Principal Platform Engineer PKI - Yeovil

Hackajob Ltd; Yeovil; Hybrid; GBP 61,000 - 101,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave

Flexi-days

Pension up to 15% employer

Mental health support

Coursera and LinkedIn Learning access

£500 annual flexible benefits budget (

Private healthcare stipend

Lifestyle discounts

Gym memberships

Job summary

Leonardo UK, in partnership with hackajob, is hiring a Principal Platform Engineer for our Cyber & Security Solutions Division at the Yeovil site. You will act as the technical authority across platform engineering domains, delivering secure on‑prem, hybrid and cloud platforms.

Role requires extensive security expertise, PKI, DevSecOps, and cross‑domain collaboration, with DV clearance expectations and a blended hybrid work model to support collaboration with teams and customers.

Qualifications

• Extensive technical expertise across multiple platform domains.
• Hands-on engineering plus technical leadership and mentorship.
• Experience with PKI design, certificate lifecycle management and secure communications.
• Familiarity with Windows and Linux OS, virtualization, and cloud platforms.
• Experience with Defence or high-security environments.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical authority on platform engineering domains.
• Lead secure platform design across on‑prem, hybrid and cloud.
• Capture and analyse customer requirements to drive design.
• Develop high- and low-level designs aligned with secure-by-design.
• Mentor engineers and drive delivery within work packages.
• Engage stakeholders and justify technical decisions.

Skills

Security architecture

Mentorship & leadership

Platform design

PKI/cryptography

DevSecOps

Automation scripting

Tools

VMware

Hyper‑V

Kubernetes

Docker

Ansible

Terraform

PowerShell

Python

Active Directory

Windows

Linux

CI/CD

Job description

Salary: £61,000 - 101,000 per year

Requirements

• Extensive technical expertise across multiple platform domains, with a track record of delivering secure solutions.
• Ability to balance hands‑on engineering with technical leadership and mentorship.
• Problem-solving mindset, with the ability to innovate and recommend the best approach for complex challenges.
• Experience with Windows and Linux operating systems.
• Experience with virtualisation platforms, including VMware and Hyper‑V.
• Experience in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) design and implementation.
• Experience with certificate lifecycle management, including issuance, renewal, and revocation.
• Experience integrating PKI with enterprise platforms such as Active Directory, applications, and devices.
• Understanding of cryptographic principles and secure communications.
• Knowledge of networking concepts, including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, and firewalls.
• Experience with automation and scripting tools such as PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, and Terraform.
• Knowledge of cyber security controls and accreditation requirements.
• Experience across the systems engineering lifecycle.
• Experience designing and assuring trust models and certificate usage across systems.
• Experience delivering within highly controlled and secure environments, such as defence or air‑gapped environments.
• Desirable: expertise with cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Desirable: experience integrating enterprise services such as Active Directory, identity, monitoring, and SIEM.
• Desirable: hands‑on use of DevSecOps tools and CI/CD pipelines.
• Desirable: experience with Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) such as Thales.
• Desirable: experience in cross‑domain or secure communications environments.
• Desirable: experience automating certificate management at scale.
• Desirable: experience with containerisation platforms such as Kubernetes and Docker.
• This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Governments Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).
• An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) will apply.
• This role requires Developed Vetting (DV) clearance prior to starting.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical authority on one of our platform engineering domains, such as virtualisation, providing specialist domain expertise to projects and programmes.
• Lead the design and implementation of secure platforms across on‑premise, hybrid, and cloud environments.
• Capture, analyse, and interpret complex customer requirements to drive system design and architecture.
• Develop high‑ and low‑level designs, ensuring alignment with secure‑by‑design principles.
• Take ownership of technical delivery within work packages, including planning, estimation, and progress reporting.
• Mentor, coach, and develop junior and senior engineers, raising technical capability across the community.
• Provide input to technology strategies, feasibility studies, and innovation projects.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders, presenting technical solutions and justifying design decisions.

Technologies

• AWS
• Active Directory
• Ansible
• Azure
• Bash
• CI/CD
• Cloud
• DevSecOps
• Docker
• Hardware
• Hyper‑V
• Support
• Kubernetes
• Linux
• PowerShell
• Python
• Security
• TCP/IP
• Terraform
• VMware
• Windows
• DevOps

More

We are Leonardo UK, partnering directly with hackajob to hire for this Principal Platform Engineer role within our Cyber & Security Solutions Division. We deliver, maintain, and improve platform and systems engineering solutions that underpin critical defence, government, and public sector services. The role is based at our Yeovil site and may involve a blended hybrid working model with time split between home and office to support collaboration with our team and customers. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package including generous leave with up to 12 additional flexi-days each year, an award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution, free access to mental health support and financial advice, learning through Coursera and LinkedIn Learning, and up to £500 annually for flexible benefits such as private healthcare, lifestyle discounts, and gym memberships. We are a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security, headquartered in Italy with over 53,000 employees worldwide and 8,500 across 9 UK sites. We are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace where diversity drives innovation and better outcomes.

last updated 38 week of 2026