Senior Platform Engineer

Job Description

Position Summary

The Senior Platform Engineer is the senior engineer who owns WME Enterprise IT's platform estate - the cloud and core platforms the business runs on, with Microsoft Azure at the center. The role builds, automates, secures, and continuously improves these platforms, within the enterprise architecture and standards set by the Principal Enterprise Architect. It manages platforms, not people: there are no direct reports.

The role sets how WME's platforms are engineered and operated - landing-zone and subscription design, infrastructure-as-code, configuration and policy-as-code, observability, resilience, and cost. It establishes the standards and automation that keep the estate consistent, secure, scalable, and cost-effective, and partners with the teams that run day-to-day operations so the platforms stay reliable as they evolve.

Scope & Boundaries

This role owns the engineering of the platform estate and is fenced explicitly against adjacent functions:
• In scope: deep engineering of the IT platform estate - Microsoft Azure and hybrid cloud (landing zones, subscriptions, management groups), infrastructure-as-code, configuration and policy-as-code, platform observability and monitoring, platform resilience and DR posture, platform-level security guardrails, and cloud cost / FinOps - implemented within the enterprise architecture and standards set by the Principal Enterprise Architect (#55).
• Relationship to the Principal Enterprise Architect (#55): this role builds and operates within the cloud / platform standards #55 sets, and feeds real-world platform learnings back into those standards. It owns the deep engineering, build, operation, and product-project work - not the enterprise standards themselves.
• Alongside the server & cloud infrastructure function: that team operates and runs the underlying infrastructure day to day - compute, virtualization, server lifecycle, and routine cloud operations. This role owns the platform architecture, automation, and engineering standards the estate is built and governed by; the infrastructure team operates within those standards. Where the two meet - cloud infrastructure in particular - this role sets the engineering standard and senior leadership adjudicates any blurred lines. (Confirm this split before posting.)
• Alongside network engineering: the network underlay remains with network engineering; this role owns platform-level networking patterns in the cloud (landing-zone networking, connectivity design) in partnership.
• Distinct from AI & digital workplace engineering: that role owns AI in the M365 / end-user digital workplace; this role owns the AI platform services and infrastructure within the estate. The two coordinate where AI tooling and platform patterns overlap.

How This Team Works

Enterprise IT runs on one idea: operational excellence - platforms that just work, problems fixed at the root, and an engineering bar that keeps climbing. As a senior platform engineer, this role holds that bar high across the estate. Six operating foundations describe how the IT function works, and a Senior engineer here models all six.
• Service management, done right. Brings ITIL and service-management discipline into platform design and operation, so the estate is reliable by default - and codifies the patterns others follow.
• Continual improvement. Treats every recurring failure, metric, and cost signal as input; ships measurable platform improvements and retires toil.
• AI fluency. Operates at the leading edge of AI-augmented engineering and owns how AI platform services are provisioned, secured, and run across the estate.
• Ownership and documentation. Owns the platform estate end to end and leaves reference architectures, runbooks, and decision records that scale beyond any one engineer.
• Security and risk by default. Builds security into the platform - landing-zone guardrails, least privilege, policy-as-code - and partners with governance where decisions carry real weight.
• Cost and reliability discipline. Treats cost and reliability as first-class platform outcomes; engineers the estate to be resilient, observable, and economically run.

Key Responsibilities

1. Cloud Platform Architecture & Engineering (Azure & Hybrid)
• Own the architecture and engineering of WME's Azure and hybrid cloud platform - landing zones, subscriptions, management groups, and governance (Azure Policy).
• Design platform patterns for scalability, resilience, and security that the rest of IT builds on.
• Integrate cloud platforms with core on-prem and hybrid systems; own the platform-level integration patterns.
• Drive the platform roadmap and modernization - evaluate, pilot, and adopt new platform capabilities under controlled evaluation.

2. Automation, Infrastructure-as-Code & Configuration
• Establish and own infrastructure-as-code standards and reusable modules for the estate (Terraform / OpenTofu, Bicep, ARM, or equivalent).
• Implement configuration-as-code and policy-as-code so the estate is consistent, governed, and auditable by default.
• Automate provisioning, drift management, and lifecycle across platforms; reduce manual operations and toil.
• Provide the IaC and automation patterns that operations teams consume rather than building from scratch.

3. Platform Reliability, Observability & Operations
• Own platform observability and monitoring across the estate (logs, metrics, traces; Azure Monitor, Grafana, Datadog, Splunk, or equivalent).
• Engineer for resilience and availability; own the platform-level DR and business-continuity posture in partnership with infrastructure and BCDR owners.
• Lead platform incident and problem response and drive continual service improvement using telemetry and trends.
• Define platform health, capacity, and performance standards and report on them.

4. Platform Security, Governance & Cost
• Engineer platform-level security guardrails - landing-zone controls, identity-at-platform-layer, secrets management, and policy-as-code - in partnership with the cybersecurity governance function.
• Apply hardening and compliance baselines (CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF, Azure Well-Architected) across the estate.
• Own cloud cost and FinOps - visibility, optimization, and capacity planning across platforms.
• Manage platform tooling and cloud-vendor relationships at the engineering level; flag risk early.

