Senior Platform Engineer

BAE Systems OneArc, TechOps department are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Platform Engineer with a strong Linux and Windows background to join our growing engineering team. You will be instrumental in designing, building, and maintaining the core infrastructure and tooling that empowers our development teams to build, deploy, and operate our products efficiently and reliably. If you are passionate about creating scalable, resilient, and developer-friendly platforms and thrive in a collaborative environment, we want to hear from you!

Key Areas of Responsibilities

Blended Infrastructure Architecture and Design: Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and highly available Mixed-OS platform components and infrastructure featuring Linux and Windows. Define architectural patterns and standards for our underlying systems.
Kubernetes Management: Implement best practices and maintain a hybrid Kubernetes environment, with both cloud and on-premises implementations.
VMware Cloud Foundation: Design, implementation, configuration and management of private cloud using VMware Cloud Foundation features such as NSX, VSphere Kubernetes Service, and vSphere.
Dell Infrastructure: Manage automation of configuration and maintenance of Dell hardware, including Dell PowerEdge and PowerStore storage
AWS Public Cloud: Design and implementation of cloud-native solutions on AWS Public cloud
Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) Management: Drive the adoption and optimisation of Infrastructure-as-Code practices using tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar. Ensure infrastructure is provisioned, configured, and managed consistently and automatically.
Automation and Orchestration: Design and implement robust automation solutions for infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, deployment pipelines, and operational tasks. Leverage orchestration tools like Kubernetes, Karpenter, and similar.
CI/CD Pipeline Optimisation: Enhance and maintain our continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines to ensure efficient and reliable software delivery. Identify bottlenecks and implement improvements for speed and stability.
Monitoring and Observability: Establish and maintain comprehensive monitoring, logging, and alerting systems to provide deep insights into platform performance and health. Implement observability best practices to proactively identify and resolve issues.
Security and Compliance: Integrate security best practices into platform design and implementation. Collaborate with security teams to ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
Capacity Planning and Performance Optimisation: Proactively monitor platform capacity and performance, identify potential bottlenecks, and implement strategies for optimisation and scaling.
Troubleshooting and Incident Response: Provide expert-level support for platform-related issues, participating in incident response and root cause analysis to ensure platform stability.
Collaboration and Mentorship: Work closely with development teams to understand their platform needs and provide guidance and support. Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a positive and knowledge-sharing team environment.

Skills:

Deep Expertise:
Expert-Level System Administration: Comprehensive understanding of Linux and Windows Server operating systems. Mastery of system administration tasks, including user and group management, package management, service management, file systems, permissions, and performance tuning.
Security Hardening: In-depth knowledge of security best practices, including firewall configuration, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and vulnerability management.
Command-Line Proficiency: Exceptional skills in using the command-line interface (CLI) for system administration, troubleshooting, automation, and scripting.
Kernel Understanding: A solid understanding of the kernel, its components, and how it interacts with hardware. Ability to diagnose kernel-level issues.
Networking: Deep understanding of networking concepts, including TCP/IP, DNS, routing, firewalls, VPNs, and network troubleshooting tools.
Platform Engineering Principles:
Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) Expertise: Extensive experience with IaC tools (Terraform, Ansible, Chef, Puppet) and their application in automating the provisioning and management of infrastructure.
Automation and Scripting: Mastery of scripting languages commonly used in environments (e.g., Bash, Python, Go) for automating system administration tasks, deployments, and operational workflows.
Containerization and Orchestration: Deep understanding of Kubernetes, including deployment, management, and scaling. Experience with container networking, storage, and security.
CI/CD Pipeline Integration : Experience in integrating build and deployment processes into CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar.
Monitoring and Observability in Environments: Proficiency in setting up and utilizing monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, OpenTelemetry) to gain insights into the health and performance of systems and applications.
Strategic and Problem-Solving Skills:
Systems Thinking: Ability to understand complex systems holistically, identify dependencies, and anticipate potential issues within the ecosystem.
Performance Analysis and Tuning: Expertise in identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks in systems and applications using various profiling and monitoring tools.
Troubleshooting and Root Cause Analysis: Exceptional analytical and troubleshooting skills specifically for diagnosing and resolving issues within environments.
Security Best Practices Implementation: Ability to translate security policies into practical configurations and implementations on systems.

Collaboration and Communication Skills:
Excellent Communication (Written and Verbal): Ability to clearly and concisely communicate technical concepts related to system and platform engineering to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong Collaboration Skills: Ability to work effectively with development teams, security teams, and other stakeholders to ensure the smooth operation of platforms.
Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Ability to provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers on best practices and platform operations.

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field
Relevant certification such as RHCE, LFCE, CompTIA, AWS Certification, VCP/VCAP/VCDE, MCSE
Significant Experience as a Linux and Windows System Administrator (5+ years)
Experience in DevOps or Platform Engineering Roles (3+ years)
Proven Track Record of Automating Infrastructure
Experience with Containerization and Orchestration
Familiarity with Scripting and Automation Languages (Bash, Python, PowerShell etc.)
Experience with Monitoring and Logging Tools
Understanding of Networking Principles
Experience with Configuration Management Tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet)
Exposure to Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, VMWare)

We offer:

We're not about all the hard work and no fun. Our office is relaxed, and we have no dress code. We do our best to look after our people. Below is a snapshot of the perks you'll get if you work with us.

A diverse, challenging, yet fun work environment with real-life applications.

Opportunity to use your skills even outside of your role, with the option to grow outside of your role.

Work with and learn from talented colleagues.

Full-time employment with a competitive salary.

5 weeks vacation per year + 3 sick days.

Hybrid Working Environment (3days per week on site)

Various benefits, such as meal voucher allowance, office breakfasts, and a fully paid Multisport card/Pluxee card.

We don’t offer just a job. We want to give you the opportunity to grow and move the simulation market forward.