Head of Platform Engineering

Job Description

Job Description

Who are we?

Optimized Payments is the only fintech firm purpose-built to find and unlock value wherever it resides in our portfolio's payment ecosystem. We've assembled a team with deep expertise across payments specialties to develop a proprietary analytics platform that finds actionable insights. We are an Atlanta based 17-year-old, and growing, company looking for talented individuals who want to grow with us.

Our client portfolio includes Fortune 500 firms such as Apple, Staples, Safeway, Priceline, AutoNation, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Who are you?

Are you a strategic mastermind and technical genius looking to join a fintech? Look no further! Optimized Payments is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Head of Platform Engineering to join our growing team.

OP is seeking an innovative and dedicated individual committed to both serving our customers and having fun! Driven, with an entrepreneurial spirit and a heart for fintech. We're looking for someone who wants to make a significant impact on the Company, Clients, and your Career. At Optimized Payments, our people embrace these qualities, so if this sounds like you then please read on!

The Role:

Optimized Payments is seeking a Head of Platform Engineering to own and scale the core technology platform behind Harmonize, our payments analytics system of record. This leader will be responsible for end-to-end platform delivery — including front-end, back-end, and DevOps — with a mandate to improve execution speed, reliability, and scalability across the platform.

This is a hands-on leadership role focused on driving outcomes, building strong engineering discipline, and ensuring the platform can support rapid innovation, including AI-driven capabilities.

The role requires expertise in Spring Boot, API development, and building UI/UX components in React. The leader will develop scalable Java applications and collaborate with the UI/UX team on React components. Experience with Azure DevOps for CI/CD automation and deployment is also required.

This is an Atlanta, GA based position. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future sponsorship.

Scope & Responsibilities

Platform Ownership

• Own the end-to-end architecture and delivery of the Harmonize platform
• Lead both front-end and back-end development, ensuring scalability, performance, and reliability
• Drive platform modernization and technical roadmap, aligned with business priorities
• Design, develop, and maintain RESTful APIs and microservices using Java Spring Boot
• Collaborate with UX/UI designers, backend engineers, and product managers to deliver high-quality features

Execution & Delivery

• Improve speed, predictability, and quality of releases
• Establish strong engineering practices (CI/CD, testing, code quality, observability)
• Eliminate operational bottlenecks and reduce manual processes

DevOps & Infrastructure

• Own DevOps, cloud infrastructure, and deployment strategy (Azure-based stack)
• Implement best practices for automation, monitoring, and uptime
• Ensure platform is secure, stable, and enterprise-ready

Team Leadership

• Directly manage following onshore resources:
• Platform Engineer
• Senior Developer
• Head of Security
• Directly manage following offshore resources:
• DevOps Engineer
• Azure Cloud Engineer
• Build a high-performance engineering culture:
• Strong ownership and accountability
• Clear technical direction
• Focus on results vs activity
• Lead the Architectural Guild Council and provide architectural guidance and technical direction across all engineering teams

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Partner closely with following teams – Product, Data / AI, Data Engineering.
• Ensure tight alignment between product roadmap and engineering execution

What Success Looks Like (First 6–12 Months)

• Clear, simplified platform architecture and ownership model
• Faster, more reliable release cycles
• Improved platform stability and data reliability
• Strong DevOps foundation with minimal manual intervention
• Tangible progress on AI-driven features within Harmonize
• High confidence from leadership in engineering execution

Required

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in leadership roles
• Proven experience owning end-to-end platform development across frontend, backend, and infrastructure, including:
• Experience building responsive, modular front-end components using React and Next.js with modern JavaScript (ES6+)
• Experience in database design and familiarity with versioning/migration tools (such as Liquibase)
• Proficiency managing client-side state using Redux Toolkit or equivalent state management libraries
• Strong experience with cloud-native architectures (Azure preferred)
• Deep understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, and scalable system design
• Track record of improving execution velocity and engineering discipline

Preferred

• Experience building data platforms or analytics systems
• Exposure to AI/ML-driven product development
• Background in payments, fintech, or high-scale data environments

Leadership Traits

• High ownership — takes responsibility for outcomes, not just output
• Detail-oriented — understands what's actually happening in the system
• Execution-focused — prioritizes speed and results
• Low ego, high accountability — builds strong teams and holds the bar
• Proactive — identifies risks early and acts decisively

Why This Role Matters

Harmonize is the foundation of Optimized Payments' future. This role is critical to:

• Turning engineering into a competitive advantage
• Enabling AI-driven insights at scale
• Supporting continued growth and enterprise adoption

What we offer:

For Full-time Optimized Payments employees, we're offering the following benefits and perks

• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Stock Options
• 401(K) Plan
• Generous PTO + Paid Holidays
• Opportunity to be part of a dynamic, fast-growing company that will double in size in two years.
• Hybrid work environment with flexibility to work from home 3 days a week.
• A collaborative and inclusive company culture where your ideas are valued.
• Free onsite covered parking and access to a full gym with showers.

Employment Equity

Optimized Payments strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by provincial and/or federal law. Accommodations for candidates with disabilities are available on request during all aspects of the recruitment and selection process. If accommodation is needed during the recruitment and selection process, please contact us and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs.