Staff Platform Engineer (Colombia and/or Global)

Staff Platform Engineer Role Overview We are seeking a Staff Platform Engineer to lead the design, evolution, and adoption of our internal platform ecosystem. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership to build secure, scalable, and developer-centric cloud platforms. As a senior technical leader, you will define platform architecture, establish engineering standards, and enable product teams through a world-class Internal Developer Platform (IDP). You will work across teams to improve developer experience, system reliability, security posture, and cloud networking foundations while driving innovation in cloud-native and AI-enabled engineering practices. Key Responsibilities Platform Architecture & Strategy * Define and evolve the target architecture for cloud-native platforms on AWS * Architect and govern AWS network topology, including multi-account and multi-region designs * Design scalable, resilient systems leveraging Kubernetes, serverless, and event-driven architectures * Establish and maintain platform standards, patterns, and “golden paths” for engineering teams * Drive adoption of the Internal Developer Platform (IDP) across the organization Cloud Networking & Infrastructure * Design and implement secure, scalable AWS network architectures (VPCs, subnets, routing, NAT, load balancing) * Define connectivity patterns including Transit Gateway, API gateway, VPC peering, and PrivateLink * Architect hybrid connectivity solutions (VPN, Direct Connect) and private service access * Establish network segmentation and zero-trust principles across environments * Implement and enforce network security controls (security groups, NACLs, traffic inspection) * Optimize network performance, availability, and cost across distributed systems * Architect systems Data & Database Architecture * Design and govern database architectures across AWS services (e.g., RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, and data streaming platforms) * Define best practices for data modeling, indexing, and query optimization across relational and NoSQL systems * Architect scalable data access patterns for microservices and event-driven systems * Ensure high availability and disaster recovery strategies (multi-AZ, multi-region replication, backup/restore) * Optimize database performance, cost, and storage strategies across workloads * Establish secure data handling practices, including encryption, access controls, and data classification * Collaborate with engineering teams on schema design, data lifecycle management, and migration strategies Technical Leadership * Act as a technical authority across platform, infrastructure, and networking domains * Lead complex cross-team initiatives and influence architectural decisions at an organizational level * Mentor senior engineers and guide teams on platform engineering, cloud architecture, and DevSecOps best practices * Provide architectural leadership on complex networking challenges, including cross-region and hybrid cloud designs Developer Experience & Enablement * Build and enhance self-service capabilities, reusable templates, and automation tooling * Improve developer productivity through streamlined workflows, CI/CD, and platform abstractions * Partner with engineering teams to reduce friction and accelerate delivery Cloud Infrastructure & Automation * Architect and manage AWS environments (EKS, Lambda, API Gateway, IAM, VPC, etc.) * Lead Infrastructure as Code practices (Terraform preferred) for scalable and consistent environments * Design and implement robust CI/CD pipelines with integrated testing and security controls Security & Governance * Define and enforce security best practices across platform, application, and network layers * Implement DevSecOps practices, including automated security testing and compliance controls * Drive adoption of zero-trust and identity-first security models * Ensure governance across IAM, networking, encryption, and secrets management Observability & Reliability * Establish observability standards including logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting * Define and implement SLOs, SLIs, and error budgets * Drive reliability engineering practices and continuous improvement of incident response Cost & Performance Optimization * Promote FinOps practices and cost-aware architecture design * Optimize infrastructure usage, network efficiency, and system performance Innovation & Emerging Technology * Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies, including AI-native development workflows * Guide safe and scalable use of AI/ML systems (data protection, model access, cost control) Required Skills & Experience * 10+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, SRE, or cloud infrastructure roles * Deep expertise in AWS cloud services and cloud-native architecture * Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration * Deep expertise in AWS networking, including VPC design, IP addressing, routing, and connectivity patterns (Transit Gateway, PrivateLink, peering) * Proven experience designing multi-account and hybrid network architectures in AWS * Strong understanding of cloud network security, segmentation, and zero-trust principles * Proven experience designing and implementing Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) * Expertise in Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred) * Strong understanding of microservices, serverless, and event-driven architectures * Deep knowledge of CI/CD systems and DevSecOps practices * Strong understanding of cloud security, IAM, and governance models * Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, Go, or similar) Desirable Skills * Experience with service mesh technologies and advanced platform networking * Familiarity with compliance frameworks (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, CIS Benchmarks) * Experience modernizing legacy systems (e.g., .NET to cloud-native) * Knowledge of observability platforms (e.g., Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, etc) * Exposure to multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments Leadership & Personal Attributes * Strong systems thinking with deep architectural expertise * Ability to influence and drive alignment across teams and stakeholders * Excellent communication skills, both technical and non-technical * Passion for developer experience and platform usability * Strategic mindset with a focus on scalability, resilience, and long-term impact * Proactive and outcome-driven, with a bias for action and continuous improvement Summary This role is ideal for engineers who operate at the intersection of architecture, platform engineering, and technical leadership. As a Staff Platform Engineer, you will define the foundation—including cloud networking and platform architecture—that enables engineering teams to build, deploy, and scale securely and efficiently.