📍 Job Overview

• Job Title: Lead Architect – SRE & Observability
• Company: Applied Materials
• Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
• Job Type: On-site, Full-time
• Category: DevOps, Infrastructure
• Date Posted: 2025-07-28
• Experience Level: 10+ years
• Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the design, scaling, and governance of monitoring and observability platforms to ensure infrastructure and application service reliability.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives, establish technical standards, and enhance automation, telemetry, and incident response maturity across the enterprise.
• Collaborate with application and infrastructure teams to ensure instrumentation coverage and define Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and Service Level Indicators (SLIs).

📝 Enhancement Note: This role combines architectural leadership in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and Observability, requiring a broad technical skill set and strong stakeholder engagement capabilities.

💻 Primary Responsibilities

• Observability & Monitoring:

  • Architect and lead end-to-end observability strategies (logs, metrics, traces) across hybrid environments.
  • Manage and mature enterprise observability solutions across complex architectures.
  • Define standards for telemetry data collection, correlation, and alerting for distributed systems.
  • Collaborate with application and infrastructure teams to ensure instrumentation coverage and SLO/SLI definition.
  • Lead the migration and consolidation of legacy monitoring platforms to modern observability stacks.
  • Enable proactive problem detection, root cause analysis, and capacity forecasting using analytics and AI/ML insights.

• Site Reliability Engineering:

  • Define and implement SRE principles (SLIs/SLOs, error budgets, chaos testing, postmortems, etc.) across supported services.
  • Design and manage infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, AI/ML solutions, runbooks, and self-healing systems.
  • Lead incident response coordination during major outages and drive post-incident analysis and systemic fixes.
  • Collaborate with DevOps, Cloud, and Security teams to enforce resiliency, observability, and reliability as core design principles.
  • Mentor junior SREs and CAMO engineers to grow technical and operational expertise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role requires a strong balance between technical depth and breadth, with a focus on driving operational excellence and reliability across the enterprise.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field.

Experience: 10-15 years in IT Operations, SRE, DevOps, or Monitoring Engineering roles.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in designing and implementing observability frameworks including logs, metrics, and traces across hybrid environments.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems, microservices architecture, and telemetry pipelines.
• Proficiency in infrastructure automation and configuration management using tools like Terraform, Ansible, and scripting languages (Python, Shell, etc.).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, incident response automation, and self-healing systems.
• Familiarity with container orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes) and virtualization technologies.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with AIOPS, ITSM, CAASM tools, and configuration management databases.
• Exposure to compliance and governance frameworks such as CIS, NIST for cyber resilience, observability, and alerting.
• Relevant certifications in observability, cloud platforms, SRE, or security domains.

📝 Enhancement Note: The ideal candidate will possess a unique blend of technical depth, architectural vision, and strong stakeholder engagement skills to drive operational excellence across the enterprise.

📊 Web Portfolio & Project Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrate expertise in designing and implementing observability frameworks with real-world examples.
• Showcase experience in managing and maturing enterprise observability solutions across complex architectures.
• Highlight proficiency in infrastructure automation and configuration management with relevant projects.
• Display familiarity with container orchestration platforms and virtualization technologies through project examples.

Technical Documentation:

• Provide detailed documentation of telemetry data collection, correlation, and alerting standards for distributed systems.
• Showcase incident response coordination and post-incident analysis processes with practical examples.
• Demonstrate understanding of SRE principles (SLIs/SLOs, error budgets, chaos testing, postmortems, etc.) with relevant project documentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio should emphasize practical examples of driving operational excellence, reliability, and observability across hybrid environments.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: INR 2,500,000 - 4,000,000 per annum (Based on experience and qualifications)

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Retirement savings plan with company match
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Generous time off and leave policies
• Tuition reimbursement and professional development opportunities
• Employee discounts and perks

Working Hours: Full-time (40 hours/week) with flexible working hours and remote work options available up to 10% of the time.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range and benefits package are estimated based on regional market standards for similar roles in the DevOps and infrastructure domain. The actual compensation package may vary based on individual qualifications and company policy.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Applied Materials is a global leader in materials engineering solutions for semiconductor and display manufacturing, operating in a dynamic and innovative industry.

Company Size: Applied Materials is a large, multinational corporation with over 20,000 employees worldwide, providing ample opportunities for career growth and development.

Founded: 1967, with a rich history of technological innovation and leadership in the semiconductor industry.

Team Structure:

• The GIS CAMO & SRE team is part of the Global IT Services (GIS) organization, focusing on ensuring operational excellence, resilience, and visibility across hybrid cloud and datacenter infrastructures.
• The team consists of cross-functional experts in observability, IT asset management, compliance monitoring, tooling strategy, and site reliability engineering.

