Sr. Site Reliability Engineer

Minimum Qualifications

• 3+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications

• Your way to Impact
• Rather than building or maintaining infrastructure day-to-day, our team is entrusted with a broader mandate: safeguarding the reliability, resiliency, and availability of some of the world's most heavily trafficked financial platforms. We hold final decision-making authority during high-severity incidents, partner closely with executive leadership on post-incident learnings, and drive the tooling and processes that continuously strengthen our incident response capabilities. You'll also regularly interface with executive leadership during critical incidents and post-mortems, and drive implementation of tooling that advances the Command Center's capabilities.
• Site Resiliency & Infrastructure Management
• Proactively identify and address vulnerabilities in cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-premises infrastructure Review Infrastructure as Code changes for reliability risks as part of change approval process Identify architectural anti-patterns in Kubernetes deployments and cloud migrations Conduct regular disaster recovery drills and readiness tests before major events (Thanksgiving, Cyber 5, peak shopping seasons) Participate in situation room activities for new product rollouts Drive site resilience projects to enhance system reliability and uptime Proactively identify and address vulnerabilities in cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-premises infrastructure Implement automated monitoring solutions to detect single points of failure Lead new datacenter and CDN certification initiatives Conduct regular disaster recovery drills and readiness tests before major events (Thanksgiving, Cyber 5, peak shopping seasons) Participate in situation room activities for new product rollouts Drive site resilience projects to enhance system reliability and uptime
• Proactively identify and address vulnerabilities in cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-premises infrastructure
• Review Infrastructure as Code changes for reliability risks as part of change approval process
• Identify architectural anti-patterns in Kubernetes deployments and cloud migrations
• Conduct regular disaster recovery drills and readiness tests before major events (Thanksgiving, Cyber 5, peak shopping seasons)
• Participate in situation room activities for new product rollouts
• Drive site resilience projects to enhance system reliability and uptime
• Implement automated monitoring solutions to detect single points of failure
• Lead new datacenter and CDN certification initiatives
• Incident Management & Response
• Act as incident commander with final decision authority -- directing engineering teams, authorizing rollbacks, and commanding regional failovers Direct application and infrastructure teams during incidents by making work assignments and prioritizing troubleshooting paths Rapidly assess incidents by reading Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation), Kubernetes manifests, and CI/CD configurations Give final authorization for critical actions including production rollbacks, regional failovers, and emergency changes Interface with executive leadership during critical incidents and post-mortems to provide technical guidance and impact assessments Identify when incidents stem from teams deviating from established cloud-native patterns Command cross-functional teams during high-severity incidents affecting PayPal core and brand platforms (Venmo, Xoom, Zettle, Braintree) Lead blameless postmortem sessions and contribute to Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on incident learningsServe as the primary technical escalation point during critical incidents Accelerate incident response times through standardized playbooks and automated workflows Coordinate cross-functional teams during high-severity incidents affecting PayPal core and brand platforms (Venmo, Xoom, Zettle, Braintree) Lead blameless postmortem sessions and contribute to Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on incident learnings Manage multiple concurrent incidents during peak periods with efficiency and precision
• Act as incident commander with final decision authority -- directing engineering teams, authorizing rollbacks, and commanding regional failovers
• Direct application and infrastructure teams during incidents by making work assignments and prioritizing troubleshooting paths
• Rapidly assess incidents by reading Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation), Kubernetes manifests, and CI/CD configurations
• Give final authorization for critical actions including production rollbacks, regional failovers, and emergency changes
• Interface with executive leadership during critical incidents and post-mortems to provide technical guidance and impact assessments
• Identify when incidents stem from teams deviating from established cloud-native patterns
• Command cross-functional teams during high-severity incidents affecting PayPal core and brand platforms (Venmo, Xoom, Zettle, Braintree)
• Lead blameless postmortem sessions and contribute to Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on incident learningsServe as the primary technical escalation point during critical incidents
• Accelerate incident response times through standardized playbooks and automated workflows
• Coordinate cross-functional teams during high-severity incidents affecting PayPal core and brand platforms (Venmo, Xoom, Zettle, Braintree)
