Graco manufactures and markets premium equipment to move, measure, control, dispense and spray a wide variety of fluid and powder materials. What does that mean? Well, we pump peanut butter into your jar, and the oil in your car. We glue the soles of your shoes, the glass in your windows and the screen on your phone. We spray the finish on your vehicle, coatings on your pills, the paint on your house and texture on your walls. Graco is part of your daily life.

The Manger, Platform Engineering will lead our platform engineering team and play a critical role in defining, building, and maintaining our core application platforms. This role is ideal for a technical leader who excels at driving high-impact projects and has a passion for building scalable, reliable, and high-performing platforms. The Manager, Platform Engineering will collaborate closely with software engineering, product, operations, and security teams to build robust, efficient, and developer-friendly platforms that enable seamless deployment, performance optimization, and the continuous evolution of our tech stack.

What You Will Do at Graco

Platform Architecture and Strategy

• Develop and execute a roadmap for platform engineering, aligning with company goals and ensuring scalability, reliability, and security of the infrastructure.

• Oversee the design and implementation of robust platform architecture that supports the seamless delivery of services across multiple environments.

• Advocate for and implement best practices in platform engineering, including automation, testing, and observability.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Partner with product, software engineering, and operations teams to align platform initiatives with broader organizational goals.

• Work closely with security and infrastructure teams to ensure that platform solutions meet company standards and security requirements.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to define SLAs, metrics, and benchmarks for platform services to ensure high-quality outcomes.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

• Identify and implement process improvements to optimize developer workflows and increase efficiency across platforms.

• Lead initiatives to enhance CI/CD pipelines, streamline deployment processes, and improve overall system performance and resilience.

• Stay updated with industry trends, tools, and technologies, and drive the adoption of emerging best practices to keep our platforms at the cutting edge.

Team Leadership and Financial Management  

• Lead, mentor, manage, and staff a team of platform engineers, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and promoting a culture of excellence.

• Drive team performance by setting clear goals, providing ongoing feedback, and facilitating professional growth opportunities.

• Establish, manage, and be accountable for the annual platform engineering budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources and alignment with organizational strategic objectives.

What You Will Bring to Graco

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field. MBA or advanced degree preferred.

• 7+ years of experience in software/platform engineering.

• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to manage and inspire a team; 2+ years of team leadership experience preferred.

• Proven experience in platform engineering, infrastructure management, or site reliability engineering (SRE).

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (e.g., OCI, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and experience managing cloud-based infrastructure.

• Hands-on experience with COTS on-premises ERP, CRM applications and databases (e.g. Oracle EBS, Sales Force, SAP, Oracle Database, Postgres, NoSQL).

• Hands-on experience with CI/CD tools (e.g., Jenkins, FlexDeploy, GitLab CI/CD), containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and configuration management tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible).

• Familiarity with observability tools and practices, including monitoring, logging, and alerting systems (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack).

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across teams and departments.

• Strong problem-solving skills and a strategic mindset for balancing immediate needs with long-term platform vision.

• Demonstrated ability to manage and deliver multiple complex projects within deadlines and budget constraints.

Accelerators

• Experience in Software project management

• Application of Software development life cycle (SDLC) practices and principles.

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills to resolve platform issues.

• Business analysis and/or Project/Program management experience.

At Graco, you truly make a difference. Your unique talents contribute to our organizational growth and future. Not only do you make a difference, but Graco’s culture empowers employees to create their own career path. Whether you choose to advance within your current department or explore new opportunities in different divisions, you have the ability to build your future. Our managers are here to provide support and guidance as you continue to grow within your career.

Graco has excellent opportunities available to individuals who want to be part of a fast-moving, growing company that is committed to quality, innovation and solving fluid handling problems for our customers. Graco is proud to be named a Best Place to Work by Fortune Magazine in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2022. Graco offers attractive compensation, benefits and career development opportunities. Graco’s comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, stock purchase plan, 401(k), tuition reimbursement and more.

Our company uses E-Verify to confirm the employment and eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.