Development Methodology:

• The team follows Agile/Scrum methodologies, with a focus on iterative development, continuous improvement, and customer value delivery.
• They emphasize collaboration, code review, testing, and quality assurance practices to ensure high-quality, reliable solutions.
• The team employs CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment strategies to enable rapid and efficient software delivery.

Company Website: appliedmaterials.com

📝 Enhancement Note: Applied Materials fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence and technological leadership in the semiconductor industry.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Web Technology Career Level: Lead Architect – SRE & Observability is a senior-level role that combines architectural leadership in Site Reliability Engineering and Observability, requiring a broad technical skill set and strong stakeholder engagement capabilities.

Reporting Structure: The role reports directly to the Director of GIS CAMO & SRE, with matrixed reporting to relevant application and infrastructure teams for specific projects and initiatives.

Technical Impact: The role has a significant impact on the reliability, performance, and security of critical enterprise services, ensuring business continuity and driving operational excellence across the organization.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Leadership: The role provides opportunities to grow into a principal architect or senior technical leadership position, driving strategic initiatives and setting technical standards across the enterprise.
• Domain Expertise: The role offers the chance to deepen expertise in observability, Site Reliability Engineering, or related domains, becoming a subject matter expert and driving best practices across the organization.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role encourages collaboration with various teams, providing exposure to diverse technologies, processes, and organizational dynamics, fostering continuous learning and growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents numerous growth opportunities, both in terms of technical leadership and domain expertise, as well as cross-functional collaboration and exposure to diverse technologies and organizational dynamics.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Applied Materials' Bengaluru office is a modern, collaborative workspace designed to facilitate innovation and productivity, with dedicated spaces for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and quiet work.

Office Location(s): Bengaluru, India, with easy access to public transportation and nearby amenities.

Workspace Context:

• The office features open-plan workspaces, with ample natural light and ergonomic furniture to support comfort and productivity.
• Employees have access to multiple monitors, testing devices, and development tools to ensure optimal work performance.
• The office fosters a culture of collaboration, with dedicated spaces for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and social events.

Work Schedule: Full-time (40 hours/week) with flexible working hours and remote work options available up to 10% of the time, allowing for a healthy work-life balance.

📝 Enhancement Note: Applied Materials' Bengaluru office provides a modern, collaborative work environment designed to support productivity, innovation, and work-life balance, with ample opportunities for growth and development.

📄 Application & Technical Interview Process

Interview Process:

1. Technical Phone Screen (30 minutes): Assess technical fit, communication skills, and cultural alignment with the role and team.
2. On-site Technical Deep Dive (2 hours): Evaluate architectural design, problem-solving, and system thinking skills through a series of technical challenges and discussions.
3. Behavioral & Cultural Fit Interview (1 hour): Assess communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, as well as cultural alignment with the team and organization.
4. Final Decision & Offer (1 week): Review candidate feedback, make a hiring decision, and extend an offer to the selected candidate.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Observability & Monitoring: Highlight real-world examples of designing and implementing observability frameworks, managing enterprise observability solutions, and driving proactive problem detection and capacity forecasting.
• Site Reliability Engineering: Demonstrate experience in defining and implementing SRE principles, designing infrastructure automation, and leading incident response coordination.
• Technical Documentation: Showcase detailed documentation of telemetry data collection, correlation, and alerting standards, incident response processes, and SRE principles with practical examples.

Technical Challenge Preparation:

• Architectural Design: Brush up on distributed systems, microservices architecture, and telemetry pipelines to ensure a strong foundation for architectural design challenges.
• Problem-solving: Practice problem-solving techniques and algorithms to tackle complex technical challenges efficiently.
• Communication: Rehearse clear and concise communication of technical concepts, architecture decisions, and trade-offs to ensure effective stakeholder engagement.

ATS Keywords:

• Programming Languages: Python, Bash, Terraform, Ansible
• Web Frameworks & Libraries: N/A (focus on infrastructure and observability)
• Server Technologies: Kubernetes, Docker, Virtualization (VMware, KVM)
• Databases: N/A (focus on infrastructure and observability)
• Tools: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Splunk, New Relic, Datadog, CloudWatch, AWS, GCP, Azure, Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins, Git, JIRA, Confluence
• Methodologies: Agile, Scrum, DevOps, ITIL, COBIT, NIST, CIS
• Soft Skills: Leadership, Communication, Collaboration, Stakeholder Engagement, Mentoring
• Industry Terms: Observability, Monitoring, Site Reliability Engineering, IT Operations, DevOps, Hybrid Cloud, Distributed Systems, Microservices, Telemetry, AI/ML, AIOPS, ITSM, CAASM, Compliance, Governance, Incident Response, Automation, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, CI, CD, CDP

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process focuses on assessing the candidate's technical depth, architectural vision, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence and reliability across the enterprise.

