Senior Platform Engineer

UNiDAYS; Nottingham; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Join UNiDAYS as a Platform Engineer and contribute to enhancing platform strategy, cloud automation, and developer experience. Collaborate with software engineering teams to drive improvements in systems' performance and efficiency. This role offers the flexibility of remote working within the UK, with a commitment to continuous learning and professional growth.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus flexible bank holidays

Company bonus scheme

Private health insurance (Vitality)

Income protection policy

Regular team building activities

Qualifications

• Experience with AWS cloud services and infrastructure as code.
• Understanding of security, networking, and load balancing solutions.
• Ability to work collaboratively with software engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Build and implement cloud services using Infrastructure as Code.
• Monitor platform performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Assist software engineers with their cloud needs.

Skills

Cloud knowledge

AWS services

CI/CD practices

Critical thinking

Problem solving

Education

AWS/Terraform certification

Development experience in core languages (C#, Python, TypeScript)

Job description

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*this role is open to remote working within the UK. Successful candidates will be required to travel to their closest UNiDAYS campus (London or Nottingham) on occasion.

The role in a nutshell

As a key member of our Platform team, this role presents an exciting opportunity to be part of a team that’s taking platform strategy, cloud automation and developer experience to the next level within UNiDAYS.

You will be working closely alongside our software engineering teams to understand first-hand where improvements can be driven to get a better developer experience and improve the productivity of our engineers. With a hands-on approach, you will identify and drive improvements in our systems' performance, reliability, scalability, security, and efficiency.

Our platform team also works to remove barriers for other teams and allow them to deliver faster, accomplished via shared tooling. We are also championing operational excellence throughout the business, focusing on automation and self-serving capabilities.

It’s more than just lines of code; we are looking for a commercially-minded Platform Engineer who can bridge the gap between user needs and business goals. You will have the ability to build resilient, cost-effective solutions and navigate evolving technological development trends

We’re aware that everybody is different and comes with differing experiences. If you don’t have all the skills/experience on our list but are keen to learn, please reach out as we are still keen to talk to you.

Day to day responsibilities

• Build, test, and implement cloud services via IaC
• Work closely with software engineers to understand where platform engineers can add value as well as assist and upskill on their cloud needs
• Identify new technologies & drive improvements across our platform, shared tooling, modules, & packages
• Strive to create new/improve existing self-serving capabilities for software teams
• Monitor platform performance and identify areas for improvement with an SRE mindset for SLIs and SLOs
• Work to define, improve, implement and document best practices continually
• Participate in on-call one week per month (typically 1 call a fortnight with a simple runbook in place to execute)
• Mentoring, training, and knowledge sharing with other engineers

What we need from you

• Strong cloud knowledge including hands-on experience in a wide range of AWS cloud services
• ECS experience with clusters across several environments
• Working knowledge of security, networking, CDN, load balancing, and storage solutions
• Good understanding of CI/CD practices across multiple environments
• Development experience, with an ability or aptitude to work within our core languages (C#, python, TypeScript)
• AWS/Terraform certification

Nice to have

• Database administration experience (MSSQL, RDS, DynamoDB, Neptune, Redshift)
• Background of mentoring, training, or knowledge sharing with other engineers
• Knowledge of containerisation
• Operational experience in resolving incidents, incident management and conducting RCAs

Personal

• Confident & able to communicate freely with colleagues
• Strong team working skills
• Critical thinker & problem solver with a passion for continuous improvement
• Able to influence others
• Can give/receive constructive feedback
• Awareness of your strengths/weaknesses and interest in self-development
• Be able to challenge and be challenged
• Taking pride in your work to deliver to a high standard
• Proactive about taking ownership

COMMITMENT: Internal commitments

• Evaluate and measure your own performance and seek feedback for continuous improvement. You also commit to regular check-ins and monthly 1:1’s with your line manager and to be proactive in completing your quarterly, Mid-Year and End of Year reviews to ensure your manager has enough time to complete before the deadline.
• Ensure you complete all mandatory training and/or workshops set by the business or your manager.
• Ensure you are aligned with the UNiDAYS values & behaviours
• Everyone is important. Strong stakeholder management and can lead others.
• Be clear on your purpose. Prioritisation
• Be a builder. Entrepreneurship and collaboration.
• Jump into the unknown. Adaptable and innovative.

