What are the responsibilities and job description for the Lead Developer, IS Platform Services position at The J.M. Smucker Co.?
Your Opportunity as the Lead Developer, IS Platform Services
The Smucker Information Services (IS) department enables technology solutions and capabilities that help our business perform, transform and grow. The Lead Developer on the IS Platform Services Team realizes this purpose by building, automating, and supporting the internal platforms and tools that empower the business and development teams across the organization. This role operates across a diverse technology landscape — from GitHub, and Databricks to serverless architectures, containers, and Linux platform work — driving internal process automation, platform governance, and the modernization of legacy systems. This is not a single-stack role; it requires a high-aptitude tinkerer with a passion for learning new technologies and applying broad development skills to solve real problems across multiple platforms, helping to both build and manage the platform. This technical hands-on position requires proven development skills, excellent communication, curiosity to solve problems, and the ability to champion developer experience while balancing it with sound governance and supportability. Our ideal candidate is someone who is interested in internal development across multiple platforms and languages, demonstrates strong self‑motivation and efficiency, works effectively both independently and collaboratively, and contributes to operating the development platform that enables developers across the company.
Location: Orrville, Ohio (Close proximity to Cleveland/Akron)
Work Arrangements: Hybrid - onsite a minimum of 9 days a month primarily during core weeks as determined by the Company; maybe more as business need requires
In This Role You Will
What we are looking for
We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.
Stay connected with us on LinkedIn®
We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.
The Smucker Information Services (IS) department enables technology solutions and capabilities that help our business perform, transform and grow. The Lead Developer on the IS Platform Services Team realizes this purpose by building, automating, and supporting the internal platforms and tools that empower the business and development teams across the organization. This role operates across a diverse technology landscape — from GitHub, and Databricks to serverless architectures, containers, and Linux platform work — driving internal process automation, platform governance, and the modernization of legacy systems. This is not a single-stack role; it requires a high-aptitude tinkerer with a passion for learning new technologies and applying broad development skills to solve real problems across multiple platforms, helping to both build and manage the platform. This technical hands-on position requires proven development skills, excellent communication, curiosity to solve problems, and the ability to champion developer experience while balancing it with sound governance and supportability. Our ideal candidate is someone who is interested in internal development across multiple platforms and languages, demonstrates strong self‑motivation and efficiency, works effectively both independently and collaboratively, and contributes to operating the development platform that enables developers across the company.
Location: Orrville, Ohio (Close proximity to Cleveland/Akron)
Work Arrangements: Hybrid - onsite a minimum of 9 days a month primarily during core weeks as determined by the Company; maybe more as business need requires
In This Role You Will
- Build and automate across platforms:
- Develop automations and integrations across platforms including GitHub, Databricks, Linux, AWS, and others as needs evolve.
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines, GitHub Actions workflows, Jenkins Declarative Pipelines and other automation solutions to accelerate delivery and reduce manual effort.
- Write clean, well-documented code in Python, Bash, and other languages to support internal process automation and platform operations.
- Build and manage containerized workloads using Kubernetes, Docker, and serverless technologies (Lambda, Azure Functions).
- Modernize and refactor:
- Refactor legacy repositories, scripts, and automation to improve maintainability, security, and performance.
- Identify opportunities to consolidate, standardize, and modernize tooling and codebases across the organization.
- Apply modern IT concepts (Infrastructure as Code, DevOps, Cloud Computing) to evolve the platform services environment.
- Steward development platforms:
- Serve as a steward of internal development platforms, such as GitHub — including org structure, repo access, change control, and governance.
- Implement tools and practices that make the lives of developers easier while maintaining appropriate guardrails and compliance.
- Champion standards for source control, branching strategies, and code promotion processes.
- Support and maintain existing solutions:
- Participate in a rotating on-call schedule to support platform services and respond to incidents.
- Facilitate troubleshooting and resolution of complex issues across supported platforms and automations.
- Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and thorough documentation for all work products.
- Champion overall supportability of new capabilities and guide maintenance plans.
- Drive process excellence:
- Model quality and consistency in execution, seeking and providing feedback on what is working well and what is not.
- Promote reusable code opportunities to drive efficiency and standardization across development solutions.
- Invest in continuous learning regarding development languages, techniques, and computing platforms.
What we are looking for
- 5 years of work experience as a developer, with either a bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline or specialized training in Information Technology.
- Skilled developer proficient in multiple languages, including Python and Bash. Java experience is a plus.
- Good understanding of Linux and Linux OS administration/support.
- Strong DevOps experience — well-versed in GitHub, GitHub Actions, and source control best practices.
- Familiarity with working in a hybrid on-premises and cloud environment.
- Experience with containers and container management (Kubernetes, Docker, etc.).
- Experience with serverless architectures (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, or equivalent).
- A passion for refactoring and modernizing legacy systems.
- Experience writing automations, including CI/CD pipelines.
- Flexibility and desire to work across different platforms and technologies — this role is not siloed to a single stack.
- Skilled at documenting your work — SOPs, runbooks, and technical specifications.
- Willingness to participate in a rotating on-call schedule.
- Experience delivering assignments independently within formal project frameworks (Agile, Traditional/Waterfall, DevOps).
- Ability to evaluate, articulate, estimate, and recommend design approaches for technical solutions.
- Presentation and facilitation of technical topics with broad audiences.
- Experience working effectively with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot).
- A passion for automation — leveraging AI for automation is a plus.
- Experience managing and governing development platforms like GitHub (org management, access control, policy enforcement).
- Experience developing solutions on major cloud service provider platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Experience with Databricks or similar data engineering/analytics platforms.
- Ability to train and mentor other resources on technical topics and delivery techniques.
We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.
Stay connected with us on LinkedIn®
We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.