Senior Software Engineer, Platform Operations

Senior Software Engineer, Platform Operations  

College Board - Technology – Platform Operations 

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office).  

Type: This is a full-time position 

About the Team  

The Platform Operations team at College Board includes six engineers dedicated to reimagining and elevating our engineering practices. We design, build, and support the tools and platforms that developers rely on every day—including GitHub, SonarQube, and our integrated developer portal, Backstage, a one-stop shop that simplifies how teams access resources, documentation, and system insights. Within our growing AWS ecosystem, we ensure that core platforms are reliable, scalable, and continuously improving. Our mission is to make the developer experience seamless by rolling out new Backstage features, streamlining workflows, and providing timely support and guidance. Creative, responsive, and deeply collaborative, we take pride in strengthening engineering practices across the organization and in making developers’ daily work easier, faster, and more impactful. 

About the Opportunity   

As a Senior Engineer on the Platform Operations team, you are a gifted technologist and problem solver. You understand cloud software delivery, tools, and processes that empower efficient and resilient delivery that adheres to top-notch development practices. You are technologically curious and seek out opportunities to research emerging technologies and trends, standards, and products. Your excellent communication and collaboration skills allow you to effectively articulate solutions to the development community, enabling all to succeed. You are communicative, approachable, self-driven, and collaborative.    

In this role, you will:  

Design & Implementation (70%) 

• Build innovative solutions using Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps best practices 

• Continuously expand your skills while thriving in an agile, poly-skilled development environment 

• Apply your deep subject matter expertise in current technological capabilities such as cloud networking, API integrations, infrastructure resiliency, and cloud design 

• Write clean, efficient code to automate the infrastructure lifecycle, develop internal tools using IaC, and effectively leverage CLIs 

• Develop custom backstage plugins using React, Typescript and/or Node.js to enhance developer experiences 

• Collaborate to define transformation patterns from a vertical application with service dependencies to a cloud capability 

• Partner with domain SMEs (Delivery Team Software Engineers, Security, Infrastructure, Network, Observability and Operations) to analyze, design, and deliver powerful features and capabilities  

• Work with technology leaders to align architectures and cloud products with business strategy objectives  

• Contribute to the development and growth of the Cloud Engineering Program, through thought leadership, design and implementation of tools and processes 

• Participate in the Enterprise Architecture Review process to help guide our technology direction 

Team Operations & Success (20%) 

•  Implement and champion cloud-first architectural solutions along with best practices across teams 

• Contribute to long-term technology strategy by researching emerging trends, evaluating new tools, and recommending technologies that improve cost-effectiveness, scalability, and systems flexibility 

• Play an active role in agile scrum ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Grooming, Daily SCRUM, Demo, Retro) while contributing to high-quality team deliverables 

• Strengthen code quality and collaboration by engaging in peer reviews of software engineering artifacts 

• Assist in diagnosing, troubleshooting, and resolving production and pre-production issues to ensure resilient systems  

Team Coordination (10%) 

• Mentor and inspire team members by designing and developing training materials that communicate the current and future infrastructure architectures 

• Lead technical efforts and mentor technical staff in the development and usage of technology architectures and solutions with a primary focus on DNS, Disaster Recovery and Resiliency, helping the team build robust, future-ready solutions 

About You  

To qualify for this role, you must have:  

•  5+ years of production level software development experience with Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, immutable infrastructure, automation, modern DevOps patterns, SRE, and/or DevEx patterns 

• Expertise in Cloud Computing, DevOps, and Microservices 

• Strong hands-on experience with AWS cloud infrastructure and AWS resources (Lambda, SNS, SQS, S3, Step Functions, EC2, ECS, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, DynamoDB) 

• Strong coding/scripting experience with JavaScript, TypeScript, React.js, and Node.js 

• Skilled in building event-driven serverless applications 

• Backstage or IDP experience is a plus 

• Excellent communication, collaboration and mentoring skills 

•  Proven ability to develop and maintain customer relationships 

• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities 

• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment 

• Authorization to work in the U.S.   

All roles at College Board require:  

• A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work 

• Authorization to work in the United States for any employer 

• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.  

• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal 

• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input. 

• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking. 

• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success. 

About Our Process   

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days. 

• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.    

What We Offer 

At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck—we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We’re a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market. 

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation 

• The hiring range for this role is $150,000-$163,000. 

• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board. 

• We aim to make our best offer upfront — rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data. 

• We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live. 

You’ll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it’s like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more. 

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