Lead Platform Engineer

About KKR

KKR stands as a premier global investment firm delivering alternative asset management along with capital markets and insurance services. The company is dedicated to generating compelling investment returns through a patient and disciplined strategy, leveraging exceptional talent, and fostering growth within its portfolio companies and communities. KKR's investments span private equity, credit, real assets, and feature partnerships overseeing hedge funds and insurance subsidiaries providing retirement, life, and reinsurance products.

Team Overview

Within KKR’s Technology division, the ADAPT team (Application, Data and AI Platform Team) maintains the firm’s engineering platform, developer tools, AI utilities, and the SaaS integration layer coupling the core enterprise systems. ADAPT focuses on technology excellence by implementing workflow automation, self-service instruments, and modern integration methods across platforms like AWS, Atlassian suite (Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence), ServiceNow, and surrounding SaaS products. The team collaborates across engineering, security, infrastructure, and business units to enhance agility, resilience, and enterprise-scale impact.

Position Summary

KKR is seeking a Vice President, Platform Engineering to lead critical technical initiatives within the ADAPT team. The role centers on managing cloud-native AWS platforms, Atlassian and ServiceNow ecosystems, and cloud integrations that link them with KKR’s business systems. This leadership position involves hands-on strategic ownership and delivery focused on enhancing developer-facing platform services, integration patterns, and automation to boost engineering speed and operational excellence. The role demands deep AWS and integration engineering expertise combined with mentoring capabilities and the ability to establish a multiyear platform roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the strategic vision and multiyear roadmap for the ADAPT platform including AWS-native services, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code, and integrations spanning Atlassian, ServiceNow, and adjacent SaaS systems, translating business needs into prioritized deliverables.
• Lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of secure, scalable AWS infrastructures involving account management, networking, identity and access management, container orchestration (EKS/ECS), serverless architectures, and data platforms; promote Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and establish cost, resilience, and security governance frameworks.
• Manage engineering strategies for Atlassian products (Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence) and ServiceNow platforms, including platform administration best practices, workflow architecture, app/plugin governance, and alignment with HR, ITSM, and business objectives.
• Architect and deliver enterprise-grade integrations among AWS, Atlassian, ServiceNow, Workday, and other core SaaS through event-driven and API-first approaches (REST, GraphQL, webhooks, iPaaS, EventBridge, Kafka), replacing custom scripting with governed, observable reusable integration services.
• Develop paved roads, shared components, and self-service tooling to expedite the software development lifecycle; evolve CI/CD standards, developer portals, and internal APIs to minimize cognitive load on development teams.
• Ensure the platform meets and maintains availability, security, and compliance standards; collaborate closely with cybersecurity to integrate secure-by-design principles, secrets management, and identity federation across integration surfaces.
• Partner with application engineering, human capital technology, IT operations, and business stakeholders to understand priorities, sequence implementation, and drive successful change management; represent ADAPT in senior technical forums and vendor engagements.
• Lead and mentor a worldwide team of platform and integration engineers; set technical standards, conduct design reviews, and promote modern platform engineering methodologies throughout KKR Technology.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related disciplines; advanced degrees are favorable.
• Minimum of 10 years of practical experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or cloud/integration engineering, with over 3 years in senior technical leadership roles.
• Proven expert-level hands-on capabilities with AWS cloud services including compute, networking, identity and access management, containerization, and serverless technologies, alongside expertise in Infrastructure as Code using Terraform.
• Extensive experience in executing enterprise integrations across Atlassian tools (Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence) and ServiceNow, covering workflow design, API utilization, webhooks, and third-party app management.
• Strong background in designing event-driven, API-first integrations between cloud SaaS platforms using platforms like iPaaS, EventBridge, Kafka, or comparable technologies.
• Skilled in modern CI/CD pipelines, container management (Kubernetes, Docker), system observability, security-focused cloud architecture, and proficient in programming/scripting languages such as Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, or Java.
• Track record of leading platform and developer experience enhancements that measurably impact speed, reliability, and operational cost reduction.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, capable of influencing engineering teams, business partners, and senior leadership; experience in financial services or regulated industries preferred.

Essential Competencies

• Technical acumen with pragmatic decision-making informed by robust production experience across AWS, Atlassian, and ServiceNow platforms.
• A holistic systems outlook on integrations emphasizing resilience, observability, and governance rather than isolated solutions.
• Empathy for developers focusing on minimizing development friction through paved roads and self-service tooling.
• Strong delivery focus, methodically prioritizing and implementing complex cross-team initiatives balancing long-term and immediate outcomes.
• Leadership qualities including technical mentorship, talent development, and clear, constructive feedback.
• Ability to communicate effectively across technical and non-technical audiences and cultivate sustained partnerships within technology and business areas.
• A mindset prioritizing operational excellence and security as integral outcomes.
• A passion for continuous learning, proactive adaptation of cloud, platform, and integration trends applied thoughtfully to KKR’s environment.

Equality and Accommodations

KKR is an equal opportunity employer valuing diversity without regard to race, religion, age, sex, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics. Reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities are available upon request via designated contact. Compliance with applicable laws ensures fair hiring and employment practices.

Legal Notices

In Massachusetts, administration or requirement of lie detector tests as a condition of employment is prohibited and subject to penalties.