Application Guide

How to Apply for Sr. Platform Engineer, L3

at Citrine Informatics

🏢 About Citrine Informatics

Citrine Informatics is at the forefront of sustainable materials development, leveraging AI-driven data ecosystems to accelerate innovation. Working here means contributing to a mission that combines cutting-edge technology with environmental impact, all within a remote-first culture that values collaboration and autonomy.

About This Role

As a Sr. Platform Engineer, you will own and evolve the cloud infrastructure that powers Citrine's AI platform, ensuring reliability, security, and scalability. Your work directly enables data scientists and engineers to build and deploy models faster, making a tangible impact on materials discovery.

💡 A Day in the Life

Your day might start with a stand-up to discuss ongoing infrastructure projects, then dive into coding Terraform modules or debugging a Kubernetes cluster issue. Afternoons could involve collaborating with data scientists to optimize deployment pipelines or reviewing a peer's pull request for a new observability dashboard.

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Interview Prep

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🎯 Who Citrine Informatics Is Looking For

  • Has deep hands-on experience with AWS services (EKS, VPC, IAM, RDS) and can design fault-tolerant, cost-optimized architectures.
  • Is proficient in Terraform and Kubernetes, with a track record of managing production clusters and automating infrastructure.
  • Understands observability deeply, having implemented monitoring, logging, and alerting with Datadog or similar tools.
  • Thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced environment, communicating technical decisions clearly to both engineers and stakeholders.

📝 Tips for Applying to Citrine Informatics

1

Highlight specific projects where you scaled AWS infrastructure or migrated workloads to Kubernetes, with measurable outcomes (e.g., reduced downtime, cost savings).

2

Tailor your resume to emphasize GitHub Actions CI/CD experience, as it's explicitly mentioned in the requirements.

3

Showcase your Datadog expertise by describing dashboards, monitors, and SLOs you've built for production systems.

4

Include a brief cover letter that connects your past work to sustainable materials or AI-driven platforms, even if indirectly.

5

If you've contributed to open-source infrastructure tools, mention it—Citrine values community engagement.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your passion for using infrastructure to accelerate scientific discovery and sustainability.', 'Concrete examples of designing resilient AWS architectures and managing Kubernetes at scale.', 'How your observability practices (especially Datadog) improved system reliability and developer velocity.', 'Your collaborative approach to working with cross-functional teams to deliver platform improvements.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Read about Citrine's platform and how it uses AI to predict material properties—understand the data pipeline challenges.
  • → Familiarize yourself with their blog or case studies on sustainable materials (e.g., battery materials, rare earth alternatives).
  • → Review their engineering culture by checking their GitHub or any public talks from their team.
  • → Understand the competitive landscape: how does Citrine differentiate from other materials informatics companies?

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Design a highly available multi-region AWS architecture for a data-intensive AI platform.
2 How would you migrate a monolithic application to Kubernetes with zero downtime?
3 Walk me through your approach to setting up CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions for microservices.
4 Describe a time you had to troubleshoot a production incident involving Kubernetes networking or AWS IAM.
5 How do you prioritize infrastructure improvements when balancing feature development and reliability?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Don't apply without demonstrating hands-on Kubernetes experience in production—theory isn't enough.
  • Avoid generic buzzwords like 'passionate about DevOps' without concrete examples of automation or infrastructure as code.
  • Don't overlook the remote collaboration aspect; emphasize your communication skills and experience working async.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Citrine Informatics!

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