Senior Staff IT Engineer

AO Swag is building a small, high-ownership internal IT core to stabilize a complex legacy environment, reduce vendor dependence, and support our next phase of growth.

This is a hands-on senior individual contributor role. Not a consultant. Not a manager. A true owner.

You will sit between strategy and execution, owning real systems that the business depends on every day. The expectation is simple: build, run, document, and continuously improve.

You’ll work closely with me, our IT leadership, application engineers, and a limited set of vendors with a clear mandate to internalize knowledge and reduce long-term external dependency.

What you’ll own

Operational ownership and stability

• Own reliability of core systems including order flows, integrations, infrastructure, and internal tools

• Diagnose and resolve production issues without defaulting to vendors

• Create runbooks, documentation, and incident response playbooks

• Reduce recurring issues through automation and simplification

Platform and integration leadership

• Help own and evolve our integration layer connecting ecommerce, ERP, fulfillment, and third-party systems

• Design and build reliable APIs and workflows with traceability and failure handling in mind

• Ensure systems are observable, understandable, and supportable internally

Legacy transition and modernization

• Work alongside vendors to absorb institutional knowledge from legacy systems

• Help stabilize and isolate legacy platforms while supporting migration efforts

• Ensure knowledge transfer results in internal capability, not vendor lock-in

Security, access, and controls

• Partner on access control, credential management, and audit readiness

• Support PCI posture improvements through system-level controls and documentation

• Move system and account ownership away from vendors and into AO

Internal capability building

• Mentor and support application engineers, including new hires

• Set standards for code quality, documentation, and operational readiness

• Help establish a culture of ownership, clarity, and accountability

What this role is not

• Not a consultant role

• Not a pure architecture or strategy role

• Not a temporary bridge role

This is about owning outcomes.

Ideal background

• 8–12 years of hands-on engineering experience in production environments

• Strong backend and systems experience

• Experience building and operating integrations between complex systems

• Comfortable working in imperfect, partially documented environments

• Experience stabilizing legacy systems while building toward a future state

• Strong debugging instincts and clear written communication

Nice to have

• Ecommerce, ERP, logistics, or manufacturing experience

• Cloud infrastructure and CI/CD experience

• Experience in compliance-driven environments (PCI, SOC)

• Experience replacing vendor-led models with internal ownership

Why this role matters

• Central to reducing vendor dependency

• Central to making systems operable and understandable internally

• Central to scaling the business without scaling chaos

We are intentionally building a small, high-leverage IT team. This role is for someone who wants real ownership, real impact, and a seat at the table as we build the foundation for the next chapter.

If this resonates, DM me directly.