Principal Platform Engineer | Internal Developer Platform (AI-Native Engineering)

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IFS is building the next generation of AI-native enterprise software. We seek a Principal Platform Engineer to create and operate the Internal Developer Platform that product teams will rely on, with a hands-on, code-driven approach.

The role emphasizes self-service infra, scalable CI/CD, and production-grade tooling in a hybrid work environment, with a focus on Go, React, Kubernetes, and cloud-native architectures.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building or operating IDPs in production.
• Experience with IDP tooling: Backstage, Port, Cortex, or comparable platforms.
• Experience creating self-service workflows, service catalogues, scaffolders, and golden path templates.
• Strong Kubernetes, cloud-native infra, and Go/React stack experience.
• Ability to work across platform and product boundaries.

Responsibilities

• Implement, configure, and maintain the IDP end-to-end.
• Build self-service workflows, service catalogue entries, scaffolders, and golden path templates.
• Integrate IDP tooling with Kairos and Nexus.
• Build and maintain CI/CD integration patterns.
• Create developer-facing docs and enablement materials.
• Provide platform support to product teams.
• Contribute to IDP roadmap and standards.
• Identify and resolve platform reliability and performance issues.
• Collaborate with Platform Lead and adjacent teams.
• Support development teams in a platform capacity.

Skills

Go

React

Next.js

Kafka

PostgreSQL

Kubernetes

IaC

DevOps

Platform engineering

Cloud-native

Tools

Backstage

Port

Cortex

Kairos

Nexus

CI/CD

Job description

Principal Platform Engineer || Internal Developer Platform (AI-Native Engineering)

• Full-time

Please note that before you apply for this role, you should be a hands-on platform engineer who builds through code and automates by default. Last week you would have been writing a lot of code!

This is a greenfield build: no Internal Developer Platform, no tooling chosen, no templates written. Running pipelines and infrastructure for other teams is not the same as giving them something they can serve themselves with, and it is not this role. We want to understand what you personally built that other engineers use without coming to you.

You should also have run Kubernetes in production - deployed to it, operated it, and been there when it broke. If your experience is CI/CD pipeline ownership, release engineering, cloud administration or monitoring and incident response, that is valuable work but it is not what this role needs, and we will not be progressing applications on that basis.

At IFS, we're building the next generation of AI-native enterprise software, transforming how some of the world's largest organisations manage assets, operations and critical services.

This is an opportunity to work at the forefront of modern AI engineering, building intelligent products that combine Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic AI and cloud-native technologies to solve complex, real-world business challenges at enterprise scale.

We're looking for engineers who are passionate about building production AI systems and excited by the opportunity to shape the future of enterprise software.

Please note that this role requires demonstrable, hands-on experience designing, building and shipping production AI applications.

Candidates whose AI experience is limited to using tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or GitHub Copilot to assist software development, without demonstrable experience building AI-powered products or systems, will not meet the requirements for this role.

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. We deliver award-winning enterprise software solutions through the use of embedded digital innovation and a single cloud-based platform to help businesses be their best when it really matters–at the Moment of Service™.

At IFS, we're flexible, we're innovative, and we're focused not only on how we can engage with our customers, but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society's greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.

We celebrate diversity and accept that there are so many different perspectives in this world. As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realize that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view.

By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.

We're looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can #MakeYourMoment so that we can help others make theirs.

If you want to change the status quo, we'll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS.

Job Description

At IFS, we're building the next generation of AI-native enterprise software. We're looking for a Principal Platform Engineer to build the Internal Developer Platform that our product engineering teams will depend on.

You should be a hands-on platform engineer who builds through code and automates by default. Your experience might centre on infrastructure as code, deployment pipelines, automation, platform tooling or service integrations. What matters is that you have built reliable, repeatable capabilities that engineering teams use to deliver and operate software.

Your background may be in platform engineering, infrastructure, SRE, developer tooling or systems integration. What matters is substantial hands-on experience building or extending platform capabilities through code and automation, supporting the delivery and operation of software.

A software development background is particularly valuable, but it is not a prerequisite. We welcome engineers whose coding experience has developed through platform engineering, infrastructure or SRE work.

Architecture, administration and product configuration alone are not sufficient. We want to understand what you personally implemented, tested, automated and supported in production.

We're interested in what you have personally built and automated: how you provisioned it, tested changes, delivered it safely and enabled other teams to use it without depending on manual intervention. The distinction that matters here is between running infrastructure for other teams and giving them something they can serve themselves with — self-service workflows, service catalogues, scaffolders, golden paths. Prior experience with Backstage, Port, Cortex or comparable tooling is particularly welcome.

This is a greenfield build. There is no Internal Developer Platform today, no tooling chosen and no templates written, so you will shape what gets built alongside the engineer leading it. Substantial technical ownership, and impact across our entire engineering organisation.

As a Principal Platform Engineer (IDP Focus), you will be the primary hands-on technical resource responsible for the implementation, configuration, and ongoing support of the IFS Internal Developer Platform. You will work within the Platform Engineering team to build the tooling and automation that enables product teams to self-serve infrastructure, services, and deployment pipelines on top of Kairos and Nexus.

This is a deeply technical, delivery-focused role. You will be building and operating production IDP capabilities, not advising on them.

• Implement, configure, and maintain the IFS Internal Developer Platform (IDP) end-to-end
• Build self-service workflows, service catalogue entries, scaffolders, and golden path templates
• Integrate IDP tooling with Kairos (application framework) and Nexus (infrastructure and deployment)
• Build and maintain CI/CD integration patterns for product team consumption
• Create and maintain developer-facing documentation, guides, and enablement materials
• Provide platform support and technical enablement to product development teams
• Contribute to platform standards, architectural decisions, and the IDP roadmap
• Identify and resolve platform reliability and performance issues
• Collaborate closely with the Platform Lead and adjacent platform teams (Base Tech, Auth, Nexus)

Internal Developer Platforms

• Hands-on experience building or operating IDPs in production environments
• Practical experience with IDP tooling: Backstage, Port, Cortex, or comparable platforms
• Experience implementing service catalogues, scaffolders, golden paths, and self-service infrastructure workflows
• Familiarity with integrating IDPs into CI/CD pipelines and cloud-native infrastructure
• Strong hands-on engineering capability across the NGA stack, or the ability to get there fast:
  • Backend: Go
  • Frontend: React (with Next.js)
  • Messaging / Streaming: Apache Kafka / RedPanda
  • Data: PostgreSQL
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps toolchains
• Event-driven and event-based architecture patterns
• Comfortable operating in a cloud-native environment: Kubernetes (AKS), containers, GitOps
• Strong understanding of developer experience principles and platform thinking
• Ability to operate across platform and product team boundaries
• Experience supporting and enabling development teams in a platform capacity

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.