Head of Platform Engineering (up to £225k)

Dex; Greater London; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Dex is partnering to recruit a Head of Platform Engineering for a trusted client building AI systems for financial institutions. You will define the cloud strategy, own Azure/AKS architecture, and build the platform team from the ground up.

Lead end-to-end infrastructure, drive security and compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR), and shape a scalable, observable, and secure AI platform with ample resources and mandate.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in infrastructure or platform engineering.
• Experience architecting and operating production Kubernetes and Terraform at scale.
• Proven track record building and scaling platform teams in fast-growth startup environments.
• Experience implementing security/compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR) for regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the end-to-end cloud strategy, architecting and scaling the Azure/AKS environment for demanding financial-services deployments.
• Build and lead the platform engineering team from the ground up, setting the technical bar and culture.
• Own CI/CD across all services (backend, frontend, data), establishing product-wide observability, on-call rotations, and incident response.
• Lead the company through critical SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits, implementing robust security, secrets management, and compliance measures (GDPR, FCA).

Skills

Kubernetes

Platform leadership

Azure cloud

Python

Bash

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform

Azure

PostgreSQL

MySQL

NoSQL

Python

Bash

Job description

This role is with one of Dex's trusted partner companies. We work closely with their teams to truly understand their culture, goals, and what they're looking for, so we can match you with the right opportunity and give you context about the role before you commit to a process.

The role

This company builds AI systems that automate how major financial institutions produce and validate client-ready work, turning complex, manual analysis into automated workflows for global banks, private equity, and credit firms. They're backed by leading investors, with significant Series A funding to scale their rapidly growing enterprise AI platform.

This isn't a maintenance role. You're the first platform leader, defining the entire cloud strategy and building the team from scratch. You'll own the architecture, scale their Azure/AKS environment, and implement the security and compliance measures (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR) that enable a product handling sensitive financial data. This is a rare seat: full mandate, significant resources, and no inherited legacy.

The work

• Define and drive the end-to-end cloud strategy, architecting and scaling the Azure/AKS environment for demanding financial-services deployments.
• Build and lead the platform engineering team from the ground up, setting the technical bar and culture.
• Own CI/CD across all services (backend, frontend, data), establishing product-wide observability, on-call rotations, and incident response.
• Lead the company through critical SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits, implementing robust security, secrets management, and compliance measures (GDPR, FCA).

What You Bring

• 10+ years in infrastructure or platform engineering, with deep experience architecting and operating production Kubernetes and Terraform at scale.
• Proven track record building, leading, and scaling high-performing platform teams in fast-growth startup environments.
• End-to-end ownership of critical infrastructure, from initial architecture and deployment through production support, observability, and on-call.
• Expertise implementing and navigating security and compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR) for regulated environments.
• Hands-on proficiency with Azure cloud networking, production databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, NoSQL), and automation scripting (Python, Bash).

Why apply through Dex

This Head of Platform Engineering role is rare: high ownership, greenfield, and critical to a rapidly scaling AI platform. Dex helps you cut through the noise and get a full brief before you even interview.