for you.

Your Tasks

• Architecture & Design: End-to-end ownership of design, implementation, and security of scalable platform solutions.
• Technical Leadership: Define reference architectures, module catalogs, and paved-road templates, guiding engineering teams in deploying and operating cloud-native platforms.
• Client Consulting: Lead client workshops and architecture discussions, driving best practices and state-of-the-art approaches.
• Platform Automation: Design and implement advanced automation strategies for multi-team and multi-cloud environments.
• Security & Reliability: Ensure compliance, security, and high availability for enterprise-scale platforms.
• Community Engagement: Drive thought leadership by contributing to meetups, conferences, and internal knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Ownership: Own platform domains across multiple teams, supporting the whole product organization.

Your Qualifications

• Advanced Kubernetes: Ability to design and manage complex Kubernetes or Openshift clusters in enterprise environments. Hands-on experience with various Kubernetes Operators.
• GitOps: Deep understanding of GitOps principles and the ability to design and implement robust, version-controlled infrastructure workflows utilizing tools such as ArgoCD and Flux.
• Infrastructure as Code: Proven hands-on experience with multiple IaC frameworks, such as Terraform, Pulumi or Crossplane to build scalable, reusable, and maintainable infrastructure components.
• CI/CD & Security: Expertise in supply-chain hardening, and securing automated deployment pipelines.
• Nice-to-Have: Multi-Cloud Experience (AWS, GCP, Azure or hybrid environments), programming skills (Python, Golang or Rust), FinOps experience (cost allocation and optimization, Karpenter).
• Leadership & Mentorship: Ability to coach and mentor engineers, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.
• Strategic Thinking: Outcome-oriented, client-focused, hands-on, and always anticipating technical challenges that jeopardize project outcomes.
• AI-native: You actively use AI-powered tools (e.g., code assistants, LLM-based workflows) to amplify your productivity and quality, or you're eager to start.
• Communication: Ability to break down complex topics and explain them in a clear and easy to understand way that makes sense to both engineers and clients.
• Languages: Fluent in English and German is a must

Why You’ll Love Working at SQUER:

• Ownership & Responsibility: at SQUER, we believe in empowering our team. In our flat hierarchies, your ideas and actions matter more than titles. Take the reins, make an impact and grow with us.
• Learn & Grow: Tap into a € 5.000 annual training budget to sharpen your skills and take advantage of our in-house Leadership Academy. Join and be part of our active tech community through meetups, hackathons and training sessions. Get up to 40h/year additional time off for your personal education.
• Exciting Challenges & Real Impact : Dive into diverse projects where your work truly makes a difference – for our clients and for SQUER.
• Flexibility for Performance: Benefit from hybrid work options, flexible hours, workations within the EU, and additional vacation days – giving you the freedom to perform at your best.
• Tailored Tools for Success : Choose your preferred hardware configuration and leverage our suite of AI tools and licenses (Anthropic, OpenAI, and more) to suit your working style.
• We Value You : Beyond perks and benefits, we offer a competitive annual salary to recognize your exceptional contributions.
• Be Part of a Thriving Team Culture: At SQUER, collaboration and connection are at the heart of what we do. Through open communication, shared successes, and meaningful team events – including our annual SQUER offsite – we cultivate a culture where everyone feels valued and inspired to grow together.
• A Perks-Packed Workplace : Work in a central office near Ostbahnhof and enjoy meal vouchers, EGYM Wellpass membership, a free Deutschland-Ticket, JobRad, referral bonuses, Corporate Benefits, and Pluxee employee gifts for special occasions.