The UNiDAYS Way

Our diversity and inclusion ambition is to support, enable and inspire our people to be their best selves.

We know that by reflecting the stakeholders we serve and drawing on diverse mindsets, backgrounds and perspectives, we will develop the best leaders, products and services.

So at UNiDAYS, we will continue to create a culture where everyone is committed and empowered to create an inclusive environment for all. An ambitious, high performing culture where we support, enable and inspire our people to be their best selves. Together we will learn, share and respectfully challenge each other to create an organisation where everyone can contribute towards our shared mission.

To achieve this, we will continuously assess and improve our impact across UNiDAYS and beyond, ensuring that collectively, we operate with kindness and empathy towards our team and external stakeholders alike.

We've accomplished a lot since we started in 2011, but in many ways, this is just the beginning. This is the chance for you to get in on ground zero. An opportunity to make a difference within the business with global reach. We are the world’s largest Student Affinity Network, with over 22 million verified members in 115 markets including the US, UK, Germany, India, Canada and Australia. We work with 800 of the world’s biggest brands globally, taking their products and services into the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s professionals, delivering engagement, building affinity and sales. You’ll also be working for a Great Place to Work CertifiedTM company who have been recognised on the UK’s Best WorkplacesTM for Wellbeing and UK's Best Workplaces for Women 2022 list. To find out more about our workplace initiatives, see our UK with Great Place to Work and be sure to visit our for more information.

We offer a fast paced, fun & social working environment where you can truly make an impact. We believe that work should enhance and complement your life which is why we leave it up to you to decide where you work. You can choose to work from your assigned campus (either Nottingham or London) or from home, whatever works best for your individual needs. Your manager may request you attend team meet ups at your campus but other than that it is up to you! We work hard at UNiDAYS , but we also believe in fair compensation for hard work. That's why we're pleased to offer all employees full access to our comprehensive benefits package.

• 25 days holiday per year increasing with length of service, plus flexible bank holidays
• 4pm finishes every Friday
• Company bonus scheme
• Company pension scheme
• Private health insurance (Vitality)
• Income protection policy
• Life assurance policy
• Employee Assistance Program
• Enhanced parental leave pay
• Core hours with flexibility around how/when you manage your time
• Regular team building activities
• The latest tech and hardware will be supplied from day one
• Good Vibes Program: we know we’ve all had to adapt to new ways of working and UNiDAYS has always taken pride in the community we’ve created in the office but we’re just as committed to creating an innovative approach to fostering connections and improving engagement outside of the office! We want to boost your remote working experience so think virtual parties, pottery classes, wellness classes and guest speakers just to name a few!
• Support for home working for all new team members. We will help assess your home set up and you can expense £150 towards any additional furniture you may need to be safe and comfortable when working from home

About our Product & Engineering team

The driving force behind this fantastic tech business are the talented Product and Engineering team, who work collaboratively to ensure that UNiDAYS stays one step ahead of the competition, with the ultimate goal of giving students the power to make every experience more valuable and rewarding.

The Product and Engineering teams at UNiDAYS are comprised of a bunch of passionate people who work in a fun, fast paced and social environment. Everyone is equal and encouraged to work with each other, whilst having the autonomy to solve problems in the best way they see fit.

The UNiDAYS tech team are passionate about the local Tech Community, hosting and sponsoring local meet ups and hack events. Career development is an important facet of the UNiDAYS tech experience.

Listen to the episode on The Diverse Podcast here:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability status.