Lead Systems Engineer - PRE - job 4 of 12

The Lead Systems Engineer at Visa in Austin is responsible for leading the technical direction and implementation of the company's monitoring and observability platform. This includes ensuring the platform is cost-effective, secure, and highly available. The role also involves collaborating with various teams to provide robust tooling for software monitoring and operations while meeting enterprise compliance and governance needs.

To be a successful Lead Systems Engineer at Visa, candidates typically need a strong background in systems engineering, observability, and monitoring tools. A relevant degree in information technology or engineering is often required, along with experience in managing complex toolchains, and familiarity with enterprise compliance and governance standards.

The Lead Systems Engineer at Visa in Austin works closely with various teams, including operations and infrastructure leadership, software development, and project management. This collaboration is essential in ensuring that the monitoring and observability platform effectively meets the needs of all departments, enhancing the overall productivity and efficiency of Visa’s product suite.

The Lead Systems Engineer role at Visa is a hybrid position, meaning that while some days will be required in the office, specific expectations regarding in-office days will be confirmed by the hiring manager. This approach allows for flexibility while maintaining team collaboration in a shared environment.

A Lead Systems Engineer at Visa might utilize various monitoring and observability platforms, cloud services, and development tools geared toward creating a seamless operational experience. Experience with cutting-edge technologies in the observability space, as well as knowledge of enterprise governance tools, will also be beneficial in this role.

When addressing this question, highlight specific tools you've used in previous roles, emphasizing how you've implemented or optimized these tools to improve visibility and observability in complex systems. Discuss the impact your work had on performance and reliability.

In your response, focus on strategies you've used to incorporate security and compliance into monitoring systems, such as following best practices, using encryption, and regularly reviewing system access. Mention how you engage with security teams to align monitoring efforts with company policies.

Narrate a specific challenge related to observability or system performance that you faced, detailing the steps you took to diagnose the issue, the solution you implemented, and the successful outcome that followed. This shows your troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities.

Discuss your techniques for fostering collaboration, including regular communication, engaging in team-building activities, or utilizing project management tools. Highlight your understanding of the importance of alignment between engineering and operational teams in achieving business objectives.

Outline your approach by discussing metrics you consider, performance benchmarks, and feedback you gather from teams. Emphasize how you evaluate existing tools and make decisions to add or replace tools to create a more effective monitoring environment.

Discuss your hands-on experience with cloud-based observability solutions. Mention specific platforms you've worked with, how you've set them up, and the benefits these solutions provided to your previous organizations.

Mention strategies such as attending industry conferences, participating in online courses, reading relevant tech blogs, or contributing to open-source projects. This demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning and staying informed about advancements in your field.

Share a specific example where you identified a gap in observability within a project. Discuss the steps you took to introduce a new practice, the tools you aligned with, and how it improved visibility and response times for incidents.

Explain your perspective on automation, highlighting its importance in reducing manual intervention and speeding up response times for observability tasks. Include specific tools you’ve used to automate monitoring and alerting processes.

Discuss metrics you find valuable, such as mean time to detect and mean time to resolve incidents. Emphasize how these metrics help inform improvements in the monitoring system and support business goals.