Senior Platform Engineer

Platform & Automation

Automation & Integration  ·  Level P3  ·  Reports to: Associate Director, Automation & Integration

Position Summary

The Senior Platform Engineer is the senior technical authority within the Automation & Integration function, responsible for designing, building, and operating the enterprise internal application delivery and automation platform that business and scientific functions rely on. Reporting to the Manager, Automation & Integration, the engineer serves as the top hands-on builder and operator of the function''s paved-road platform and engineering standards.

The role turns automation and integration needs into reliable, reusable, and governed platform capabilities. It operates at the intersection of platform and DevOps engineering, integration, and governed software delivery in a regulated (GxP) environment. The function does not own AI use-case development — that sits with the AI Hub; this role builds and operates the platforms, paved roads, and guardrails that let the AI Hub, citizen developers, and the team deliver safely, and it directly delivers a curated portfolio of high-value builds.

Core Responsibilities

Platform Engineering & Operations

•            Design, build, and operate secure, scalable platform services — deployment, networking, identity-aware access, TLS/certificate management, container orchestration, and CI/CD.

•            Drive delivery from architecture through production operation, balancing speed with the controls a validated environment requires.

•            Implement robust operational practice: monitoring, observability, incident management, and automated deployment pipelines.

Paved Roads & Reusable Assets

•            Build reference architectures, templates, and containerized patterns so delivery teams inherit a paved path rather than re-deriving it each time.

•            Develop and maintain integration layers, REST APIs, and MCP servers that safely expose internal tools and data to approved developers and AI agents.

•            Set and maintain the engineering standards for how applications and services are built, deployed, secured, and maintained.

Enterprise Integration

•            Design and operate reliable, supportable integrations across enterprise and validated systems (e.g., Benchling, Veeva, Jira).

•            Provide technical consultation that moves high-impact automation and integration needs from concept into governed production.

Governance & Compliance Engineering

•            Operationalize the SDLC, security, privacy, and GxP standards the Associate Director sets — translating policy into working controls in the platform and pipelines.

•            Implement audit-ready logging, identity/access controls, and human-in-the-loop gates for high-risk or regulated workflows.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

•            Set engineering standards and lead high-complexity delivery and hardening initiatives.

•            Mentor Platform Engineers I–II, provide technical review, and raise the function''s engineering ceiling above the leadership technical line.

Technical Stack & Toolkit

•            Infrastructure & delivery: Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform (IaC), GitHub (repos/runners/CI/CD), Linux, VMware/Citrix.

•            Cloud: AWS (Bedrock, SageMaker, Lambda, S3) and Azure (DevOps, Foundry).

•            Integration & automation: REST APIs, MCP, n8n, Power Automate, custom agentic/automation frameworks.

•            AI/GenAI platform: model gateways, RAG and agentic patterns, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and open-source models — provided as reusable platform capabilities.

•            Data & analytics: Databricks, Power BI, and vector databases.

•            Identity & tooling: Entra ID, VS Code, Jira/Confluence.

Minimum Requirements

•            Education: Bachelor''s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

•            Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience in platform/infrastructure engineering, DevOps, systems administration, or software development, with at least 2+ years in AI or automation platforms.

•            Demonstrated production ownership of platform/infrastructure architecture — container orchestration, networking, identity/access, CI/CD, and security posture.

•            Proven ability to work independently, lead technical initiatives, and mentor junior staff.

•            Skills: proficiency in Python and standardized coding practice; strong API design and integration-first architecture (REST, MCP); familiarity with GxP concepts, validation practice, and audit-ready documentation; excellent communication that translates architecture into stakeholder-ready roadmaps.

Preferred Qualifications

•            Prior experience in biotech, pharmaceuticals, or other highly regulated industries.

•            Experience building and operating RAG applications, multi-agent frameworks, or document-AI pipelines as platform capabilities.

•            Advanced certifications in AWS, Azure, or security/compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST CSF).