5. AI Platform Services - Named Scope
• Serve as the named owner of the AI platform layer within the estate - the platform services and infrastructure that AI workloads run on (Azure AI / Azure OpenAI and equivalents, AI compute and supporting infrastructure).
• Establish how AI capabilities are provisioned, secured, observed, and cost-managed as platform services.
• Implement platform-level guardrails for AI workloads - access, data boundaries, model-artifact integrity, and supply-chain considerations - in partnership with the cybersecurity governance function.
• Support the AI program's foundation and pilot phases at the platform layer and report AI platform outcomes to leadership.

6. Technical Leadership & Cross-Pillar Collaboration
• Serve as a senior platform engineering voice across the IT function - apply and help shape platform standards within the enterprise architecture set by the Principal Enterprise Architect (#55).
• Provide architectural input on cross-pillar decisions where platform impact is significant; participate in architecture forums, design reviews, and RFCs.
• Mentor engineers across pillars on platform engineering and cloud architecture - through influence and example, not people management.
• Brief senior leadership on platform strategy, risk, tradeoffs, and investment needs.

Required Qualifications
• 8+ years of infrastructure, cloud, or platform engineering experience with progressive responsibility.
• 5+ years engineering cloud / IT platforms at enterprise scale.
• Deep Microsoft Azure platform expertise - landing zones, subscriptions and management groups, Azure Policy / governance, networking, and identity integration (Entra) at enterprise scale; hybrid environments.
• Strong infrastructure-as-code expertise (Terraform / OpenTofu, Bicep, ARM, or equivalent) including module design, governance, drift, and lifecycle.
• Configuration-as-code and policy-as-code experience; automation and scripting (PowerShell, Python, Go, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience with observability and monitoring platforms (Azure Monitor, Grafana, Datadog, Splunk, or equivalent).
• Platform reliability, resilience, and disaster-recovery engineering at enterprise scale.
• Platform security engineering - guardrails, hardening baselines (CIS / NIST), secrets, and least-privilege patterns.
• Cloud cost / FinOps discipline - visibility, optimization, and capacity planning.
• Demonstrated experience as a senior engineer with cross-team technical influence; able to brief leaders and engage substantively with engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience owning or operating AI platform services / infrastructure (Azure AI, Azure OpenAI, or equivalent) at enterprise scale.
• Multi-cloud or complex hybrid platform experience.
• Relevant certifications - Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), Azure Administrator (AZ-104), HashiCorp Terraform Associate, or equivalent.
• Experience with platform governance and Well-Architected review practices at scale.
• Familiarity with security and reliability frameworks such as CIS Benchmarks and NIST CSF 2.0.
• Experience working in entertainment, media, or similar high-velocity, high-confidentiality industries.
• Background contributing to open-source platform or infrastructure tooling or community.

Success Criteria - 30 / 60 / 90 / 12 Months

First 30 days - Map & Baseline
• Map the current platform estate - Azure footprint, governance state, IaC and automation coverage, observability, security posture, and cost profile - and the biggest sources of risk and toil.
• Establish working partnerships with infrastructure operations, network, security / governance, and engineering leadership.
• Baseline current platform reliability, security, and cost metrics where data exists.

First 60 days - Frame the Estate
• Deliver a platform target architecture and engineering operating model - landing-zone and governance design, IaC and policy-as-code standards, observability approach, and the AI platform foundation.
• Publish the first reference architecture and at least one reusable IaC / policy module for adoption.
• Establish a cross-pillar architecture and platform-standards cadence.

First 90 days - Build & Pilot
• Platform architecture and standards documented; landing-zone and governance guardrails defined and piloted.
• Observability and reliability baseline improvements shipped; platform DR posture assessed.
• AI platform-services foundation stood up to support the AI program's pilot-phase needs (Q3-Q4 2026).

First 12 months - Scale & Sustain
• IaC and policy-as-code adopted as the standard for the estate, with measurable governance and drift improvements.
• Measurable improvements in platform reliability and cloud cost efficiency; toil reduced through automation.
• AI platform services operating as the consumed standard across the estate.
• Established as the trusted platform-architecture authority across IT, with documented influence and mentorship across pillars.

Key Working Relationships
• Internal - Enterprise IT: senior leadership, Infrastructure & Enterprise Services (reporting line); the server & cloud infrastructure function; network engineering; the cybersecurity governance function; the AI & digital workplace engineering function; engineering leaders and senior ICs across pillars.
• Internal - Cross-functional: Information Security; Procurement; Finance / FP&A (cloud cost); engineering stakeholders across business units.
• External - Vendor partners: Microsoft (Azure platform and support); cloud, IaC, and observability tooling vendors; the managed security services partner for security-control coordination.

Equal Employment Opportunity

WME is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Standards & Frameworks This Role Touches

A few external standards shape how this role designs and operates the platform estate:
• Azure Well-Architected Framework - applied to platform design and review.
• CIS Benchmarks - applied to cloud and platform hardening.
• NIST CSF 2.0 - applied to platform security design and risk communication.
• FinOps practices - applied to cloud cost visibility and optimization.

Per local requirements and in the interest of transparency, the rate shown below reflects the prevalent current hiring range for this position. Hiring pay rates are based on a number of factors, including location and may vary depending on job-related qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience. The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short- and long-term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings.

Hiring Rate Minimum:
$142,500 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable state/local minimum salary thresholds)

Hiring Rate Maximum:
$190,000 annually

WME is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-yjxbvm-216-73-216-184-42 in your application.