---
title: 'Lead Platform Operations Engineer at Upwork'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-platform-operations-engineer-upwork-lisbon-b809tehnbbgj'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-20'
---

# Lead Platform Operations Engineer at Upwork

- **Company:** Upwork
- **Location:** Lisbon, Portugal
- **Compensation:** €57k–€89k
- **Posted:** 2026-10-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-20
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/upwork/jobs/8001029003

## Job description

Upwork Inc.’s (Nasdaq: UPWK) family of companies connects businesses with global, AI-enabled talent across every contingent work type including freelance, fractional, and payrolled. This portfolio includes the Upwork Marketplace, which connects businesses with on-demand access to highly skilled talent across the globe, and Lifted, which provides a purpose-built solution for enterprise organizations to source, contract, manage, and pay talent across the full spectrum of contingent work. From Fortune 100 enterprises to entrepreneurs, businesses rely on Upwork Inc. to find and hire expert talent, leverage AI-powered work solutions, and drive business transformation. With access to professionals spanning more than 10,000 skills across AI & machine learning, software development, sales & marketing, customer support, finance & accounting, and more, the Upwork family of companies enables businesses of all sizes to scale, innovate, and transform their workforces for the age of AI and beyond.

Since its founding, Upwork Inc. has facilitated more than $30 billion in total transactions and services as it fulfills its purpose to create opportunity in every era of work. Learn more about the Upwork Marketplace at[Upwork.com](http://upwork.com/) and follow us on[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/upwork),[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/upwork),[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/upwork/),[TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@upwork), and[X](https://twitter.com/upwork); and learn more about Lifted at[Go-Lifted](http://go-lifted.com/) and follow on[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/go-lifted/).

As a Lead Platform Operations Engineer, you’ll build the technical foundation for Upwork’s new international office while helping bring our cloud and Kubernetes infrastructure into one consistent operating model.

In your first months, you’ll stand up the office network, take ownership of local technical operations, and act as the on-site technical contact for workplace technology until a dedicated Workplace resource is in place. Over time, your focus shifts to Platform Operations, where you’ll partner with Kubernetes Platform, Reliability Engineering, Corporate Technology, Workplace, and Security to make our infrastructure more reliable, automated, and secure. This role requires hands-on work in the Lisbon office, especially during launch and for issues that need a local response.

Responsibilities:

- Lead the design, build, and operation of the office network, including switching, wireless, routing, DNS, firewalls, VPNs, and secure connectivity to Upwork’s cloud environments, with monitoring, change, and recovery practices documented from day one.
- Own local technical operations during office launch by diagnosing and resolving on-site infrastructure issues, coordinating with Corporate Technology and Workplace on employee connectivity and meeting room technology, and handing off workplace support cleanly once a dedicated resource is established.
- Operate and improve cloud infrastructure across providers, accounts, and environments, managing the full lifecycle from provisioning and patching to capacity planning, backup validation, recovery testing, and decommissioning, with attention to availability, security, scalability, and cost.
- Build reusable, well-tested infrastructure as code with Terraform Enterprise or Terraform Cloud, and use Chef, Ansible, or similar tools to keep systems consistent and reduce manual change. Use AI coding assistants to speed up module development, testing, and drift analysis, and review the output for accuracy and risk.
- Operate Kubernetes and Amazon EKS infrastructure, including cluster and node lifecycle, networking, ingress, storage integration, upgrades, and observability, partnering with Kubernetes Platform and Reliability Engineering to establish shared operational practices across cloud and runtime layers.
- Strengthen observability, alerting, runbooks, and incident response, join the production on-call rotation, and turn recurring issues into preventive controls and automation built in Python, Go, Bash, or a comparable language.
- Support security reviews, audits, and compliance controls through accurate documentation and repeatable processes, and share operational best practices with teammates as the team grows.

What It Takes to Catch Our Eye:

- Experience owning production cloud infrastructure, including reliability, maintenance, and recovery, with solid Linux skills and configuration management experience using Chef, Ansible, or similar tools.
- Strong hands-on enterprise networking experience across office networks, switching, wireless, routing, DNS, firewalls, VPNs, and cloud connectivity.
- Experience building and maintaining infrastructure with Terraform, including reusable modules, state management, upgrades, and drift remediation, plus scripting or software skills in Python, Go, Bash, or a comparable language.
- Hands-on experience operating Kubernetes or Amazon EKS, with the ability to troubleshoot across cluster, network, and underlying infrastructure layers, backed by sound judgment on monitoring, incident response, root cause analysis, security, and change management.
- Comfort using AI tools to speed up infrastructure and operations work, such as drafting runbooks, analyzing incidents, or generating automation, while validating results for technical accuracy and risk and sharing what works with your team.

Come change how the world works.

Upwork is establishing its first international operational hub in Lisbon, Portugal, and this role will require 3 days per week in office.

We’re proud to offer benefits that go beyond the basics, including healthcare coverage for you and your family, life insurance, meal allowance, mental health support, a wellness reimbursement program, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Upwork is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.

We use BrightHire, an AI-enabled tool, to record interviews and summarize interview transcripts. The tool allows the interviewer to focus on the discussion and does not score or evaluate candidates or make recommendations. The interview transcripts are reviewed, and decisions are only made by humans. Candidates who prefer not to have their interview recorded through BrightHire can opt out when the interview is scheduled.

