Strong technical DNA in Cloud Infrastructure, Linux, and Virtualization
Proven track record of managing managers (Team Leads) and scaling a technical organization
Strategic vision with the ability to translate technical debt and operational risks into clear business language for executive alignment
Operational rigor including budget management, expenses, and resource planning; fluent in English with excellent written and spoken communication
Requirements:
Drive strategic platform roadmaps and risk management by translating business drivers into actionable engineering plans and prioritizing epics across production realities and business risks
Lead Platform as a Product by pursuing a self-service model that empowers internal product teams and reduces friction while evolving the platform to meet product needs
Provide engineering leadership and organizational scaling by mentoring team leads, assisting with scoping, job descriptions, hiring, and managing budgets and performance processes
Maintain technical alignment by challenging design documents, understanding low-level constraints, and serving as a technical sounding board while guiding architecture feasibility
Job description
Exoscale is the leading Swiss/European cloud service provider.
With services covering the full cloud infrastructure spectrum - from fast deploying virtual machines to S3 compatible object storage - Exoscale provides a simple and scalable experience in order to let its clients focus on their core business.
Join a dynamic working environment with a cutting-edge distributed team based in Lausanne. Exoscale strives to create an environment with great working conditions and welcomes diverse applicants.
As part of its ongoing growth, Exoscale is looking for a VP Platform to join our technical leadership. You will take ownership of the technical and organizational scaling, the human strategy, and the alignment between business goals and platform roadmap. We are looking for a leader who speaks the language of low-level infrastructure but operates at a strategic altitude.
Job purpose:
The Exoscale Platform supports our customer-driven growth (capacity) as well as our services catalog with product teams relying on platform-provided building blocks. The VP Platform is responsible for the "Build and Growth" aspects of the Platform unit. You will shape the strategic landscape based on technical and business needs, mentor a team of Team Leads, and manage the full lifecycle of our engineering workforce. You will bridge the gap between complex technical realities (Compute, Storage, Network) and executive business requirements, ensuring our teams are healthy, aligned, and delivering on the right priorities.
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland or remote in the EU
Some of the challenges you will be working on:
You will drive strategic roadmapping & risk management by translating business drivers and top-down strategy into actionable engineering roadmaps.
You will arbitrate epic prioritization by balancing production realities against business risks, ensuring the platform strategy proactively accounts for human and technical scaling needs.
You will pursue the platform engineering & self-service vision, steering the infrastructure towards a self-service model that empowers our internal product teams. You will adopt a "Platform as a Product" mindset to serve our developers, reducing friction and enabling autonomy while ensuring the platform evolves to meet the needs of the product organization.
You will provide engineering leadership & organizational scaling by mentoring and advising team leads on management techniques to help them grow into their roles. You will support the leads throughout the team lifecycle, assisting them in scoping needs, crafting job descriptions, and closing candidates, while managing organizational dynamics to proactively detect and resolve individual issues before they impact delivery.
You will demonstrate performance & financial stewardship by owning the compensation strategy, managing the yearly budget, and ensuring consistency across teams in liaison with the C-Level. You will drive the yearly review process, providing feedback to leads and ensuring performance is managed effectively.
You will maintain technical alignment by using your technical depth to challenge design documents, understand low-level platform constraints, and assess the feasibility of proposed architectures. Though not hands-on coding, you will act as a vital sounding board for Team Leads on technical-strategic moves.
Ideal candidates:
Possess a strong technical DNA rooted in Cloud Infrastructure, Linux, and Virtualization. Their understanding of the stack extends from low-level hardware and networking up to the orchestration layer, allowing them to hold their own in a room of senior engineers.
Have a proven track record of management experience, excel at leading managers (Team Leads) and know how to scale a technical organization effectively without compromising its unique culture.
Have a strategic vision enabling them to anticipate the "next move" ahead of everyone else and are skilled at translating technical debt and operational risks into clear business language for executive alignment.
Practice empathetic leadership with a keen sense for team moods and human dynamics. They approach difficult conversations, from performance improvement plans to conflict resolution, with both firmness and fairness.
Demonstrate operational rigor in your daily work, remaining highly organized while handling administrative validations, including budget management, expenses, and resource planning with precision.
Are fluent in English, with excellent written and spoken communication skills.
What we offer:
Flexible working hours and working from home.
Autonomous working conditions with a lot of freedom to create and challenge.
Collaborative culture, working alongside talented engineers in a supportive environment.
Modern working atmosphere and centrally located office with great public transport connection.
Team events as well as training and further education.
