Skills

Leadership SQL MySQL Incident Response CI/CD DevOps Kubernetes Monitoring Azure DevOps Research Architecture Cloud Architecture Risk Assessment SQL Server Azure AWS SDLC Terraform

Job Specifications

Principal Platform Engineer (Education)

Reporting to: Engineering Director

Role Overview

The Principal Platform Engineer is the technical and architectural leader for a large-scale, education-focused cloud platform. This role defines and evolves an AI-first, cloud-native Internal Developer Platform (“Golden Path”) that enables global product teams to deliver secure, reliable SaaS solutions at speed. The platform is treated as a product, optimised for developer experience, automation, security, and operational excellence.

Key Objectives

Platform as a Product: Design and govern a standardised, self-service Internal Developer Platform that abstracts infrastructure complexity.
Architecture & Delivery: Establish enterprise Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD standards across a complex cloud environment.
Security by Design: Embed automated, non-bypassable security and compliance controls into platforms and pipelines.
Observability: Own global observability standards to enable proactive monitoring, incident response, and service visibility.

Technical Environment

Cloud: Azure (primary), with AWS and hybrid/on-prem exposure
IaC: Terraform, Bicep
Containers: Kubernetes / managed Kubernetes
CI/CD: Azure DevOps, TeamCity, Octopus Deploy
Observability: Datadog and native cloud tooling
Data: SQL Server, MySQL

Responsibilities

Own the architectural roadmap for platform tooling, CI/CD, and observability.
Design self-healing systems and standardised Golden Paths that eliminate manual operations.
Act as the senior authority for platform and cloud architecture decisions.
Lead cloud migrations and infrastructure modernisation initiatives.
Embed security, compliance, resilience, and FinOps practices by default.
Advise Engineering Leads and Managers on platform standards and strategy.
Continuously improve developer experience, delivery velocity, and platform reliability.
Research and introduce emerging technologies, including AI-driven operations.

Success Measures

3 months: Unified observability standards, architectural discovery, and risk assessment.
6 months: Flagship product migrated to target architecture; reusable IaC patterns delivered.
12 months: Fully self-service developer platform with measurable DORA and stability improvements.

Experience & Skills

Essential:

Senior leadership experience in platform engineering within large-scale SaaS environments.
Deep Kubernetes and cloud-native architecture expertise.
Mastery of Terraform and Bicep.
Proven delivery of complex cloud migrations.
Strong security, compliance, and vulnerability management background.
Experience applying AI-assisted automation across the SDLC.

Desirable:

AI/ML applied to observability or operations.
DORA metrics and developer experience optimisation.
FinOps and cloud cost optimisation.
Designing resilient, highly available data platforms.

About the Company

'Your IT Infrastructure, Cloud & Software Engineering headhunting Specialists' Shaw Daniels Solutions (SDS) leads the charge in reshaping the recruitment and staffing landscape across Europe, with a dedicated focus on Cloud & IT Infrastructure, Software Engineering, and related technology sectors. Our unwavering commitment to excellence is fortified by our strategic headquarters in Hampshire, supported by renowned industry experts in the technology realm. Boasting an impressive collective experience of over forty-seven yea... Know more