Senior Staff IT Engineer

Chief Executive Officer @ AO Swag | Leadership, Strategy AO Swag is building a small, high-ownership internal IT core to stabilize a complex legacy environment, reduce vendor dependence, and support our next phase of growth. This is a hands‑on senior individual contributor role. Not a consultant. Not a manager. A true owner. You will sit between strategy and execution, owning real systems that the business depends on every day. The expectation is simple: build, run, document, and continuously improve. You’ll work closely with me, our IT leadership, application engineers, and a limited set of vendors with a clear mandate to internalize knowledge and reduce long‑term external dependency. What you’ll own Operational ownership and stability Own reliability of core systems including order flows, integrations, infrastructure, and internal tools Diagnose and resolve production issues without defaulting to vendors Create runbooks, documentation, and incident response playbooks Reduce recurring issues through automation and simplification Platform and integration leadership Help own and evolve our integration layer connecting ecommerce, ERP, fulfillment, and third‑party systems Design and build reliable APIs and workflows with traceability and failure handling in mind Ensure systems are observable, understandable, and supportable internally Legacy transition and modernization Work alongside vendors to absorb institutional knowledge from legacy systems Help stabilize and isolate legacy platforms while supporting migration efforts Ensure knowledge transfer results in internal capability, not vendor lock‑in Security, access, and controls Partner on access control, credential management, and audit readiness Support PCI posture improvements through system‑level controls and documentation Move system and account ownership away from vendors and into AO Internal capability building Mentor and support application engineers, including new hires Set standards for code quality, documentation, and operational readiness Help establish a culture of ownership, clarity, and accountability What this role is not Not a pure architecture or strategy role Not a temporary bridge role This is about owning outcomes. Ideal background 8–12+ years of hands‑on engineering experience in production environments Strong backend and systems experience Experience building and operating integrations between complex systems Comfortable working in imperfect, partially documented environments Experience stabilizing legacy systems while building toward a future state Strong debugging instincts and clear written communication Nice to have Ecommerce, ERP, logistics, or manufacturing experience Cloud infrastructure and CI/CD experience Experience in compliance‑driven environments (PCI, SOC) Experience replacing vendor‑led models with internal ownership Why this role matters Central to reducing vendor dependency Central to making systems operable and understandable internally Central to scaling the business without scaling chaos We are intentionally building a small, high‑leverage IT team. This role is for someone who wants real ownership, real impact, and a seat at the table as we build the foundation for the next chapter. If this resonates, DM me directly. #J-18808-Ljbffr AO Swag