Job Description
Job DescriptionDescription:
Ready to be a part of the company transforming FinTech and how the world accesses banking services?
When was the last time you were excited about interacting with your bank or credit union? If the answer is “a while” then you’re in good company. Despite the fact that access to better financial choices is at the heart of empowering communities, businesses, and people, financial institutions (FIs) are struggling to keep up with modern expectations.
And that’s where Kinective comes in. We’re here to change the way the world accesses and thinks about banking through software that connects a historically “boring” industry to the latest and greatest fintechs shaping the industry.
Ok... but what does all of that actually mean? Banks and credit unions are using some pretty old-school systems, which makes adopting new and innovative technology difficult (if not impossible). If you think it’s easy for your local branch to send you a receipt via text… think again.
Want proof? As the largest provider of software connectivity to 1 in 4 U.S. financial institutions, we are the leading company transforming the way banking is done for credit unions and banks. (In fact, Forbes recently released their Best Banks in the World report, and Kinective works with over 60% of their named banks!).
Kinective is the connector (get it?) that bridges that technology gap and helps modernize the way banking works. Our 300+ team of mega-talented and passionate folks are brought together with the unifying desire to make life easier (and better) for our clients and ultimately paving the way for banks and credit unions to modernize banking for everyone.
The Cliffs Notes
Drive the future of cloud reliability at scale. Kinective is seeking a seasoned Director of Cloud Infrastructure & SRE to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of our multi-cloud platform supporting real-time, high-volume financial data flows. This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll shape cloud strategy, define best practices, and scale mission-critical systems that power modern banking infrastructure.
You’ll head global teams of DevOps, SRE, and CloudOps engineers, champion Infrastructure-as-Code, AI/ML-based automation, and work with tools like Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, Prometheus, and ELK. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise in Azure & AWS, strong security and compliance knowledge (SOC2, GDPR, NIST), and a passion for building resilient, secure, and scalable systems.
What you’ll own:
- As a leader, you will have the opportunity to lead the DevOps & Cloud Infrastructure transformation in a rapid growing organization of multiple teams in delivering on business priorities while collaborating with development leaders and executives to define and advance best practices
- Kinective is seeking a strategic and experienced leader to oversee the cloud infrastructure, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) for our large-scale, connected products ecosystem and CloudOps
Cloud Infrastructure & SRE Strategy
- Define and execute global cloud operations and SRE strategies, ensuring 99.99%+ uptime for mission-critical financial services applications
- Architect, implement, and optimize multi-cloud infrastructure to support financial services application with low-latency data processing, scalability, and high availability
- Drive cost optimization strategies while balancing performance, redundancy, and financial efficiency across cloud platforms (Azure & AWS)
- Develop automated deployment, monitoring, and recovery systems using technologies like Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines
Reliability, Performance & Incident Management
- Establish and refine SLOs, SLIs, and KPIs for service reliability, performance, and capacity planning
- Build and optimize incident management, disaster recovery, and resilience engineering frameworks
- Leverage AI/ML-driven automation for proactive failure detection and remediation
- Implement robust security practices and ensure cloud security, compliance with standards such as SOC2, GDPR, and NIST, and oversee the zero-trust security model
- Collaborate with security and compliance teams to manage risk and ensure regulatory adherence across cloud platforms
Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Lead and mentor a team of DevOps Engineers, SREs, Escalation Engineers and SW professionals, fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation
- Partner with product management, software engineering, and customer support to optimize Kinective software, scalability and performance
- Collaborate with executive leadership to develop long-term cloud investment strategies
Requirements:
Necessary Qualifications:
- 10 + years in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience in Cloud Operations, SRE, or Infrastructure Engineering, with 8+ years in technical leadership roles
- Experience managing large & Medium scaled, distributed cloud environments supporting millions of data connections per day
- Deep professional experience in Azure and AWS cloud platforms including networking, storage, compute, and database services
- Experience in Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, and Application Monitoring & observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, etc.)
