ABOUT US

Pliant is a European fintech specializing in B2B payment solutions. Our modular, API-first platform helps businesses streamline spending, improve cash flow, and integrate payments into their financial workflows. Designed for industries with complex payment needs, such as travel and fleet, Pliant enables greater efficiency, control, and profitability.

We serve two primary customer segments:

• Companies looking to optimize operational processes through intuitive apps and APIs, gaining control, automation, and financial flexibility through extended credit lines.
• Businesses such as financial software platforms, ERP providers, and banks that want to launch or enhance their credit card offerings using Pliant’s embedded finance and white-label solutions.
  
  

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Berlin, Pliant supports over 4,000 businesses and more than 20 partners globally. As a licensed e-money institution (EMI), we issue Visa-powered credit cards in 11 currencies across more than 30 countries, helping companies streamline and simplify payments.

Learn more at
www.getpliant.com

ABOUT THE ROLE

We're seeking an experienced Head of Platform Infrastructure (m/f/d) to take ownership of today's Platform Infrastructure team and evolve it into a department that provides cloud infrastructure, reliability engineering, developer productivity, security engineering, and cost management capabilities for all of Pliant Engineering. You will lead the existing team and scale it into a multi-team department with focused ownership areas. The goal is to make infrastructure a competitive advantage: enabling product teams to ship safely and quickly, operate reliably, and meet security and compliance requirements with minimal friction.

This is a unique opportunity arising from our growth. You will partner closely with engineering leadership and stakeholders across the company to set priorities, define operating mechanisms, and deliver measurable outcomes.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Platform Infrastructure exists to provide a reliable, secure, and scalable infrastructure platform so that Pliant can innovate rapidly and scale seamlessly, with infrastructure becoming a competitive advantage.

Today, Platform Infrastructure is operated as a single team (with broad ownership). The department structure is intended to be built incrementally into multiple teams, such as:

• Cloud Infrastructure & Kubernetes (including cell-based architecture and “Cell Factory” automation)
• Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
• Developer Productivity & Experience
• Security Engineering
• FinOps & Cost Management
• Data Platform Engineering
  
  

A core focus for the Head of Platform Infrastructure will be to design and drive this evolution, ensuring no gaps in ownership while responsibilities transition from “one broad team” to “multiple specialized teams with clear charters.”

Our Tech Stack: Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, Kafka, AWS, Docker, Terraform

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead and Develop the Existing Platform Infrastructure Team: Take ownership of the current team’s delivery, reliability posture, and roadmap, while providing clear direction, coaching, and a psychologically safe environment.
• Scale the Team into a Department: Define the target department structure, establish team charters, and hire and develop engineering managers and senior ICs to form multiple focused teams over time (e.g., Cloud Infra, SRE, Dev Productivity, Security, FinOps, Data Platform).
• Drive Platform Strategy and Roadmap: Set and communicate a multi-quarter roadmap that balances developer velocity, reliability, security/compliance, and cost efficiency.
• Own Reliability and Operational Excellence: Strengthen incident management, on-call health, observability, and SLO/SLI practices across platform and critical services.
• Enable Developer Velocity: Build and evolve self-service “Golden Path” workflows (tooling, CI/CD, templates, automation) so product teams can ship frequently and safely.
• Embed Security and Compliance by Default: Ensure security and compliance are automated into platform workflows (guardrails, secrets, scanning, policy enforcement, audit readiness) without slowing teams down.
• Make Cost a First-Class Engineering Input: Increase cost transparency and accountability with dashboards, allocation approaches, optimization programs, and cost-aware architecture standards.
• Manage OKRs and Continuous Improvement: Set and track quarterly OKRs and continuously improve platform outcomes through metrics, feedback loops, and iterative delivery.
• Champion Pliant Values: Embrace and live Pliant’s core values - Push It, Own It, Open Up, Be Kind, Have Fun, Be Pliant - while fostering a strong department culture.
  
  

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering and/or infrastructure engineering, including significant leadership experience (building and scaling teams, leading managers, and driving cross-org initiatives).
• Strong technical background in cloud infrastructure and modern platform engineering (Kubernetes, IaC, CI/CD, observability, incident response, reliability engineering).
• Demonstrated ability to scale an organization: hiring, org design, team charters, career ladders, and operating cadence.
• Proven ability to run infrastructure as an internal product: stakeholder alignment, adoption focus, prioritization, and measurable outcomes.
• Experience implementing security and compliance controls in a pragmatic, developer-friendly way (shift-left guardrails, automation, secure defaults).
• Strong understanding of cloud cost drivers and experience building cost visibility and optimization practices (FinOps mindset).
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to align stakeholders across engineering and the business.
• Experience in a regulated environment (fintech, payments, or similar) is a plus.

WHAT WE OFFER

• The opportunity to work in a growing team with big responsibilities that thrives on a strong exchange of knowledge and excellence
• Attractive remuneration
• Your choice of preferred OS, Windows or Mac
• Flat hierarchy and transparent communication in a relaxed, professional atmosphere
• Opportunity to develop your talent in a dynamic team with ambitious goals
• Flexibility and possibility to work remotely
• Company card with a monthly allowance for lunches, coffee, etc. with co-workers

At Pliant, we believe diversity and inclusion are essential to building not only an innovative product but also an exceptional experience for both our customers and our team. This commitment begins with our hiring process—we welcome individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, religions, national origins, gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, ages, marital statuses, and abilities. If you require accommodations or accessibility support during the interview process, please let us know in your application so we can make sure your experience is seamless.