Head of Platform
Location: Global (Hybrid)
Reports to: SVP, Technology Infrastructure & Operations (TIO)
Function: Technology
Purpose of the Role
The Head of Platform leads the delivery and evolution of Elsevier’s internal developer platform as a core driver of engineering transformation.
This role is accountable for shifting Elsevier from fragmented infrastructure services to a unified internal developer platform (IDP) that accelerates modernization, reuse, and AI-enabled engineering.
This leader combines strong technical depth with enterprise influence, driving large-scale cultural and operational change across engineering.
They will shape the platform as a product while embedding new ways of working focused on self-service, automation, and developer experience.
Key Responsibilities
Platform Strategy & Vision
- Define and drive the platform strategy aligned with Elsevier standards and enterprise priorities.
- Translate strategic objectives (DevEx, reuse, AI-enabled SDLC) into clear platform roadmaps.
- Establish and evolve a platform-as-a-product operating model.
Leadership & Organization Design
- Build and lead a global platform organization (95–125 engineers) across key domains.
- Partner with TIO leadership, architecture, and change teams to align operating models.
- Drive an engineering-led, automation-first culture across the organization.
Developer Experience & Enablement
- Deliver internal developer portal capabilities (e.g., Backstage) and golden paths.
- Embed DORA and SPACE metrics to improve developer productivity.
- Champion reuse and inner sourcing across engineering teams.
AI & Automation Integration
- Integrate AI across the SDLC including code generation, testing, and automation.
- Drive adoption of AI-enabled engineering practices.
- Ensure secure and efficient-by-default platform services through automation.
Operational Excellence
- Ensure reliability, observability, and cost efficiency of platform services.
- Define resilience, incident management, and operational models.
- Track and report on platform maturity and performance.
Collaboration & Influence
- Partner with Business Unit CTOs, product leaders, and engineering teams.
- Drive alignment between platform capabilities and business outcomes.
- Communicate effectively across executive and technical audiences.
Experience & Skills
- 15+ years in platform, software, or infrastructure engineering.
- Proven experience leading large-scale cultural and operational transformations.
- Strong background in platform-as-a-product and developer experience.
- Demonstrated stakeholder influence across complex organizations.
- Experience leading distributed engineering teams.
- Familiarity with AI-enabled engineering practices.
- Strong grounding in SRE, observability, and secure-by-design.
- Excellent communication and leadership skills.
Success Measures
- Increased developer productivity and satisfaction.
- Adoption of platform capabilities across engineering teams.
- Reduction in toil and time-to-market.
- Increased reuse through standardized patterns and golden paths.
- Improved operational reliability and cost efficiency.
- Demonstrated shift in engineering culture toward ownership and automation.
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