Senior Cloud Engineer

JOHN LEWIS; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

John Lewis Partnership, the UK's leading omni‑channel retailer, is seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to shape and deliver the Partnership Data Platform on Google Cloud and Snowflake. You’ll work in a cross‑functional Agile team, influencing architecture, driving reliability and security, and mentoring engineers as the platform evolves.

The role offers a hybrid working pattern between home and our London Head Office, with occasional travel to other locations as needed.

Qualifications

• Experience with Google Cloud Platform or another major cloud provider.
• Managing infrastructure as code with a software engineering mindset.
• Use of Python to automate configuration and extend platform services.
• Designing and building reliable and secure systems.
• Strong CI/CD experience with supporting tools for many engineers.
• Comfortable in an Agile team and open to pair programming.
• Extensive experience leading, coaching and mentoring teams.
• Experience with generative AI tools to boost development.

Responsibilities

• Work as a Senior Platform Engineer on the Partnership Data Platform (PDP) on Google Cloud and Snowflake.
• Collaborate with engineers to build a scalable, secure cloud-based platform used by Data teams.
• Evolve the platform with a paved-road approach to support business and engineering needs.
• Influence platform evolution and support project shaping with engineering expertise.
• Potential to move into a people-manager role for engineers.
• Deliver reliable, high-performance infrastructure solutions and mentor teammates.

Skills

Google Cloud Platform

Infrastructure as code

Python

Reliability & security

CI/CD

Agile

Mentoring

Generative AI

Tools

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

Snowflake

GitLab CI

SQL

Apache Airflow

Observability tools

DBT

Informatica

Job description

About the role

As the UK's most successful omni-channel retailer, e-commerce is a key part of our business - we run two of the busiest websites in the UK, driving a significant proportion of our sales.

Our engineering practice includes 80+ teams, working on everything from Cloud platforms to mobile apps, from e-commerce functionality to machine learning.

Take a quick look at our Engineering best practices, hear our engineers talk about their experience and opportunities to learn and grow, and check out our Tech stack. Reach out if you have any questions. Visit - https://www.jlpjobs.com/engineering-jobs/

At a glance

• Expected Salary: up to £100,000 (depending on experience)
• Contract type: Permanent
• Flexible Working: This is a hybrid working role; therefore, your time will primarily be split between working from home (in the UK) and our London Head Office. However, there will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises. Our Engineering team currently works from the office roughly twice a week to connect and, on a more ad-hoc basis, to attend key meetings, but again the frequency is dependent on the business needs. Our offices are open five days a week for those who prefer to work from the office more regularly.

Key Responsibilities

• This is an opportunity to work as a Senior Platform Engineer within a cross-functional Agile development team building our Partnership Data Platform (PDP) on Google Cloud and Snowflake. You will be working collaboratively with other highly skilled Engineers creating and improving this cloud-based platform that is used by the Data teams building complex, mission‑critical solutions.
• The vision for PDP is to embed data‑driven decision‑making and analytics at scale, across the Partnership. We recognise the importance of data and are backing a significant investment in developing the platform.
• The team takes a "paved road" approach to provide features that benefit the many Engineers that utilise the platform, by evolving its capabilities and tailoring them to both Our Business and Engineering needs.
• As a Senior Engineer, you will have responsibility for the development approach and will strongly influence how the platform evolves to meet business needs. You will also use your knowledge of Engineering to support the shaping of new projects and support the professional development of less experienced developers. You will work with a diverse range of technical and non‑technical stakeholders, which will require strong communication skills.
• There are opportunities to become a people manager for your fellow engineers if that is something that appeals to you.
• Ideal candidates will have excellent Software Engineering skills with a track record of working in teams delivering flexible cloud‑based infrastructure solutions that are scalable, secure and performant. Successful candidates will have a passion for using technology to deliver outstanding and innovative solutions.

Essential Skills

• Experience working with Google Cloud Platform or another major cloud provider.
• Managing infrastructure as code, with a Software Engineering mindset.
• Use of languages such as Python to automate configuration and extend platform services.
• A solid grounding in designing and building systems for reliability and security.
• Well‑versed in the Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery practice, and experience of using supporting tools to help it work effectively for many Engineers.
• Comfortable working within an Agile development team and open to pair programming.
• Extensive experience leading, coaching and mentoring individuals/teams.
• Experience with generative AI tools and techniques to enhance development and productivity.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• GCP (e.g. IAM, Cloud Run, GKE, Cloud Storage, VPC networking)
• Snowflake Data Platform
• Terraform
• Gitlab CI
• Familiarity with SQL
• Docker and Kubernetes
• Apache Airflow
• Observability tools - especially those relevant to Data Platforms
• DBT
• Informatica.

The partnership

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world.

As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us.

We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food‑lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre‑employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third‑party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work‑life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.