Platform Engineer

Next Ventures; Slough; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Next Ventures is seeking a hands-on Lead Platform Engineer with strong cloud architecture capability to accelerate a major cloud transformation and application modernisation programme within a regulated banking environment.

Location: Canary Wharf or Liverpool Street, London (Hybrid - 3 days onsite). The role suits a senior platform engineer stepping into architectural responsibilities or a junior architect who remains hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Define target architectures for modernization and scalable platform adoption.
• Develop Azure/GCP reference patterns, standards, and reusable platform components.
• Align platform capabilities with regulatory, operational, and business requirements.
• Provide architectural direction while remaining hands-on in engineering delivery.
• Assess legacy workloads and define modernisation paths: Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, Cloud-native transformation.
• Enable adoption of PaaS/SaaS aligned with the target operating model.
• Partner with engineering teams to modernise applications using cloud-native services.
• Build secure, scalable Azure and GCP cloud platforms.
• Drive IaC adoption using Terraform and cloud-native tooling.
• Implement automation, CI/CD, observability, and reliability engineering practices.
• Define standards for networking, identity, security, monitoring, and resilience.
• Improve developer experience through platform consistency, automation, and self-service.
• Ensure platform and workloads comply with banking regulatory requirements.
• Embed secure-by-design principles into platform foundations.
• Define and enforce controls for Identity & Access Management, Encryption & data protection, Network segmentation, Disaster recovery, Operational resilience.
• Guide engineering teams through cloud adoption and modernisation.
• Present platform designs and architectural recommendations to governance boards.
• Collaborate with development, platform, infrastructure, and security teams.

Job description

Lead Platform Engineer (Azure & GCP) with Cloud Architecture Capability

Location: Canary Wharf or Liverpool Street, London (Hybrid - 3 days onsite)

We are seeking a hands-on Lead Platform Engineer with strong cloud architecture capability to accelerate a major cloud transformation and application modernisation programme within a regulated banking environment.

This role is ideal for a senior platform engineer ready to step into architectural responsibilities, or a junior architect who remains deeply hands-on. The engineering teams you will support are still maturing, and although a self-service cloud adoption portal is being introduced, they will rely heavily on your technical leadership, platform expertise, and architectural guidance.

You will build and evolve Azure and GCP cloud platforms, modernise legacy workloads, uplift engineering maturity, and ensure cloud solutions meet regulatory, operational, and security requirements.

Key Responsibilities

? Platform-Aligned Cloud Architecture

• Define target architectures that enable modernisation and scalable platform adoption.
• Develop Azure/GCP reference patterns, standards, and reusable platform components.
• Align platform capabilities with regulatory, operational, and business requirements.
• Provide architectural direction while remaining hands-on in engineering delivery.

? Application & Platform Modernisation

• Assess legacy workloads and define modernisation paths:
• Rehost
• Replatform
• Refactor
• Cloud-native transformation
• Enable adoption of PaaS/SaaS aligned with the target operating model.
• Partner with engineering teams to modernise applications using cloud-native services.

? Platform Engineering (Core Focus)

• Build secure, scalable Azure and GCP cloud platforms.
• Drive IaC adoption using Terraform and cloud-native tooling.
• Implement automation, CI/CD, observability, and reliability engineering practices.
• Define standards for networking, identity, security, monitoring, and resilience.
• Improve developer experience through platform consistency, automation, and self-service.

? Governance, Security & Resilience

• Ensure platform and workloads comply with banking regulatory requirements.
• Embed secure-by-design principles into platform foundations.
• Define and enforce controls for:
• Identity & Access Management
• Encryption & data protection
• Network segmentation
• Disaster recovery
• Operational resilience

? Stakeholder & Team Leadership

• Guide engineering teams through cloud adoption and modernisation.
• Present platform designs and architectural recommendations to governance boards.
• Collaborate with development, platform, infrastructure, and security teams.