Senior Platform Manager - SREs & Support - Hawthorn East

We've been trusted to serve Aussie communities since 1914 and grown to become a top 30-listed on the ASX with 120,000 team members and a portfolio of iconic brands. At Coles Group, you'll not only get to make a difference to millions of Aussie lives—you'll also get to see your impact.

About the team

As the way we shop continues to evolve, our Data and Artificial Intelligence Team keeps us at the cutting edge. Driven by our innovative, inclusive, and forward-thinking culture, we’re constantly looking at ways to reinvent the shopping experience for our customers and build the next generation of digital retailing. 

The Data and Artificial Intelligence within the broader Coles Technology Team focuses on building data collection and analytics capabilities to uncover customer, product, and operational insights. Providing data driven support to our users and enabling Coles to be a data driven organisation.

About the role

For this exciting position within our Data and Artificial Intelligence team, we are seeking a leader to define and lead the Data & AI platform SRE and support strategy, aligning with data and AI platform goals to ensure maximum uptime, reliability, and user satisfaction.

Working closely with the Head of Data & AI Platforms, your main responsibilities will include the following but not be limited to the below:

• Oversee the planning, implementation, and continuous improvement of monitoring, alerting, incident management, and disaster recovery processes.
• Lead and manage the Operations Manager and SRE Manager to deliver efficient, scalable operational support and engineering excellence.
• Drive the adoption of automation tools and practices to reduce manual intervention, accelerate incident response, and improve platform health.
• Ensure platform compliance with security, governance, and regulatory standards related to operational risk management.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, data science, security, and product teams to align operational readiness and incident prevention strategies.
• Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level objectives (SLOs) to measure and report on platform reliability and support effectiveness.
• Champion a proactive culture of risk identification, root cause analysis, and continuous learning from incidents.
• Manage vendor relationships and third-party service providers to augment operational capabilities and support needs.
• Provide regular, transparent communication to senior leadership on operational risks, incident trends, and improvement initiatives.

Leadership

• Lead, inspire, and develop high-performing teams across site reliability engineering and platform support functions.
• Foster a culture of accountability, operational rigor, and customer-centricity within the teams.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration to resolve complex platform issues and implement preventive solutions.
• Mentor and coach managers and team leads, supporting career development and succession planning.
• Advocate for and embed best practices in DevOps, SRE, and IT service management across the platform organisation.
• Lead change management efforts to enhance operational maturity and adapt to evolving platform requirements.
• Ensure alignment of team goals with broader organisational strategies and customer needs.

Experience required

• Proven years in IT operations, site reliability engineering, or platform support leadership roles, with significant experience managing large-scale, complex platforms.
• Proven success leading SRE, IT operations, or support teams in enterprise data or AI platform environments.
• Deep understanding of modern SRE practices including incident management, automation, monitoring, capacity planning, and disaster recovery.
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary teams including operations, incident response, and engineering support.
• Strong background in cloud platforms (Azure, Snowflake, Databricks), infrastructure automation, and monitoring tools.
• Familiarity with security and compliance requirements impacting operational functions.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior executives and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience managing vendor relationships and third-party service providers.

Commercial Skills and Formal Qualifications

• Expertise in site reliability engineering, IT service management frameworks (ITIL), and operational excellence methodologies.
• Strong leadership and people management skills with a track record of building and scaling high-performing teams.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving abilities.
• Education:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
• Relevant certifications such as ITIL, Certified SRE, or cloud platform certifications are highly desirable.

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.

• Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.

• Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hot deals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.

• Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks.’ You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.

• Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.

• Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.

• Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.

About the recruitment process

We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au

Job ID: 166061 

Employment Type: Full time 

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