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on incident learnings
• Manage multiple concurrent incidents during peak periods with efficiency and precision
• Change Management & Risk Mitigation
• Serve as final approver for emergency changes and provide expert guidance on all production changes Act as advisor and technical authority during change approval processes, identifying potential reliability risks Provide training and guidance to engineering teams on change management best practices Maintain change audit documentation and compliance requirements Review and approve changes to production systems, ensuring comprehensive risk assessment Automate change validation and rollback procedures to minimize service disruptions Streamline change management processes to reduce manual errors and bottlenecks Provide training and guidance to engineering teams on change management best practices Maintain change audit documentation and compliance requirements
• Serve as final approver for emergency changes and provide expert guidance on all production changes
• Act as advisor and technical authority during change approval processes, identifying potential reliability risks
• Provide training and guidance to engineering teams on change management best practices
• Maintain change audit documentation and compliance requirements
• Review and approve changes to production systems, ensuring comprehensive risk assessment
• Automate change validation and rollback procedures to minimize service disruptions
• Streamline change management processes to reduce manual errors and bottlenecks
• Cloud Expertise & Technical Leadership
• Leverage deep expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) to drive incident resolution Support Braintree and Venmo cloud infrastructure operations Guide teams toward solutions by providing architectural direction during incidents Stay current with emerging cloud technologies and best practices Mentor team members on cloud technologies and incident management techniques
• Leverage deep expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) to drive incident resolution
• Support Braintree and Venmo cloud infrastructure operations
• Guide teams toward solutions by providing architectural direction during incidents
• Stay current with emerging cloud technologies and best practices
• Mentor team members on cloud technologies and incident management techniques
• Implement automation, dashboards, and tooling to enhance the team's incident response capabilities Build runbooks and playbooks for cloud-native incident scenarios Develop internal tools and scripts to improve TDO operational efficiency Drive projects that advance the Command Center's operational capabilities
• Implement automation, dashboards, and tooling to enhance the team's incident response capabilities
• Build runbooks and playbooks for cloud-native incident scenarios
• Develop internal tools and scripts to improve TDO operational efficiency
• Drive projects that advance the Command Center's operational capabilities
• In your day-to-day role you will be responsible for:
• 3 days -4 days alternating 12-hour shift pattern. Take ownership of system performance monitoring, identify inefficiencies, and lead initiatives to improve the overall availability and reliability of digital platforms and applications. Lead and manage the response to complex, high-priority incidents, ensuring prompt resolution and a thorough root cause analysis to prevent future occurrences. Design and implement advanced automation frameworks to improve operational efficiency, streamline processes, and reduce human error. Lead reliability-focused initiatives, ensuring systems are highly available, resilient, and scalable, and promote best practices across engineering teams. Enhance the monitoring infrastructure by identifying key metrics, optimizing alerting, and improving system observability to ensure the reliability of large-scale systems. Forecast resource requirements and lead capacity planning activities to ensure systems can scale effectively to meet growing user demand. Ensure robust disaster recovery strategies are in place and conduct regular testing to ensure systems can recover quickly from failures. Partner with engineering and product teams to identify opportunities for improving system architecture, focusing on scalability, reliability, and fault tolerance. Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior site reliability engineers, fostering skill development and knowledge sharing. Drive continuous improvement across operational workflows, identifying areas for optimization, cost reduction, and performance enhancement.
• 3 days -4 days alternating 12-hour shift pattern.
• Take ownership of system performance monitoring, identify inefficiencies, and lead initiatives to improve the overall availability and reliability of digital platforms and applications.
• Lead and manage the response to complex, high-priority incidents, ensuring prompt resolution and a thorough root cause analysis to prevent future occurrences.
• Design and implement advanced automation frameworks to improve operational efficiency, streamline processes, and reduce human error.
• Lead reliability-focused initiatives, ensuring systems are highly available, resilient, and scalable, and promote best practices across engineering teams.
• Enhance the monitoring infrastructure by identifying key metrics, optimizing alerting, and improving system observability to ensure the reliability of large-scale systems.
