Principal Platform Engineer - Flexible Hybrid (chicago, Kansas City Or NYC)

Principal Platform Engineer

Building trusted markets — powered by our people

At Cboe Global Markets, we inspire our people to solve complex challenges together because what we do matters. We provide the financial infrastructure that powers the global economy. As a leading provider of market infrastructure and tradable products, Cboe delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to market participants around the world.

We're building meaningful ways to support professional and personal development while strengthening the trust we've earned as a global market leader. Our teams are empowered to share ideas, actively pursue them and bring on a challenge. As champions of internal mobility and access to opportunity, we encourage our people to "go for it" and equip our managers with the training to coach their teams to the next level. We strive to provide employees a safe space to network, share ideas and create opportunities.

Cboe HQ is located in the historic Old Post Office district, a landmark that blends classic architecture with modern amenities. The building features expansive spaces with high ceilings and large windows, offering an abundance of natural light and panoramic views of the city skyline and the Chicago River. With its prime location in the heart of downtown, the OPO Building provides easy access to major transportation hubs, including Union Station and multiple CTA lines, making it convenient for commuters. The building is home to a variety of amenities, including restaurants, a fitness center, and collaborative workspaces, creating a vibrant and dynamic work environment in one of Chicago's most iconic areas.

We are seeking a Principal Platform Engineer to lead the design, automation, and scalability of our global infrastructure that powers mission-critical financial applications. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in Linux systems, Kubernetes orchestration, and modern development practices, and thrives in high-performance, regulated environments.

As a senior technical leader, you will set architectural standards, mentor engineers, and drive platform reliability, observability, and security across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.

In this role you'll be responsible for:

• Design and evolve the firm's container orchestration and compute platforms (Kubernetes, Incus/LXD, or hybrid systems) to support low-latency, high-availability financial applications.
• Define infrastructure-as-code (IaC) standards (Terraform, Pulumi, or similar) and ensure consistent, auditable deployments across environments.
• Lead the adoption of immutable infrastructure principles, secure baseline images, and reproducible environments (RHEL-based).
• Architect and implement CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure and application deployment with an emphasis on developer experience and velocity.
• Partner with development, SRE, and security teams to ensure regulatory compliance, change control, and observability across all layers.
• Establish monitoring, logging, and metrics strategies (Prometheus, Loki, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, etc.) for production and pre-production systems.
• Drive performance tuning and capacity planning for large-scale, latency-sensitive services.
• Serve as a technical mentor and thought leader within the organization.
• Provide strategic input into infrastructure roadmap, vendor selection, and emerging technology evaluations.

The ideal candidate has:

• 10+ years of professional experience in Linux systems engineering, ideally Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or derivatives.
• 5+ years designing, deploying, and maintaining Kubernetes (self-managed or cloud-native distributions such as EKS, GKE, or OpenShift).
• Strong proficiency with Python or Go for automation, tooling, and integration with APIs.
• Deep understanding of networking (TCP/IP, DNS, load balancing) and security fundamentals (RBAC, TLS, secrets management).
• Expertise with CI/CD tooling (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Tekton, etc.) and artifact lifecycle management (Harbor, Pulp, or Artifactory).
• Proven experience with IaC (Terraform, Pulumi, or Ansible/SaltStack).
• Familiarity with container image lifecycle management, base image hardening, and SBOM compliance.
• Exposure to on-prem and hybrid cloud environments (AWS, GCP, or private cloud).
• Background in SRE practices, including SLI/SLO management, error budgets, and runbook automation.
• Experience with GitOps, event-driven automation, and declarative configuration management.
• Exceptional problem-solving ability and technical judgment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including documentation and presentation skills.
• Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and ability to influence without direct authority.

You'll really stand out with:

• Advanced certifications such as RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) or LFCE (Linux Foundation Certified Engineer) are a plus.
• Extensive experience working in cloud-based environments like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
• Understanding of compliance frameworks (SOC2, ISO27001, or NIST).
• Experience supporting financial systems, trading platforms, or other latency-sensitive workloads.
• Experience in leading Agile teams and familiarity with Agile methodologies.

Benefits and perks of working for Cboe Global Markets:

• Fair and competitive salary and incentive compensation packages with an upside for overachievement
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, personal days, sick days and annual community service days
• Flexible, hybrid work environment
• Health, dental and vision benefits, including access to telemedicine and mental health services
• 2:1 401(k) match, up to 8% match immediately upon hire
• Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Tax Savings Accounts for health, dependent and transportation
• Employee referral bonus program
• Volunteer opportunities to help you give back to your communities
• Some of our associates' favorite benefits and perks include: Complimentary lunch, snacks and coffee in any Cboe office
• Paid Tuition assistance and education opportunities
• Generous charitable giving company match
• Paid parental leave and fertility benefits
• On-site gyms and discounts to other fitness centers
• Paid Time Off

More About Cboe Global Markets

We're reimagining the future of the workplace by focusing on what matters most, our people. Our journey is an inclusive one. We're investing deeply in leadership programs and career development initiatives that ensure everyone has an equal chance to succeed.

We work with purpose, solving problems with ingenuity, collaboration, and a lot of passion. We're an engaged and excited team connecting markets across borders and embracing growth in all its forms to achieve incredible outcomes.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any legally protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or Veteran status. We are committed to fostering a workplace where all individuals are valued and respected.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship now or in the future.

Our pay ranges are determined by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, role, experience, level, and location. The national new hire base pay range for this job in the United States is $148,750-$183,750. This range represents the minimum and maximum base pay the company expects to offer for new hires working in the position full time. If you live in one of the following areas or if you work in a Cboe office in the following areas, the range may be higher according to the geographic differentials listed below:

• 110%: Austin TX, Chicago IL, Denver CO, San Diego CA
• 115%: Los Angeles CA, Seattle WA
• 120%: Boston MA, Washington DC
• 125%: New York City NY
• 130%: San Francisco CA

Within the range, individual pay is determined by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, work location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant