Guardian Life Insurance

Head of Platform Engineering - Control Plane

Guardian Life Insurance$152K — $250K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, engineering, management or related field.
  • Strong leadership experience managing software engineering teams.
  • Hands-on experience with distributed, cloud-native platform services.
  • Experience in leading platform or enterprise engineering capabilities.
  • Proficient in managing control plane capabilities such as identity and access management and policy enforcement.
  • Understanding of security, risk, and compliance requirements for AI systems.
  • Experience with designing reliable APIs and orchestration services.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the development and implementation of the platform control plane initiatives.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate automation solutions.
  • Drive business growth and improve customer experiences through engineering leadership.
  • Develop and manage the execution roadmap for control plane capabilities.
  • Ensure compliance with enterprise governance and operational controls.
  • Improve engineering excellence through best practices in architecture and testing.
  • Simplify technical topics for stakeholders and align teams around platform standards.

Benefits

  • Meaningful work opportunities to drive technology and innovation securely.
  • Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents with no wait period.
  • Life and disability insurance provisions.
  • 401(k) plan with employer matching.
  • Tuition assistance, paid parental leave, and backup family care support.
  • Modern work environments that foster collaboration and creativity.
  • Flexible time off and work location policies to support work-life balance.
  • Commitment to social responsibility and community involvement.
Full Job Description

As the Head of Platform Engineering – Control Plane, you will lead the development and implementation of our platform control plane initiatives which include governance layer as a code and all control functions directing our execution plan. Your role is pivotal in building and scaling a highly flexible, scalable, governed execution plane.

You will:

You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and technology partners to develop and integrate automation solutions that drive business growth, improve customer experiences, and reduce operational costs.

You have:

  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, engineering, management or a related field.
  • Strong people leadership experience managing software engineering teams, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and developing senior technical talent.
  • Deep hands-on technical background designing, building, and operating distributed, cloud-native platform services in production.
  • Experience leading platform, infrastructure, developer platform, AI/ML platform, security platform, or other reusable enterprise engineering capabilities.
  • Ability to own the roadmap and delivery for control plane capabilities such as identity and access management, tenant boundaries, policy enforcement, approvals, evaluation gates, observability, auditability, FinOps, secrets management, and lifecycle/promotion workflows.
  • Strong understanding of enterprise governance, security, risk, compliance, and operational controls required to safely run AI or data-intensive systems in production.
  • Experience building reliable APIs, registries, workflow services, policy engines, or orchestration services with clear contracts for downstream engineering teams.
  • Proven ability to drive engineering excellence through architecture reviews, design standards, testing, CI/CD, observability, incident response, reliability practices, and operational metrics.
  • Ability to partner effectively with product, architecture, security, risk, compliance, operations, and domain engineering teams to turn ambiguous platform needs into scalable engineering outcomes.
  • Strong communication and influence skills, with the ability to simplify complex technical topics for senior stakeholders and align teams around platform standards.
  • High ownership mindset with a bias for durable, reusable platform capabilities over one-off solutions.

You will:

  • Experience with agentic AI systems, LLM platforms, model gateways, tool/action gateways, agent registries, evaluation frameworks, or AI developer tooling.
  • Familiarity with AI governance patterns such as prompt-injection defense, PII handling, output filtering, risk tiering, model/tool allow-lists, HITL controls, and audit trails.
  • Experience with AWS-based platform engineering, including services such as Bedrock, SageMaker, Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, EKS, IAM, CloudWatch, and related DevOps tooling.
  • Experience designing or operating multi-tenant platforms with RBAC/ABAC, entitlement models, service accounts, policy-as-code, and secure cross-account or cross-environment access patterns.
  • Knowledge of observability, tracing, telemetry, cost attribution, and platform-level operational dashboards for enterprise-scale systems.
  • Experience establishing developer-friendly paved roads, reference architectures, templates, SDKs, CLI tools, or self-service workflows that improve adoption and reduce support burden.
  • Experience working in regulated environments where security, compliance, data residency, retention, and auditability are first-class platform requirements.
  • Background in MLOps, LLMOps, AIOps, model lifecycle management, or production AI operations.
  • Experience with vendor integration strategies that preserve portability and avoid lock-in through stable platform interfaces and clear architectural contracts.
  • Comfort operating in a matrixed, global organization with onshore/offshore teams, multiple stakeholders, and evolving platform priorities.

Location:

  • New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania
  • Up to 10% travel within US

We offer:

  • Meaningful and challenging work opportunities to accelerate technology and innovation in a secure and compliant way
  • Competitive compensation
  • Excellent medical, dental, supplemental health, life and vision coverage for you and your dependents with no wait period
  • Life and disability insurance
  • A great 401(k) with match
  • Tuition assistance, paid parental leave and backup family care
  • Dynamic, modern work environments that promote collaboration and creativity
  • Flexible time off, dress code, and work location policies to balance your work and life in the ways that suit you best
  • Social responsibility in all aspects of our work. We volunteer within our local communities, create educational alliances with colleges, drive a variety of initiatives in sustainability, and advocate for diversity and inclusion in all that we do.

Salary Range:

$152,290.00 - $250,195.00

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

About Guardian Life Insurance

Guardian Life Insurance Careers

Join the Guardian Life Insurance team today and be part of a company that values growth, leadership, and innovation. As a leading provider in the insurance industry, Guardian Life Insurance offers a wealth of job opportunities that empower you to shape your future and strengthen your professional skills. Work You’ll Do At Guardian Life Insurance, you’ll collaborate with a diverse team of experts dedicated to providing exceptional service and innovative solutions to our clients. Our culture thrives on inclusivity and the shared ambition of our team members to drive positive change in the insurance sector. Explore a variety of career paths in areas ranging from customer service to financial advisement, each offering the potential to engage with transformative projects that impact lives. Our commitment to professional growth is evident in our robust training programs, including leadership development and diversity training, designed to enhance your skills and advance your career. Innovative Work Guardian Life Insurance is at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technology and personalized service. Join us and contribute to initiatives that redefine industry standards and lead to more predictive and personalized customer experiences. Be Part of a Great Team Our team at Guardian Life Insurance is our strongest asset. We foster an environment where creativity and effectiveness are encouraged, making it a perfect place for those who seek to innovate and excel in their careers. With a focus on nurturing talent, we offer comprehensive benefits, competitive salaries, and a supportive atmosphere that advocates work-life balance. Future-Proof Your Career With Guardian Life Insurance, your career is future-proof. Dive into a range of employment opportunities that not only align with your current skills but also challenge you to grow and expand your capabilities. Whether you’re looking for a full-time position, an internship, or even leadership roles, Guardian Life Insurance is committed to helping you find the right path. Stay Connected Join Our Team Discover the job opportunities waiting for you at Guardian Life Insurance. We are continuously hiring and looking for individuals who are passionate, driven, and ready to contribute to our mission. Search open positions that match your skills and interests, and take the first step towards a rewarding career with us. Keep Up to Date Stay informed with the latest career tips, industry insights, and company news—all from the professionals who make Guardian Life Insurance a leader in the insurance industry. Our careers blog provides valuable information to help you prepare for your next interview, polish your resume, and enhance your networking abilities. Job Alert Emails Customize your experience by subscribing to job alerts and insider tips tailored to your preferences. Discover exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at Guardian Life Insurance, and see how you can contribute to our legacy of excellence and innovation. Join Guardian Life Insurance today and be part of a company that’s dedicated to your career growth and professional development.
Learn more about Guardian Life Insurance
Size
9,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1860

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