• 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.

• 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.

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.

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