The Impact of a Sr Lead Cloud Platform Engineer at Coupa:
As a Sr Lead Cloud Platform Engineer at Coupa, you will be a technical leader and strategic architect who shapes the future of our cloud infrastructure and platform engineering practices, with a strong emphasis on Cloud Platform and quality engineering through automation. Your visionary approach will drive the design and implementation of scalable, resilient platform solutions that embed quality and reliability at every layer, enabling hundreds of engineers to deliver exceptional products with confidence. You'll establish technical standards that prioritize automated quality assurance, mentor engineering talent on quality-first practices, and make critical architectural decisions that ensure robust, testable, and maintainable systems. Your leadership will be instrumental in transforming how we design, build, test, deploy, and operate cloud services with uncompromising quality standards, positioning Coupa as a technology leader known for platform reliability and engineering excellence.
What You’ll Do
● Lead Platform Architecture and Strategy: Define and drive the long-term technical vision for cloud platform infrastructure, making strategic decisions on technology choices, architectural patterns, and platform evolution
● Design Enterprise-Scale Platform Solutions: Architect complex, multi-tenant platform systems that support high availability, scalability, and security requirements across global cloud environments
● Drive Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Lead and mentor a team of platform engineers, providing technical guidance, code reviews, and career development while fostering a culture of engineering excellence
● Establish Platform Engineering Standards: Define and implement best practices, coding standards, and architectural principles that ensure consistency, reliability, and maintainability across all platform components
● Build Advanced Automation and Tooling: Design and develop sophisticated automation frameworks, self-service platforms, and developer productivity tools that transform engineering workflows
● Lead Critical Cross-functional Initiatives: Drive complex, multi-team projects involving platform modernization, migration strategies, and infrastructure transformation initiatives ● Optimize Platform Performance and Costs: Analyze platform performance at scale, implement advanced monitoring and alerting solutions, and drive strategic cost optimization through FinOps leadership
● Shape CI/CD and Release Engineering Strategy: Define enterprise-wide deployment strategies, release management processes, and continuous delivery practices that enable safe, rapid software delivery
● Drive Security and Compliance Architecture: Lead the implementation of security-first platform design, automated compliance frameworks, and risk mitigation strategies across cloud infrastructure
● Influence Product and Engineering Strategy: Collaborate with senior leadership to align platform capabilities with business objectives and product roadmap requirements
● Champion Quality Innovation and Automation: Research, evaluate, and integrate cutting-edge quality engineering technologies, testing methodologies, and automation tools that advance Coupa's platform quality and reliability capabilities
● Build Quality-Focused Engineering Culture: Contribute to technical decision-making forums with a quality lens, lead quality-focused architectural reviews, and promote quality engineering practices and knowledge sharing across the engineering organization
What You Will Bring to Coupa
● Senior Platform Engineering Leadership: 10+ years of hands-on platform engineering experience with 3+ years in technical leadership roles, including experience managing complex cloud infrastructure at enterprise scale
● Advanced Cloud Architecture Expertise: Deep expertise in cloud-native architectures, multi-cloud strategies, and advanced services across AWS, Azure, or GCP, with proven experience designing systems that handle millions of transactions
● Technical Leadership and Team Building: Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams, mentoring senior engineers, and driving technical decision-making in complex, fast-paced environments
● Enterprise Platform Design: Proven track record designing and implementing large-scale platform solutions, including microservices architectures, container orchestration, and distributed systems patterns
● Advanced Automation and Programming: Expert-level programming skills in multiple languages (Python, Go, Java, etc.) with extensive experience building sophisticated automation frameworks and platform tools
● Strategic CI/CD and DevOps: Deep expertise in enterprise CI/CD design, infrastructure as code, and DevOps transformation initiatives, with experience implementing these practices across large engineering organizations
● FinOps & Cost Engineering: Advanced knowledge of cloud cost optimization, financial operations practices, and experience building cost management strategies and tooling at enterprise scale
● Security and Compliance Leadership: Strong background in security architecture, compliance frameworks (SOC2, ISO27001, etc.), and implementing security practices in cloud environments
● Performance/Chaos/Reliability Engineering at Scale: Experience with advanced monitoring, observability, and performance optimization techniques for high-traffic, mission-critical applications
● Architectural Decision Making: Proven ability to make complex technical trade-offs, evaluate emerging technologies, and drive architectural decisions that balance current needs with long-term scalability
● Cross-functional Collaboration: Excellent communication and leadership skills with experience working with product management, executive leadership, and diverse engineering teams
● Industry Recognition and Thought Leadership: Active participation in the platform engineering community through conference speaking, open source contributions, or technical publications (preferred)
● Educational Foundation: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience, with a continuous learning mindset and up-to-date knowledge of industry trends
● Change Management and Transformation: Experience leading large-scale technical transformations, platform migrations, and organizational change initiatives in enterprise environments
Skills Required
- 10+ years of hands-on platform engineering experience
- 3+ years in technical leadership roles (managing platform engineering at enterprise scale)
- Deep expertise in cloud-native architectures and multi-cloud strategies (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Proven experience designing systems handling millions of transactions (enterprise-scale reliability)
- Experience leading and mentoring engineering teams and driving technical decisions
- Enterprise platform design experience including microservices, container orchestration, and distributed systems
- Expert-level programming skills in multiple languages (Python, Go, Java)
- Extensive experience building advanced automation frameworks and platform tooling
- Deep expertise in enterprise CI/CD design, infrastructure as code, and DevOps transformation
- Advanced knowledge and experience in FinOps and cloud cost optimization at enterprise scale
- Strong background in security architecture and compliance frameworks (SOC2, ISO27001)
- Experience with performance, chaos, and reliability engineering at scale
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
- Industry recognition such as conference speaking, open source contributions, or publications
What the Team is Saying
Coupa Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Health, dental, vision, and mental‑wellness resources for employees and dependents begin on the first day of employment. Recent updates to health‑insurance programs this year indicate active management of core coverage.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible Time Off, floating holidays, paid parental leave, and dedicated volunteer time off are emphasized as part of standard offerings. A global minimum vacation allowance outside the U.S. is also advertised.
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Retirement Support — Competitive compensation is paired with retirement savings programs, including a U.S. 401(k) with company match. An Employee Stock Purchase Plan is also referenced as part of long‑term financial support.
Coupa Insights
What We Do
Coupa is a global technology company that helps businesses run smarter by connecting all the ways they spend money — from procurement and expenses to payments and supply chain decisions — in one intelligent platform. In simple terms, Coupa gives organizations the visibility and control they need to make better financial choices, reduce waste, and drive real impact. It’s where technology meets purpose: helping companies manage their resources more responsibly while creating a positive ripple across their people, partners, and the planet.
Why Work With Us
At Coupa, we prioritize an inclusive and empathetic workplace where every voice is valued. Our teams are proactive and accountable, ensuring we collaborate effectively to achieve our goals. The foundation of our culture rests on our people; we believe in fostering an environment that encourages innovation and curiosity.
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Coupa Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Our virtual-first approach is intentional. It gives you the freedom to do your best work in a space that supports focus, balance, and creativity, while staying connected to a global team of changemakers who are redefining the future of business spend
