Head of Infrastructure Engineering

AXA UK; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance company in Greater London is seeking a Head of Infrastructure Engineering Guild to lead the architectural strategy and execution. You will drive automation and platform innovation while managing the design, build, and operation of core infrastructure services. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in infrastructure engineering, deep knowledge of cloud platforms, and a passion for developing high-performing teams. This role offers a competitive salary package with flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Competitive annual salary

Annual performance-based bonus

Contributory pension scheme

Life Assurance

Private medical cover

28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays

Opportunity to buy or sell extra leave

Wellbeing services

Employee discounts

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in infrastructure engineering or related roles.
• Deep experience with cloud platforms and services.
• Strong understanding of virtualization technologies.
• Proficient in networking fundamentals and Linux/Windows administration.
• Expert in automation tooling and CI/CD integration.
• Knowledge of infrastructure security and vulnerability management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and operation of infrastructure services.
• Drive automation and platform innovation.
• Manage compute, storage, networking, and virtualization platforms.
• Define and guide engineering best practices.
• Develop and coach a high-performing infrastructure team.

Skills

Infrastructure engineering leadership

Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure)

Virtualization technologies (VMware, Hyper-V)

Networking fundamentals

Linux and Windows Server administration

Infrastructure automation (Ansible, Terraform)

Infrastructure security

Monitoring solutions (Prometheus, ELK)

Job description

The Infrastructure Engineering Guild defines and governs the architectural and engineering approach to core infrastructure. The Guild focuses on scalable, secure, and automation-first platforms across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments to enable a product-aligned operating model and resilient delivery.

As Head of Infrastructure Engineering Guild, you'll lead the strategy and execution for UK&I infrastructure engineering. You’ll own the design, build, and operation of core infrastructure services, drive automation and platform innovation, and coach a high-performing team to deliver secure, scalable foundations that support cross-functional delivery and business transformation.

At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You'll work at least two days a week (40%) away from home, moving to three days a week (60%) in the future. Away from home means either attendance at one of our office locations, visiting clients or attending industry events.We’re also happy to consider flexible working arrangements, which you can discuss with Talent Acquisition.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead the design, build, and operation of infrastructure services across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments.
• Drive automation across infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and deployment using modern tooling.
• Ensure infrastructure services meet performance, availability, and security standards across all domains.
• Manage the lifecycle of compute, storage, networking, and virtualization platforms, optimising for cost and resilience.
• Define engineering best practices and guide teams on platform observability, monitoring, and incident response.
• Foster strong collaboration across engineering, architecture, and operations to ensure cohesive platform delivery.
• Lead and develop a high-performing infrastructure engineering team, building technical capability and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Support transformation programmes by enabling secure, scalable, and well-instrumented infrastructure foundations.

Due to the number of applications we expect to receive for this role, we reserve the right to close this advert earlier than the listed closing date to ensure we’re able to effectively manage interest. Therefore, if you’re interested in joining us at AXA, please don’t hesitate to apply.

We know that some candidates may be discouraged from applying if they don't meet every requirement. If you’re excited by this job and the prospect of working at AXA but you’re not sure you tick every box, we’d still encourage you to apply.

What you’ll bring:

• Extensive experience in infrastructure engineering or related hands‑on technical leadership roles.
• Deep experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and cloud‑native infrastructure services.
• Strong understanding of virtualization technologies (e.g., VMware, Hyper‑V) and their operational management.
• Proficient in networking fundamentals including routing, DNS, firewalls, and load balancing.
• Skilled in Linux and Windows Server administration and optimization.
• Expert in infrastructure automation tooling (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Terraform) and CI/CD integration.
• Strong knowledge of infrastructure security, access controls, and vulnerability management.
• Experienced in monitoring and logging solutions (e.g., Prometheus, ELK, Datadog) and performance tuning.

As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.

What we offer:

At AXA UK, we’re appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that. You can expect to receive:

• Competitive annual salary dependent on experience
• Annual company & performance‑based bonus
• Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
• Life Assurance (up to 10 × annual salary)
• Private medical cover
• 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 5 days leave
• Wellbeing services & resources
• AXA employee discounts

To apply, click on the ‘apply for this job’ button, you’ll then need to log in or create a profile to submit your CV. We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long‑term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we’re proud to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. For our support, please send an email to [e-mail].

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Who we are:

AXA UK Support Functions power AXA’s three customer‑facing business units, providing the infrastructure, support and expertise to ensure our customers can always count on us. Whether you’ve got heaps of experience and qualifications behind you, or you’re just starting out, we’ll give you the support and opportunities to help you grow and develop with confidence.