Senior Director of Site Reliability Engineer

Location: Seattle, WA, United States

Job Family: Software Engineering

About the Role

At JP Morgan Chase, we are at the forefront of redefining the future of financial services through technology innovation and unwavering reliability. As the Senior Director of Site Reliability Engineering in our Seattle office, you will play a pivotal role in shaping firmwide strategies that ensure our digital platforms—powering everything from retail banking to institutional trading—remain durable, resilient, and capable of handling trillions in daily transactions. Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you will lead a team of elite SRE professionals, inspiring them to push the boundaries of what's possible in a highly regulated industry where downtime can have immediate financial and reputational impacts. Your leadership will focus on integrating SRE principles into our agile development processes, fostering a culture of proactive reliability that aligns with JP Morgan's commitment to client trust and operational excellence. In this strategic role, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional leaders across technology, risk, and business units to define and execute on key initiatives, such as automating incident response for our cloud-based trading systems and optimizing observability for hybrid infrastructures. You will drive the adoption of advanced tools and practices to monitor service levels, manage error budgets, and conduct chaos engineering exercises tailored to the volatility of capital markets. By championing data-driven improvements, you will help mitigate risks associated with cyber threats, regulatory compliance (e.g., SEC and FINRA standards), and peak-load scenarios like market openings. This position offers the opportunity to influence enterprise-wide transformation, ensuring that JP Morgan Chase's technology stack supports seamless, secure experiences for millions of global clients. We seek a visionary leader with a passion for SRE in financial services, capable of balancing technical depth with executive presence. Join us in Seattle, a hub for our innovative tech ecosystem, and contribute to building the resilient backbone of the world's leading financial institution. This role not only demands expertise in scaling reliable systems but also the ability to inspire teams to deliver products that drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage in an ever-evolving industry.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead firmwide SRE strategies to ensure the durability and resilience of JP Morgan Chase's core banking platforms and trading systems
• Inspire and mentor a team of SRE engineers to deliver scalable, fault-tolerant products that support high-volume financial transactions
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and risk management teams to integrate reliability into the software development lifecycle
• Oversee the implementation of monitoring, alerting, and automation tools to minimize downtime in 24/7 financial services operations
• Drive incident response processes and post-mortem analyses to enhance system performance and prevent disruptions in capital markets
• Champion the adoption of SRE best practices across global teams, aligning with JP Morgan's commitment to innovation and security
• Manage resource allocation and budgeting for SRE initiatives, ensuring alignment with firmwide technology goals
• Conduct regular audits and simulations to test system resilience against cyber threats and market volatility
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by promoting observability and data-driven decision-making in engineering practices
• Represent SRE leadership in executive forums, articulating the impact of reliability on business outcomes like transaction speed and customer trust

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 5 years in site reliability engineering or DevOps roles
• Proven track record of leading engineering teams in building and maintaining high-availability systems in a financial services environment
• Deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, particularly AWS or Azure, with experience in regulated industries like banking
• Strong understanding of SRE principles, including error budgets, SLIs/SLOs, and incident management
• Experience with agile methodologies and cross-functional collaboration in large-scale enterprise settings
• Ability to obtain necessary security clearances for handling sensitive financial data

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science or related field
• Experience in financial technology (FinTech) or banking operations, including compliance with regulations like SOX and GDPR
• Certification in SRE (e.g., Google SRE) or cloud platforms (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect)
• Prior leadership in global teams, with experience in hybrid cloud environments
• Background in mentoring engineers and driving cultural change towards reliability-focused practices

Required Skills

• Expertise in SRE methodologies and tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and PagerDuty
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Go, or Java for automation and scripting
• Deep knowledge of containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker) in cloud-native environments
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar in secure financial pipelines
• Strong understanding of networking, load balancing, and infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible)
• Familiarity with database technologies like SQL/NoSQL and their high-availability configurations
• Skills in incident management and root cause analysis for mission-critical systems
• Leadership and communication skills for influencing cross-functional teams in a matrix organization
• Analytical mindset for defining and measuring service level objectives in fast-paced trading environments
• Knowledge of security practices, including encryption, access controls, and compliance in banking
• Problem-solving abilities to handle complex, real-time issues in global financial networks
• Adaptability to evolving technologies and regulatory landscapes in FinTech
• Team-building skills to motivate diverse engineering groups towards shared reliability goals
• Strategic thinking for aligning technical decisions with business priorities like risk mitigation

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and performance-based annual bonuses tied to firm and individual contributions
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance with low employee premiums
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with generous company matching up to 6% of eligible pay
• Paid time off including vacation, sick days, and parental leave for new families
• Professional development stipend for certifications, conferences, and advanced training in financial technology
• Employee stock purchase plan and access to JP Morgan's internal learning academy
• Wellness programs including gym memberships, mental health support, and financial planning services
• Relocation assistance for moves to Seattle, WA, and hybrid work flexibility with modern office amenities

JP Morgan Chase is an equal opportunity employer.