Manager of Infrastructure – Platform Engineering

Latham & Watkins LLP; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Pension plan

Wellness programs

Employee discounts

Job summary

Latham & Watkins LLP in Manchester is seeking a Manager of Infrastructure – Platform Engineering to lead the design and delivery of container hosting and AI/ML workloads on OpenShift. You will balance architectural leadership with hands-on engineering guidance in a hybrid, in-office role.

The role requires expert Kubernetes/OpenShift knowledge, IaC with Terraform, and collaboration with security, networking, and cloud teams to define standards and ADRs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT or related field (or equivalent work experience).
• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent service management experience preferred.
• Strong Kubernetes/OpenShift architecture experience with AI/ML workloads.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery prioritisation for the Platform Engineering pillar and manage backlog, estimation, and day-to-day trade-offs.
• Lead high-level and low-level designs, reference architectures, and global standards for containerised hosting and AI/ML workloads.
• Embed with the Platform Engineering pillar, participate in stand-ups, accept sprint work, and collaborate on OpenShift and CI/CD.
• Collaborate with Azure-focused architect to implement hybrid patterns intersecting container platform and cloud estate.
• Author Architecture Decision Records to guide technology direction and long-term impact.
• Lead vendor and product evaluations and draft ADRs to support decisions.
• Create and maintain architecture diagrams, design specifications, reference patterns, ADRs, and operational guidance.
• Work with security, network, storage, application, monitoring, and service management teams to deliver cohesive solutions.
• Follow ITSM/ITIL, Change Management, security, data usage, and licensing policies.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentoring to engineers; promote collaborative practices.

Skills

Kubernetes/OpenShift

AI/ML platform

IaC/Terraform

Lead engineering

Security & networking basics

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or related field

Equivalent work experience considered

Tools

OpenShift

Kubernetes

Terraform

VMware Cloud Foundation

OpenShift Virtualisation

Job description

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is one of the world’s leading global law firms advising the businesses and institutions that drive the global economy. We are the market leaders in major financial and business centers around the world. We are at the forefront of AI systems within the legal sector. Our investment in people, commitment to innovation, and focus on the future empower you to build an incredible career and thrive as an exceptional professional in a supportive culture. If you aspire to be the best, and work with the best, this is where you belong.

About the Role

The Manager of Infrastructure – Platform Engineering is an integral part of Latham’s Technology & Information Services team and will be located in our Manchester office. This role serves as the design authority for how modern workloads are hosted on the firm’s container platform and works directly with the engineers who build and operate those services. The role is centered on Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat OpenShift AI, and combines working architecture, line management, and embedded engineering. Please note that this role may be eligible for a flexible working schedule that allows for a hybrid and in-office presence.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

Other key responsibilities include:

• Owning delivery prioritisation for the Platform Engineering pillar within the strategic direction established by the Senior Manager of Infrastructure Design & Engineering, including backlog sequencing, work acceptance, estimation, and day-to-day trade-off decisions
• Leading the development of high-level and low-level solution designs, reference architectures, and global standards for containerised application hosting and AI/ML workload placement
• Contributing directly as an embedded member of the Platform Engineering pillar by participating in stand-ups, accepting sprint work, and partnering with engineers on OpenShift, infrastructure as code, and CI/CD delivery
• Collaborating with the Azure-focused Technical Architect to develop and implement hybrid patterns where the container platform and Azure estate intersect
• Authoring Architecture Decision Records for decisions that establish technology direction, introduce new patterns, carry significant cost, or create long-term organisational impact
• Leading vendor and product evaluations within the pillar's domains through time-boxed technical inquiries that produce recommendations and draft ADRs.
• Creating and maintains comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design specifications, reference patterns, ADRs, and operational guidance.
• Collaborating with security, network, storage, application, monitoring, and service management teams to ensure cohesive and supportable infrastructure solutions.
• Following the firm's standard ITSM, ITIL, Change Management, security, data usage, equipment usage, and licensing policies and procedures.
• Providing leadership, coaching, and mentoring to engineers and promotes effective, respectful, and collaborative working practices.

We’d love to hear from you if you:

• Possess expert knowledge of Kubernetes and OpenShift architecture, operations, security, networking, storage, multi-tenancy, and lifecycle management
• Display strong knowledge of AI/ML platform architecture, GPU scheduling and allocation, and storage patterns for model training and inference
• Demonstrate advanced infrastructure as code capability using Terraform or an equivalent technology

And have:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher education diploma in Information Technology or a related field, preferably; equivalent work experience may be considered in lieu of a degree
• Relevant Red Hat OpenShift, Kubernetes, cloud, infrastructure, and/or architecture certification, preferably
• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent service management experience, preferably
• Deep, current, hands-on Kubernetes architecture experience; Red Hat OpenShift experience strongly, preferably
• Demonstrated experience designing for AI/ML workloads on Kubernetes; Red Hat OpenShift AI experience, preferably
• Experience leading engineers or a strong lead-level track record that includes mentoring, hiring involvement, development planning, and performance conversations
• Demonstrated success delivering architecture with engineering teams through pairing, sprint participation, and design decisions grounded in operational delivery
• Experience working effectively in distributed, asynchronous teams, preferably
• Exposure to NVIDIA DGX-class systems, InfiniBand or RoCE fabrics, and VAST Data or comparable HPC/AI storage, preferably
• Experience with vSphere or VMware Cloud Foundation estates and virtualisation-to-container transition patterns, including OpenShift Virtualisation, preferably

Benefits & Additional Information

Successful candidates will not only be provided with an outstanding career opportunity and welcoming environment, but will also be provided with a generous total compensation package with bonuses awarded in recognition of both individual and firm performance. Eligible employees can participate in Latham’s comprehensive benefit program which includes:

• Health insurance as well as group income protection and life assurance
• A pension plan
• Wellness programs
• Employee discounts
• And more!

Additionally, we have a range of programming including Global Affinity Groups, which are open to all. These groups provide a firmwide platform to share experiences and advice as well as an opportunity to participate in a supportive network with common interests to help make life at the firm even better.

Latham & Watkins is an equal opportunity employer. The Firm prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, or any other characteristic or condition protected by applicable statute.

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