To learn more about how Upwork processes and protects your personal information as part of the application process, please review our[Global Job Applicant Privacy Notice](http://upwork.com/careers/job-applicant-privacy-notice) and thehttps://www.upwork.com/careers/applicant-privacy-addendum-eea-uk-and-switzerland. The annual base salary range for this position  is displayed below. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salary for this position, and individual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, this position is eligible for the annual bonus plan or sales incentive plan and eligibility to participate in our long term equity incentive program.

Annual Base Compensation €57.000—€89.000 EUR

To learn more about how Upwork processes and protects your personal information as part of the application process, please review our [Global Job Applicant Privacy Notice](http://upwork.com/careers/job-applicant-privacy-notice)

## About Upwork

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Upwork is the world’s human and AI-powered work marketplace, connecting businesses with highly skilled, AI-enabled independent talent across the globe.
- **Entity Type**: Public (ticker: UPWK)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015 (as Upwork, following the merger of oDesk, founded 2003, and Elance, founded 1999)
- **Founders**: Not listed individually; the company was formed via the merger of oDesk (co-founded by Gary Swart, Odysseas Tsatalos, Stratis Karamanlakis) and Elance (founded by Fabio Rosati)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Online freelance marketplace / Talent platform
- **Target customers**: B2B (from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 enterprises) and B2C (independent professionals)
- **Mission or purpose**: “To create opportunity in every era of work.” [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)

## Products & Services
- **Upwork Marketplace**: The core platform where clients post jobs and hire freelancers for contract or project-based work. Offers tiered plans including Basic (free), Plus, and Business Plus. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/)
- **Uma™ (Mindful AI)**: An AI work companion that assists both clients and freelancers throughout the hiring and work process, from matching to project management. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)
- **Enterprise Solutions**: Customized workforce management and talent sourcing for large organizations, supporting agile team building and business transformation.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly available (data not included in search results)
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of more than $750 million and annual client spend exceeding $4 billion (as of recent leadership bio). [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not detailed in search results
- **Growth Signals**: Active expansion into AI/ML with dedicated roles (Lead AI Engineer, Sr AI Research Scientist, etc.); opening an international hub in Lisbon, Portugal; continued headcount growth (approximately 2,000 team members, ~75% freelancers). [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about) | [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/careers/jobs/explore)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Network effects**: Large, established two-sided marketplace with over 800,000 clients and freelancers from 180 countries. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/)
- **AI integration**: Deep investment in AI/ML, including the proprietary Uma™ AI agent, positions Upwork at the forefront of the evolving freelance economy.
- **Brand strength**: Trusted by Fortune 100 companies and named to TIME’s Most Influential Companies and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)
- **Flexible workforce model**: The company itself operates with ~75% freelancers, demonstrating its own platform’s effectiveness. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)

## Strategic Focus
- **Current priorities**: Expanding AI capabilities, enhancing the user experience with mindful AI, and scaling global reach (e.g., Lisbon hub). Leadership emphasizes “leading the industry into the new era of work.” [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/about)
- **Direction for growth**: Continued product innovation around AI, deepening enterprise offerings, and strengthening the freelancer-client matching engine.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture highlights**: Values include “Play to win as a team,” “Build and break fearlessly,” “Commit to excellence,” “Own outcomes,” and “Be customer zero.” Emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and belonging (team from 180 countries). [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/careers/life-at-upwork)
- **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Remote-first for many roles; offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Chicago, Austin, Toronto, and a new hub in Lisbon. Full-time employee hiring currently limited to specific U.S. states and Lisbon. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/careers/jobs/explore)
- **Notable perks**: Unlimited PTO, 12-week fully paid parental leave, rich 401(k) with matching, Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), home office reimbursement, wellness reimbursement, cell phone/internet reimbursement, mental health support (Modern Health), pet insurance, and more. [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/careers/life-at-upwork)
- **Engineering/AI culture**: Strong focus on AI/ML with dedicated roles and a CTO heading AI/ML. Opportunities to work on cutting-edge projects (Agentic AI, NLQ, search & recommendation). [upwork.com](https://www.upwork.com/careers/jobs/explore)

## Sources
1. [upwork.com - About Us](https://www.upwork.com/about)
2. [upwork.com - Careers](https://www.upwork.com/careers)
3. [upwork.com - Life at Upwork](https://www.upwork.com/careers/life-at-upwork)
4. [upwork.com - Homepage](https://www.upwork.com/)
5. [upwork.com - Jobs Search](https://www.upwork.com/careers/jobs/explore)

## Other roles at Upwork

- [Executive Assistant, Office of the CEO](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-office-of-the-ceo-upwork-palo-alto-ayenaxg4764b) — Palo Alto, CA
- [Sr Manager, Legal Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-manager-legal-operations-upwork-toronto-g13jrv85t5xd) — Toronto, Canada
- [Senior People Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-people-operations-specialist-upwork-lisbon-reh6h8jtmyt2) — Lisbon, Portugal
- [Senior People Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-people-operations-specialist-upwork-toronto-q4sx39ahh458) — Toronto, Canada
- [Lead, Lifecycle Marketing - Growth & Acquisition](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-lifecycle-marketing-growth-acquisition-upwork-toronto-gtydsmz2g3t9) — Toronto, Canada
- [Senior Product Manager, Match](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-product-manager-match-upwork-toronto-zngak8w6f45x) — Toronto, Canada
- [Upwork is hiring in Lisbon, Portugal](https://feeny.ai/job/upwork-is-hiring-in-lisbon-portugal-upwork-lisbon-s2aq7604aya2) — Lisbon, Portugal
- [General Upwork Application](https://feeny.ai/job/general-upwork-application-upwork-remote-nhv75fh1bzsa)