Platform & Operations Engineering Lead

Syngenta; Bracknell; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extensive benefits package including a

Generous pension scheme

Bonus scheme

Private medical & life insurance

Up to 31.5 days annual holiday

Flexible working

Global/international environment

Job summary

Syngenta Jealott's Hill International Research Centre in the UK seeks an experienced Engineering Leader to drive platform and infrastructure initiatives supporting R&D IT, lead high-performing teams, and advance service reliability across multiple workstreams.

You will manage vendor relations, budgets, and KPI-driven improvements while collaborating with engineering, product, and scientific teams to translate complex R&D needs into scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in platform and infrastructure fluency.
• Demonstrable experience in engineering management and team leadership.
• Demonstrable experience in operational leadership and incident/SLA management.
• Demonstrable experience in delivery management across multiple workstreams.
• Demonstrable experience in vendor and SoW management.
• Demonstrable experience in operational financial awareness and budget management.
• Demonstrable experience in operational metrics, KPI tracking, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience in stakeholder communication and cross-technical influence.
• Demonstrable experience managing technical debt and modernization or migration initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience in risk management and incident response protocols.
• Fluent English, written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Lead platform and infrastructure initiatives to deliver durable, scalable outcomes that support R&D IT applications and day-two operations.
• Drive engineering management excellence, building and mentoring high-performing teams while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Establish and maintain operational discipline through incident management, SLA tracking, and service reliability improvements.
• Manage delivery across multiple workstreams, ensuring coordinated execution and timely resolution of dependencies.
• Oversee vendor relationships and SoW management to optimize costs and service quality.
• Develop and maintain operational financial awareness, including budget planning, resource allocation, and cost optimization strategies.
• Collaborate across engineering, product, and scientific teams to translate complex R&D needs into practical, scalable solutions.
• Define and track KPIs and operational metrics to measure service delivery effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities.
• Lead process improvement initiatives and modernization efforts to enhance system reliability and create capacity for technology migration.
• Establish a high bar for quality, documentation standards, and thoughtful integration of AI-assisted engineering practices.
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders, providing regular updates on operational status, risks, and strategic initiatives.
• Manage risk and incident response protocols, ensuring rapid resolution and continuous learning from operational challenges.

Skills

Platform fluency

Engineering management

Incident/SLA management

Delivery management

Vendor management

Budget management

KPI tracking

Stakeholder communication

Debt reduction & modernization

Risk management

English proficiency

Job description

Syngenta Jealott's Hill International Research Centre in the UK seeks an experienced Engineering Leader to drive platform and infrastructure initiatives supporting R&D IT, lead high-performing teams, and advance service reliability across multiple workstreams.

You will manage vendor relations, budgets, and KPI-driven improvements while collaborating with engineering, product, and scientific teams to translate complex R&D needs into scalable solutions.