• Forecast resource requirements and lead capacity planning activities to ensure systems can scale effectively to meet growing user demand.
• Ensure robust disaster recovery strategies are in place and conduct regular testing to ensure systems can recover quickly from failures.
• Partner with engineering and product teams to identify opportunities for improving system architecture, focusing on scalability, reliability, and fault tolerance.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior site reliability engineers, fostering skill development and knowledge sharing.
• Drive continuous improvement across operational workflows, identifying areas for optimization, cost reduction, and performance enhancement.
• What do you need to bring
• Technical Skills ​
• Significant hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS or GCP required; multi-cloud experience preferred) Strong proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, or equivalent) including ability to read, review, and troubleshoot IaC configurations during incidents Significant hands-on experience with Kubernetes and CNCF ecosystem tools, including troubleshooting K8s deployments, manifests, and cluster issues Ability to quickly read and review code across multiple languages (Python, Go, Bash) and configuration formats (YAML, HCL, JSON)essential for effective incident troubleshooting Proven experience managing critical incidents in Infrastructure-as-Code driven environments, including troubleshooting IaC state issues, GitOps failures, and cloud-native deployment problems Professional-level certification in at least one major cloud platform (AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, or equivalent) Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Splunk, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana) Strong knowledge of networking, load balancing, CDN technologies, and DNS management Proficiency in scripting for operational automation (Python, Bash, PowerShell)5+ years of experience in site reliability engineering, infrastructure operations, or similar technical operations roles Strong expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, and/or Azure) Proficiency in infrastructure automation tools (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, etc.) Deep understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Splunk, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana) Strong knowledge of networking, load balancing, CDN technologies, and DNS management Proficiency in scripting languages (Python, Bash, PowerShell, etc.)
• Significant hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS or GCP required; multi-cloud experience preferred)
• Strong proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, or equivalent) including ability to read, review, and troubleshoot IaC configurations during incidents
• Significant hands-on experience with Kubernetes and CNCF ecosystem tools, including troubleshooting K8s deployments, manifests, and cluster issues
• Ability to quickly read and review code across multiple languages (Python, Go, Bash) and configuration formats (YAML, HCL, JSON)essential for effective incident troubleshooting
• Proven experience managing critical incidents in Infrastructure-as-Code driven environments, including troubleshooting IaC state issues, GitOps failures, and cloud-native deployment problems
• Professional-level certification in at least one major cloud platform (AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, or equivalent)
• Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Splunk, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana)
• Strong knowledge of networking, load balancing, CDN technologies, and DNS management
• Proficiency in scripting for operational automation (Python, Bash, PowerShell)5+ years of experience in site reliability engineering, infrastructure operations, or similar technical operations roles
• Strong expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, and/or Azure)
• Proficiency in infrastructure automation tools (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, etc.)
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Proficiency in scripting languages (Python, Bash, PowerShell, etc.)
• Soft Skills
• Exceptional communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical issues to both technical and non-technical stakeholders Executive presence and ability to effectively communicate with senior leadership during high-pressure incidents and post-mortems Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a systematic approach to troubleshooting Ability to remain calm under pressure and make critical decisions during incidents Excellent collaboration skills with experience working across global, cross-functional teams Strong documentation skills and attention to detail
• Exceptional communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical issues to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Executive presence and ability to effectively communicate with senior leadership during high-pressure incidents and post-mortems
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a systematic approach to troubleshooting
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and make critical decisions during incidents
• Excellent collaboration skills with experience working across global, cross-functional teams
• Strong documentation skills and attention to detail

Travel Percent

Our Benefits

• At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Belonging at PayPal