Hiring

If you are recruiting me, start here. This is a long-running reference, not a status update. It covers where I do my best work, the practical shape of a role I can accept, and the interviews I am open to.

Where I do my best work

I am a senior platform engineer, more than ten years in. Platform engineer is the clearest-signal title. DevOps is the honest fallback. Actual authority and scope matter more than title prestige.

  • Systems integrationAcross cloud, observability, and developer tooling.
  • Developer experienceInternal platforms and developer tooling as the actual product of the role.
  • Agent-first infrastructureMCP and tool interfaces, orchestration, evaluation, observability, safety, and debugging for agent consumers.
  • Production platformsReliability, incident response, rollout boundaries, and long-term operability.
  • Platform-team interfacesCross-organization work that makes ownership and handoffs explicit.
  • Bounded deliveryContract-shaped and embedded missions with real customer problems, explicit handoffs, and periodic resets.
  • Meaningful ownershipBroad platform territory, especially early-company scope or a first-platform-hire charter.

Role shape

Senior is a good fit. Staff or Lead can also fit when the charter supports real authority across a platform or developer-tooling surface.

  • A strong platform charter with some SRE or product responsibility can fit well.
  • Primarily SRE, operations, or infrastructure maintenance is less aligned.
  • Backend-product work as the actual role is a hard no.
  • Generic AI branding does not add much unless agentic developer leverage is part of the work.

Practical fit

  • Location and arrangementI am based in the East Bay. I prefer a remote-compatible role with a real Bay Area office, or a comfortable Bay Area hybrid arrangement. No Bay Area office is a hard stop.
  • EmploymentFull-time is the default. Direct independent contracting through my own business, consultancy work, and embedded delivery can fit. Staffing-agency W-2 contracts, contract-to-hire, and agency-mediated C2C are not a fit.
  • CompensationMy base-compensation floor is $170K, with $220K to $250K the strongest range. Compensation is not load-bearing above the floor.
  • Working environmentManager quality, autonomy, team composition, inclusion, communication style, on-call expectations, overtime, and room to work without masking all matter.
  • ValuesA technically strong role can still be the wrong fit when the product direction conflicts with my values.

Useful context before a first conversation

A useful first message includes:

  • Office location and expected cadence
  • Base-compensation band
  • The actual role charter and ownership boundaries
  • Manager and team shape
  • On-call and overtime expectations
  • Technical environment, product, and customer
  • Company stage and interview format
  • Why my experience is specifically relevant

On tenure

I want the next chapter to meet or exceed my best fit.

My resume reads short and I want to frame it up front, since it always comes up. The first several years of my career were structural. Small companies, nonprofits, and contracts ended for financial reasons rather than personal ones.

The voluntary moves since cluster around three forces: high-stress events I did not recover from in time, values conflicts that emerged mid-tenure, and one role-fit miscall I would replay differently. My longest stint is my staying-power benchmark. I am increasingly selective because I want the next chapter to meet or exceed that fit, not because I am trying to talk past the pattern. I am happy to walk through any specific transition once we are in conversation.

Interview format

Use the work the role actually requires.

Senior platform work is systems integration, reliability, cost, and organizational interface work. There is plenty of technical depth available in formats that test those skills directly.

Good ways to evaluate me

  • System design
  • Architecture deep-dives
  • A take-home with a real-codebase prompt
  • Paired debugging on actual code

Hard pass

I do not do async-proctored puzzle coding. That means a webcam or screen share, an automated proctor, a hard time limit, and no human interviewer present. This is a hard stop regardless of where the test sits in the loop.

Softer no

Live puzzle coding with a human interviewer present is a softer no. I will sometimes do it when the rest of the loop is strong, but it is not where I show my best work.

Kai SirenPlatform Engineer