🛠 Technology Stack & Web Infrastructure

Frontend Technologies: N/A (focus on infrastructure and observability)

Backend & Server Technologies:

• Observability & Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Splunk, New Relic, Datadog, CloudWatch
• Infrastructure Automation: Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins, Git
• Container Orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker
• Virtualization: VMware, KVM
• Cloud Platforms: AWS, GCP, Azure

Development & DevOps Tools:

• CI/CD: Jenkins, Git
• Configuration Management: Ansible, Terraform
• Monitoring & Alerting: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Splunk, New Relic, Datadog, CloudWatch
• Incident Response: PagerDuty, OpsGenie, On-Call Rotations

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack focuses on infrastructure and observability tools, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence, reliability, and automation across hybrid cloud and datacenter environments.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Web Development Values:

• Innovation: Encourage continuous learning, experimentation, and driving operational excellence through technological innovation.
• Collaboration: Foster a culture of cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and collective problem-solving.
• Customer Focus: Prioritize understanding and addressing customer needs, ensuring business continuity and driving operational excellence.
• Quality & Reliability: Emphasize high-quality, reliable solutions, with a focus on proactive problem detection, root cause analysis, and capacity forecasting.
• Continuous Improvement: Encourage ongoing improvement, optimization, and process refinement to drive operational excellence.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Encourage collaboration between developers, designers, and stakeholders to ensure alignment with business objectives and user needs.
• Code Review Culture: Foster a culture of code review, peer programming, and collective code ownership to ensure high-quality, reliable solutions.
• Knowledge Sharing: Encourage knowledge sharing, technical mentoring, and continuous learning to drive operational excellence and technical growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: Applied Materials fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence and technological leadership in the semiconductor industry.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Technical Challenges:

• Observability & Monitoring: Design and implement end-to-end observability strategies across complex, hybrid environments, ensuring proactive problem detection, root cause analysis, and capacity forecasting.
• Site Reliability Engineering: Define and implement SRE principles, design infrastructure automation, and lead incident response coordination across mission-critical services.
• Incident Response: Develop and refine incident response processes, ensuring minimal downtime, quick recovery, and systemic fixes to drive operational excellence.
• Compliance & Governance: Ensure compliance with relevant standards, frameworks, and best practices, driving operational excellence and minimizing security risks.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Technical Skill Development: Deepen expertise in observability, Site Reliability Engineering, or related domains, becoming a subject matter expert and driving best practices across the organization.
• Leadership Development: Develop leadership skills through mentoring, coaching, and project management opportunities, driving strategic initiatives and setting technical standards across the enterprise.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Engage with various teams, gaining exposure to diverse technologies, processes, and organizational dynamics, fostering continuous learning and growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents numerous technical challenges and learning opportunities, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence, reliability, and compliance across hybrid cloud and datacenter environments.

💡 Interview Preparation

Technical Questions:

• Architectural Design (Observability & Monitoring):
  • How would you design an end-to-end observability strategy for a complex, hybrid environment?
  • What are the key considerations when managing and maturing enterprise observability solutions across complex architectures?
  • How would you define standards for telemetry data collection, correlation, and alerting for distributed systems?
• Site Reliability Engineering:
  • How would you define and implement SRE principles for a mission-critical service?
  • What are the key components of designing infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, and self-healing systems?
  • How would you lead incident response coordination during major outages, and drive post-incident analysis and systemic fixes?

Company & Culture Questions:

• How do you approach driving operational excellence and reliability across hybrid cloud and datacenter environments?
• What is your experience with cross-functional collaboration, and how do you ensure alignment with business objectives and user needs?
• How do you foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing within your team?

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Observability & Monitoring: Highlight real-world examples of designing and implementing observability frameworks, managing enterprise observability solutions, and driving proactive problem detection and capacity forecasting.
• Site Reliability Engineering: Demonstrate experience in defining and implementing SRE principles, designing infrastructure automation, and leading incident response coordination.
• Technical Documentation: Showcase detailed documentation of telemetry data collection, correlation, and alerting standards, incident response processes, and SRE principles with practical examples.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process focuses on assessing the candidate's technical depth, architectural vision, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit, with a strong emphasis on driving operational excellence and reliability across the enterprise.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Architect – SRE & Observability position at Applied Materials:

1. Customize Your Portfolio: Highlight real-world examples of designing and implementing observability frameworks, managing enterprise observability solutions, and driving proactive problem detection and capacity forecasting.
2. Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize relevant technical skills, experience, and accomplishments in observability, Site Reliability Engineering, and related domains.
3. Technical Interview Preparation: Brush up on architectural design, problem-solving techniques, and communication skills to excel in technical challenges and discussions.
4. Company Research: Understand Applied Materials' mission, values, and culture, and be prepared to discuss how your skills and experience align with the company's goals and objectives.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and web technology industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.