Lead Platform Engineer

Jobtailor; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior software/platform engineer to own the non-data foundations of Apollo, Medialab’s marketing intelligence platform, and shape how software is built, shipped and operated across the business.

You will lead design and development of core applications, build production UIs with Python-centric stacks such as FastAPI, Jinja, HTMX and Tailwind, and guide backend decisions across APIs and architecture.

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a senior or lead software/platform engineer, with a track record of owning systems end-to-end.
• Deep proficiency in Python, including building production APIs, services and applications.
• Experience building user-facing applications.
• Strong understanding of modern backend architecture, infrastructure and cloud-native systems.
• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, deployment workflows and test strategies.
• Confidence making technical decisions while remaining collaborative and open to challenge.
• Proven experience leading engineers through code review, coaching and technical direction.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a methodical, pragmatic approach to debugging and system design.
• Comfort working in evolving environments with changing priorities and ambiguity.
• Experience with FastAPI or similar Python web frameworks preferred.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and cloud platforms preferred.
• Familiarity with server-rendered HTML, HTMX and utility-first CSS preferred.
• Experience supporting data-heavy or analytics-driven platforms preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the non-data foundations of Apollo, Medialab’s marketing intelligence platform
• Shape how software is built, shipped and operated across the business
• Lead the design and development of core applications and internal tools
• Build and maintain production UIs using Python-centric stacks such as FastAPI, Jinja, HTMX and Tailwind
• Guide implementation decisions across backend services, APIs and application architecture
• Contribute directly to production code
• Ensure platform, application, infrastructure and developer workflows follow best-practice security guidelines
• Support a secure approach to AI assistants and agents with the innovation team
• Own the health, reliability and scalability of Apollo’s infrastructure and deployment pipelines
• Shape and maintain CI/CD processes, testing strategy and release workflows
• Improve local development, build and deployment workflows and developer productivity
• Make technical decisions for platform and application work in consultation with the Head of Data & Engineering
• Conduct code reviews and ensure platform-side changes meet quality standards
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to senior and offshore engineers
• Manage technical debt and balance delivery with sustainability
• Evolve engineering standards covering testing, documentation and code organisation
• Ensure observability, logging and error handling across applications
• Identify, communicate and resolve complex technical problems
• Collaborate with analytics engineers, product stakeholders and users
• Act as an ambassador for Apollo’s engineering discipline across the wider business

Skills

Python Proficiency

Production API Development

User-Facing Application Development

FastAPI

CI/CD Pipeline Design

Code Review

Technical Leadership

System Design

Cloud Platforms

Infrastructure-as-Code

Testing Strategy

Deployment Workflows

Debugging

Observability

HTMX

Tailwind

Jinja

Tools

Jinja

HTMX

Tailwind

Observability Tools

Logging Tools

Job description

• Own the non-data foundations of Apollo, Medialab’s marketing intelligence platform


• Shape how software is built, shipped and operated across the business


• Lead the design and development of core applications and internal tools


• Build and maintain production UIs using Python-centric stacks such as FastAPI, Jinja, HTMX and Tailwind


• Guide implementation decisions across backend services, APIs and application architecture


• Contribute directly to production code


• Ensure platform, application, infrastructure and developer workflows follow best-practice security guidelines


• Support a secure approach to AI assistants and agents with the innovation team


• Own the health, reliability and scalability of Apollo’s infrastructure and deployment pipelines


• Shape and maintain CI/CD processes, testing strategy and release workflows


• Improve local development, build and deployment workflows and developer productivity


• Make technical decisions for platform and application work in consultation with the Head of Data & Engineering


• Conduct code reviews and ensure platform-side changes meet quality standards


• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to senior and offshore engineers


• Manage technical debt and balance delivery with sustainability


• Evolve engineering standards covering testing, documentation and code organisation


• Ensure observability, logging and error handling across applications


• Identify, communicate and resolve complex technical problems


• Collaborate with analytics engineers, product stakeholders and users


• Act as an ambassador for Apollo’s engineering discipline across the wider business

Requirements

• Significant experience as a senior or lead software/platform engineer, with a track record of owning systems end-to-end


• Deep proficiency in Python, including building production APIs, services and applications


• Experience building user-facing applications


• Strong understanding of modern backend architecture, infrastructure and cloud-native systems


• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, deployment workflows and test strategies


• Confidence making technical decisions while remaining collaborative and open to challenge


• Proven experience leading engineers through code review, coaching and technical direction


• Strong problem-solving skills and a methodical, pragmatic approach to debugging and system design


• Comfort working in evolving environments with changing priorities and ambiguity


• Experience with FastAPI or similar Python web frameworks preferred


• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and cloud platforms preferred


• Familiarity with server-rendered HTML, HTMX and utility-first CSS preferred


• Experience supporting data-heavy or analytics-driven platforms preferred

Core Competencies

Demonstrates deep proficiency in Python and experience in building production APIs, services, and applications, while leading technical decisions and ensuring best practices in CI/CD processes and application architecture. Capable of managing technical debt and fostering collaboration among engineering teams to enhance productivity and system reliability.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Python Proficiency


• CI/CD Pipeline Design


• Technical Leadership


• Backend Architecture


• Problem-Solving Skills

Hard Skills

• Production API Development


• User-Facing Application Development


• FastAPI


• Infrastructure-as-Code


• Cloud Platforms


• Testing Strategy


• Deployment Workflows


• Code Review


• System Design


• Debugging

Soft Skills

• Collaborative Decision-Making


• Methodical Approach


• Adaptability

Industry Keywords

• Marketing Intelligence


• Cloud-Native Systems


• Analytics-Driven Platforms
  
• Technical Debt Management


• Security Guidelines

Tools & Technologies

• Jinja


• HTMX


• Tailwind


• Observability Tools


• Logging Tools