- Experience in large-scale systems design and architecture, with a focus on reliability, performance, and scalability of cloud-native platforms
- Hands-on experience with tools like Terraform, Cloud Formation, Ansible, CDK, Pulumi for Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), and managing cloud-native architectures
- Strong background in AI/ML-driven automation for cloud infrastructure monitoring, self-healing, and optimization
- Solid understanding of security-first cloud architectures, DevSecOps, and compliance standards (PCI, SOC2, GDPR, NIST)
- Proven ability to manage teams across multiple global time zones, ensuring operational excellence and driving performance in large, distributed environments
- Expertise in incident management, disaster recovery, and building resilience engineering frameworks
- Ability and desire to review code, system designs, and engage in system engineering discussions and decisions
- Expertise in serverless architecture, and edge computing
- Strong financial acumen in cloud cost management, and forecasting
- Familiarity with regulatory compliance frameworks such as SOC2, GDPR, PCI, and ISO 27001
- Relevant certifications in Azure or AWS Cloud Practices
Why Kinective?
We’re transforming our industry. You’re hopping into a rocket ship when you join the Kinective team. We have our sights set on becoming the go-to banking technology enabler, giving our customers total freedom in choosing any system, technology, or provider to scale their innovation efforts and have it integrate with their banking core. Oh, and we should mention, we’re the only ones doing that right now.
We love our customers (and they love us, too). Creating incredible customer outcomes is a unifying value at Kinective, with over a 95% customer retention rate.
All the benefits. We care about you on and off the clock, which is why we are proud to offer plenty of great benefits to choose from. A generously flexible PTO, medical, dental, vision, even pet insurance, just to name a few.
We’re cool people building cool stuff. Underneath all the banking acronyms and terminologies is a team of driven people building the future of banking. We value a workplace that allows us to work hard, be challenged, and ultimately be supported in our endeavors.
What does life at Kinective look like?
Bid adieu to snooze-fest corporate gigs. At Kinective, we believe that balance is key. We know how to have fun, and how to hit deadlines. We know how to collaborate and enjoy comradery, and how to provide feedback to help each other grow professionally.
Our culture empowers team members to take the lead, upholds integrity as our bedrock, and values trust and respect in all our operations. We believe in learning new skills, mentoring colleagues, and nurturing personal development. That’s why we seek to promote from within and give our team members the opportunity to rise with us.
Our Values
Deliver success. We strive to exceed customer expectations.
We are powered by a relentless commitment to delivering quality and service to our customers. We turn everyday interactions into positive, memorable experiences that create long-lasting Kinective ambassadors.
Grit with grace. We face problems head on, respecting others along the way.
We aren’t afraid to step outside of our comfort zone to accomplish the common goal. We believe that progress thrives on constructive dialogue and a commitment to understanding.
One Kinective. Together, we win.
By embracing a “better together” mindset, we unleash the full potential of our team and propel Kinective from good to great.
Build the future. We are driven by the pursuit of what’s possible.
Building the future requires embracing change and challenging the status quo. We believe that the best idea wins, embodying a culture of innovation.
The Team
In this role, you would be a part of the Engineering Leadership team and reporting to EVP, Technology.
Consideration will be made for a remote arrangement depending on qualifications and circumstances.
Office Expectation
This role is HYBRID, with an expectation of 3 days a week in-office at our offices in either Rahway, NJ or Golden, CO. Our hours are 8-5pm.
Consideration may be made for a remote arrangement depending on qualifications and circumstances.
Well, you’ve made it this far...
Seems like we might be meant to be, right? If you think you’re the right fit for Kinective, go ahead and click “apply.” And, even if you’re not quite sure if you’re qualified, we encourage you to apply and we can decide together.
Take a deeper dive into all things Kinective at kinective.io
Please note that this role does not currently offer sponsorship opportunities.