Head of Platform Engineering (Eastern Time zone preferred)

Geomagical Labs is crafting visual AI experiences for tens of millions of users around the world, on web & mobile apps, in partnership with IKEA.  We are the creators of the pioneering IKEA Kreativ app, which allows customers to scan photorealistic models of their indoor spaces, then reimagine them with new furniture in life-like 3D, from anywhere – changing home commerce along the way.

About the role

We have an opening for a hands-on technical leader of our cloud-based Platform Engineering team.  Platform Engineering builds and runs our backend services for IKEA Kreativ used by tens of millions of users a year (product catalog, search, identity, 3D assets, room models, etc.), hosts AI pipelines, operates our cloud auto-scaling infrastructure, and provides DevOps foundations.

You will be expected to be a wise, can-do leader and technologist, and also a great collaborator & teammate. 

In this role you will:

1. Manage a direct staff of 3-5 engineers & SREs in the USA - building a high-performance team with excellent productivity and camaraderie.  Mentor & nurture the team by fostering skill development and high-performance culture, to support the business & staff.
2. Build close, productive and trusted co-development partnerships with our sister team at IKEA in Europe (Amsterdam & Sweden).
3. Serve as a wise, can-do, entrepreneurial leader.  We value hands-on technical skill, to be able to wisely synthesize viewpoints, direct strategy, mentor teams, and build influence and respect.   Expectations will vary from time-to-time, but we anticipate 70% of your time will be managing/planning & 30% hands-on building/analyzing.
4. Lead the planning and execution of the Platform Engineering team's roadmap, ensuring alignment with business goals and other teams.
5. Direct the development of processes and tools to ensure the reliable operation of a scalable, high-availability platform, including automated testing, monitoring systems and SLAs, and incident management practices.
6. Oversee the technical architecture and operations for IKEA Kreativ’s backend endpoints & APIs, data store, infrastructure, and data pipelines - in collaboration with IKEA.
7. Manage and plan infrastructure, cybersecurity, data pipelines, and operations - to increase resilience and reduce operational costs - in collaboration with IKEA.
8. Partner with AI research teams to build & operate robust real-time data processing & MLOps infrastructure to support machine learning, and computer vision pipelines.
9. Operate with autonomy and accountability – able to execute independently and reliably, and nurture a team culture that does the same.
10. Shape our business strategy, by understanding the business context, being a thought-partner, and guiding our service with thoughtful questions and new ideas.

• Experience successfully managing a backend/cloud team of at least 2 engineers.
• Track record of success making wise technical solutions and positive team dynamics.
• Track record of success building or managing high-scale and mission-critical systems.
• Highly effective, high-EQ communication skills (verbal & written).
• Ability to do several early calls with Europe in a typical week (2pm CET = 8am ET)
• Requires ability to travel to Europe (Amsterdam & Sweden) and California, around six times a year, for collaboration and team building.
• Strong Python programming skills – especially data I/O systems programming & Django UI.
• Strong SQL skills (we use Postgres).
• Solid skills with modern cloud-based storage & computer platforms (esp. Google Cloud)
• Experience with Kubernetes & Docker containerized deployment & scaling.
• Experience with web API development and workflow automation.
• Experience measuring & optimizing service latency/throughput (capacity planning).
• Experience building & maintaining scalable systems using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform or Pulumi.
  
• BONUS: Past experience with global collaboration, remote workforces, tech integration.
• BONUS: Experience with 3D graphics.
• BONUS: Experience with AI/machine learning data pipelines & training.
• BONUS: Experience with computer vision.

• Opportunity to work in a dynamic team of successful serial entrepreneurs, software developers, computer vision & AI researchers, and graphics engineers on a highly visible product used by tens of millions of customers worldwide.
• Ability to build products and features from the ground up and put them into the hands of millions of people around the world.
• The USA base salary ranges from $195,000 to $260,000, determined by location, skill, and experience level.
• In addition to base salary, we incentivize via an annual individualized performance bonus, based on team and company OKR success.
• Excellent health and retirement benefits. Full medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Strong people-first culture with generous PTO, a focus on improving each other, and an actively shaped team culture to ensure a happy and healthy working environment for all.
• Location is flexible - our team is distributed globally.  But due to the need for frequent collaboration with Europe CET work hours, Eastern Time zone is strongly preferred.