Principal Platform & AI Engineering

Vodafone Group Plc; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

VOIS (Vodafone Intelligent Solutions) seeks a Principal Platform Engineer to define and lead the technical direction of an AI-native Internal Developer Platform, enabling product and engineering teams to build, deploy, operate, and continuously improve software at scale.

You will create self-service capabilities, reusable golden paths, and AI-assisted workflows, while aligning governance, security, and delivery performance across Vodafone's cloud ecosystem.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and operating internal developer platforms.
• Experience with cloud platforms, Kubernetes, and IaC.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Go, or Java.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the technical roadmap for the Internal Developer Platform.
• Deliver self-service capabilities and templates to simplify provisioning.
• Contribute to cloud-native platform architecture (compute, Kubernetes, networking, etc.).
• Integrate AI-assisted workflows to speed delivery and quality.
• Establish governance, security, and compliance guardrails via policy-as-code.
• Improve reliability with SLOs, observability, and incident learnings.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, security, and architecture teams.

Skills

Internal platform design

Cloud-native platforms

Kubernetes

Infrastructure as code

CI/CD

Observability

Platform security

Programming: Python/Go/Java

AI-native engineering

Stakeholder management

Job description

Who we are

VOIS (Vodafone Intelligent Solutions) is a strategic arm of Vodafone Group Plc, creating value for customers by delivering intelligent solutions through Talent, Technology & Transformation.

As the largest shared services organisation in the global telco industry with 30,000 FTE, our portfolio of next-generation solutions and services are designed in partnership with customers across Vodafone Group, local markets, and partner markets to simplify and drive growth. With our strategic partner Accenture, we work alongside our Vodafone customers, other Telco and tech companies to drive transformation, meet the challenges of our industry and ensure we stay relevant and resilient. This partnership is a unique, industry-first model which brings together the best of in-house and 3rd party capability.

We work with customers across 28 countries from 10 VOIS locations: Albania, Egypt, Hungary, India, Romania, Spain, Turkey, UK, Germany, Ireland, and with a network of teams in Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, and Portugal.

#VOIS #BeUnrivalled #CreateTheFuture

Location

London, Paddington

About this Role

We are seeking a Principal Platform Engineer to define and lead the technical direction of an AI-native Internal Developer Platform. This role focuses on enabling product and engineering teams to build, deploy, operate, and continuously improve software safely and efficiently at scale. The position drives the creation of self-service capabilities, reusable engineering patterns, and AI-assisted workflows that enhance developer experience, strengthen governance, and improve delivery performance across Vodafone's cloud ecosystem.

What you'll do

• Define and evolve the technical roadmap for the Internal Developer Platform, treating it as a product with clear adoption, reliability, and developer experience outcomes.
• Design and deliver self-service capabilities, reusable golden paths, and standard service templates to simplify service provisioning and operations.
• Contribute to cloud-native platform architecture, including compute, Kubernetes, networking, secrets management, observability, CI/CD, and infrastructure as code.
• Integrate AI-assisted engineering workflows to support faster delivery, improved code quality, automation, and data-driven operational decisions.
• Establish governance, security, and compliance guardrails through policy-as-code and auditable platform patterns.
• Improve platform reliability using SLOs, observability practices, resilience engineering, and insights from incidents.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, security, and architecture teams to align platform capabilities with business priorities and user needs.
• Drive efficiency and sustainability through automation, standardisation, and FinOps-informed engineering practices.

Who you are

• An experienced professional in designing and operating internal developer platforms, cloud-native platforms, or large-scale distributed systems within complex enterprise environments.
• A technical specialist with expertise across cloud platforms, Kubernetes, infrastructure as code, CI/CD, observability, service networking, and platform security.
• A capable software engineer with proficiency in at least one modern programming language such as Python, Go, or Java, and experience building platform APIs and developer tooling.
• An advocate for AI-native engineering practices, including AI-assisted development, automation, and intelligent operations.
• Familiar with platform-as-a-product principles, developer experience optimisation, and adoption measurement.
• Skilled in defining reliability objectives, SLOs, monitoring, alerting, and driving improvements through incident learnings.
• Able to engage and influence senior stakeholders, mentor team members, and translate complex strategies into scalable solutions.
• Demonstrates strong problem-solving, communication, stakeholder management, and continuous improvement capabilities.

Not a perfect fit?

Concerned you may not meet every requirement? Vodafone is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. If you are excited about this role but your experience does not align exactly with every aspect of the job description, you are encouraged to apply. You may be the right candidate for this or another opportunity, and the recruitment team will support you in exploring where your skills fit best.

What's in it for you

• Opportunity to shape and lead a high-impact, enterprise-wide platform transformation initiative.
• Exposure to cutting-edge AI-native engineering practices and large-scale cloud ecosystems.
• A collaborative environment focused on innovation, continuous improvement, and engineering excellence.
• The ability to influence strategic technical decisions and platform direction at scale.

What skills you will learn

• Advanced platform engineering practices within large-scale, cloud-native environments.
• Application of AI to enhance developer productivity and operational efficiency.
• Platform product management, including adoption metrics and user-centric design.
• Enterprise-grade reliability engineering, observability, and resilience practices.
• Cross-functional leadership and stakeholder engagement in complex environments.

VOIS Equal Opportunity Employer Commitment

Vodafone recognises and celebrates the value of diversity in building a workforce that reflects the customers and communities it serves. No form of discrimination is tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, discrimination based on race, colour, age, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, ethnicity, disability, religion or belief, political affiliation, trade union membership, nationality, citizenship, indigenous status, medical condition, HIV status, neurodiversity, social origin, cultural background, marital or civil partnership status, or socio-economic background.

Join Us

At Vodafone, we're working hard to build a better future. A more connected, inclusive and sustainable world. As a dynamic global community, it's our human spirit, together with technology, that empowers us to achieve this. We challenge and innovate in order to connect people, businesses, and communities across the world. Delighting our customers and earning their loyalty drive us, and we experiment, learn fast and get it done, together. With us, you can truly be yourself and belong, share inspiration, embrace new opportunities, thrive, and make a real difference.

Follow us on social media

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vois/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/voisglobal
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voisglobal/
• You can also chat with our employees to learn more about our projects: https://lnkd.in/dpkrcvR2