Platform Engineer (m/f/d) - Hybrid - Gioia Del Colle (BA), Italy

You'd rather improve existing systems than rewrite them from scratch? You see AI as an opportunity to work smarter, not as a threat? You look at ActiveMQ and ask "could a table in the database do this job?" – not because simple is always right, but because you question whether complexity is justified? You take pride in making things boringly reliable rather than technically impressive? If that sounds like you, then you're exactly who we're looking for.

About the Role

We're looking for a Platform Engineer who combines solid operations experience with strong programming skills to help us improve the reliability and reduce the complexity of our platform. This role blends infrastructure, automation, and development – ideal for someone who enjoys working across the stack and making pragmatic decisions.

You'll work across three interconnected areas: maintaining and evolving our Core platform components (Keycloak, SOLR, Wildfly, ActiveMQ, plus our Java abstraction layer), improving our release engineering pipeline (GitLab, Jenkins), and enhancing our deployment tooling (our Java‑based deployment manager with Ansible). You support both product teams and the operations team in leveraging the platform – not by throwing solutions over the wall, but by applying a Platform‑as‑a‑Product mindset

What Your Day Will Look Like

• Maintain and evolve our Core platform components (Keycloak, SOLR, Wildfly, ActiveMQ) and the Java abstraction library that makes them easier for product teams to use
• Support product teams migrating from Core1 to Core2 – creating documentation, knowledge transfer sessions, and improving the migration experience based on real feedback
• Improve our release engineering pipeline (GitLab, Jenkins) and build automation – making deployments more reliable and less error-prone
• Enhance our Java-based deployment manager (KDM) and Ansible playbooks – we deploy to VMs in both on-prem and cloud environments
• Question complexity and simplify wherever possible – focusing not on rewriting code or adding tools, but on finding solutions that achieve the same or better results with less complexity
• Administer and maintain our GitLab and Jenkins infrastructure, as well as third‑party components across VM, Azure, and AWS environments – supporting the migration of our internal systems to an Infrastructure‑as‑a‑Service provider
• Collaborate with both development teams and operations – you'll work with people using your platform, not just building in isolation
• Use AI tools to work more effectively – whether for generating test coverage, improving documentation, or automating repetitive tasks

About You

• You have a pragmatic, questioning mindset: You improve what exists rather than pushing for rewrites. You regularly challenge whether complexity is justified. When VM + Ansible works well, you don’t propose Kubernetes. You choose the right tool for the problem, not the newest one for your résumé.
• You think platform-as-product: You treat development and operations teams as customers. You gather feedback, iterate on solutions, and measure success by whether people actually want to use what you've built.
• You see AI as a learning opportunity: You’re excited to gain real experience with AI tooling as part of your daily work – not just experimenting on the side, but using AI to improve test coverage, documentation, automation, and problem‑solving. This is a genuine chance to build skills that will shape modern engineering, and we give you the space to learn by doing.
• You take pride in simplification and reliability: You enjoy making processes bulletproof and “boringly” predictable – reliable, unsexy, but rock‑solid. When you encounter complexity, your instinct is to simplify, not add layers. You know that the best platform engineering is often invisible because everything just works. Technical vanity projects don’t motivate you; making teams’ lives easier does.
• You have solid technical foundations: You bring experience from IT Operations, Systems Administration, or SRE. You’re hands‑on with automation tools (especially Ansible), scripting (Bash/PowerShell), and programming (Java and Python). You understand VM‑based architectures and Linux/Windows administration.
• You have experience with similar technologies: While direct experience with our exact stack (Keycloak, SOLR, Wildfly, ActiveMQ) is a plus, we value general experience with enterprise middleware and infrastructure components. If you've worked with authentication systems, search platforms, application servers, or message queues, you'll pick up our specific tools quickly.
• You're self-motivated and structured: You work independently, prioritize effectively, and approach problems analytically.
• Language: Fluent English is required. Italian or German is a plus but not mandatory.

Why Klopotek

• Real impact: Your work directly enables development teams and influences how 400+ publishers worldwide run their businesses.
• Meaningful work: We're not chasing every new trend – we're systematically improving our platform to better serve our customers. You'll see the impact of your work in how teams operate and how reliably our systems run.
• AI-forward environment with real learning opportunity: We're heavily promoting AI-supported development and testing, giving engineers the space and support to gain genuine experience with these tools as part of their daily work. This isn't about experimentation in isolation – it's about building practical skills in AI-assisted development, testing, and automation that will define your future career. You'll grow your expertise by doing real work, not demos.
• Hybrid work model: 2 days per week in our Gioia Del Colle office, 3 days remote – offering you flexibility while maintaining team connection.
• Part of Valsoft/Aspire: As part of a global software portfolio with 100+ companies, you’ll benefit from knowledge sharing, best practices, and career opportunities across the broader ecosystem..
• Strong engineering culture: We value pragmatism, continuous improvement, and an honest feedback culture.

Interested?

For more information about Klopotek, visit www.klopotek.com

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.