Principal Platform Engineer

Sadler Recruitment; Caerphilly; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

Sadler Recruitment in Caerphilly is seeking a Senior Platform/Infrastructure Engineer to own core platform components in a private cloud environment. The role focuses on virtualization, enterprise backup, and ensuring high uptime for large public sector clients.

The position offers hybrid working and a chance to lead automation initiatives, CI/CD pipelines, and incident response while mentoring engineers and shaping platform decisions.

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience as platform, infrastructure, or SRE.
• Strong experience with private cloud or on-premises infrastructure.
• Hands-on experience with VMware and/or Hyper-V, and Veeam backup.
• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and monitoring/alerting tools.
• Experience managing incidents, with scripting and automation skills.

Responsibilities

• Build and run CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, and monitoring/logging systems.
• Manage virtualisation infrastructure using VMware and/or Hyper-V.
• Manage backup and disaster recovery using Veeam.
• Use Infrastructure as Code to automate environments.
• Apply strict security standards required for public sector clients.
• Lead incident response and write post-incident reports.
• Improve system reliability and performance.
• Support development teams in deploying their own applications.
• Set and enforce platform rules for security, scalability, and cost.
• Mentor other engineers and lead technical decisions on platform projects.

Skills

Senior Platform Engineer

SRE

Automation

Cross-team collaboration

Mentoring

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

VMware

Hyper-V

Veeam

Infrastructure as Code

CI/CD

Monitoring/alerting

Job description

Location: Caerphilly (hybrid working available)

Salary: £60,000 per annum

About the Role

This role covers platform infrastructure in a private cloud environment, with a strong focus on virtualisation and enterprise backup technologies. The infrastructure supports large public sector clients, so security standards are strict and must be followed closely. Hybrid working is available. The role owns core platform components and is measured on system uptime and release speed.

Key Responsibilities

Platform & Infrastructure

• Build and run CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, and monitoring/logging systems
• Manage virtualisation infrastructure using VMware and/or Hyper-V
• Manage backup and disaster recovery using Veeam
• Use Infrastructure as Code to automate environments

Security & Reliability

• Apply strict security standards required for public sector clients
• Lead incident response and write post-incident reports
• Improve system reliability and performance

Leadership & Enablement

• Support development teams in deploying their own applications
• Set and enforce platform rules for security, scalability, and cost
• Mentor other engineers and lead technical decisions on platform projects

Experience Required

• Senior-level experience as a platform, infrastructure, or site reliability engineer
• Strong experience with private cloud or on-premise infrastructure
• Hands-on experience with VMware and/or Hyper-V, and Veeam backup and recovery
• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and monitoring/alerting tools
• Experience managing incidents, with strong scripting and automation skills

Skills and Attributes

• Able to explain technical decisions clearly to non-technical people
• Comfortable working across multiple teams and managing urgent issues alongside long-term projects
• Focused on automation and reducing manual work
• Comfortable working within strict security and compliance rules
• Experience with service mesh, chaos engineering, or advanced observability tools
• VMware or Veeam certifications
• Public sector or government client experience

What's on Offer

• A senior role with direct input into platform architecture and tooling
• Work on infrastructure supporting large public sector clients
• Salary of circa £60,000, based on experience