Senior Platform Engineer

DeARX; Stellenbosch; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

DeARX in Stellenbosch seeks a Senior Platform Engineer to design and scale a cloud-native Internal Developer Platform for 1,000+ engineers. You will automate infrastructure, build robust CI/CD pipelines and enforce security guardrails across AWS/EKS environments.

You will lead efforts on AI-enabled engineering practices, observability and platform reliability. A hands-on engineer with strong scripting and collaboration skills will thrive here.

Qualifications

• 8+ years hands-on experience in Platform Engineering, DevOps or SRE.
• Strong experience designing and operating cloud infrastructure, preferably AWS.
• Hands-on with Kubernetes and container orchestration, ideally EKS.
• Proven experience with IaC tools like Terraform, CloudFormation or equivalents.
• Strong CI/CD experience using GitHub Actions, Jenkins or similar.
• Experience with Git, GitHub, GitOps and automated delivery practices.
• Programming/scripting in Python, Go, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Experience with cloud-native architectures, microservices and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and optimise scalable cloud infrastructure using IaC.
• Build and enhance automated CI/CD pipelines for reliable software releases.
• Develop and evolve the Internal Developer Platform for self-service provisioning.
• Engineer Kubernetes-based platforms and container workloads in AWS/EKS.
• Implement GitOps and deployment automation for traceable releases.
• Establish automated security controls and governance across delivery lifecycle.
• Explore AI-enabled engineering capabilities within workflows.
• Troubleshoot complex infra issues and drive permanent resolutions.
• Contribute to architecture standards across cloud-native platforms.

Skills

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

GitHub Actions

CI/CD

GitOps

Python/Go

Linux

Networking

Security

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS

Tools

Amazon EKS

AWS CloudFormation

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Build the future of engineering in financial services

Our client in the financial services industry is looking for a highly technical Senior Platform Engineer to help transform how software is built, secured, tested and deployed across a large-scale engineering environment.

You will contribute to the evolution of an Internal Developer Platform supporting more than 1,000 engineers, enabling faster, safer and more consistent software delivery through automation, cloud-native technologies and AI-enabled engineering practices.

The focus is on removing engineering bottlenecks, enabling developer self-service and introducing the automation, security guardrails and governance required to accelerate delivery within a complex, business-critical environment.

Working across AWS, Amazon EKS, Kubernetes, GitHub, Terraform, GitOps and CI/CD, you will design and implement scalable platform capabilities that improve developer productivity while supporting enterprise security, operational resilience and reliability.

This is an opportunity for a hands-on engineer who enjoys solving complex technical challenges, building innovative solutions and taking ideas from concept and proof of concept through to production.

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement and optimise scalable cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), ensuring consistency, security and repeatability across environments.
• Build and enhance automated CI/CD pipelines to support reliable, efficient and controlled software releases.
• Develop and evolve the Internal Developer Platform, enabling engineering teams to provision infrastructure and deploy applications through self-service capabilities.
• Engineer and optimise Kubernetes-based platforms and containerised workloads, particularly within AWS and Amazon EKS environments.
• Implement GitOps practices and deployment automation to improve release consistency, traceability and operational control.
• Establish automated security controls, governance mechanisms and platform guardrails across the software delivery lifecycle.
• Explore and implement AI-enabled engineering capabilities, including workflows that support the safe and efficient delivery of AI-generated software.
• Troubleshoot complex infrastructure, platform and distributed-system issues, leading root-cause investigations and driving permanent resolutions.
• Contribute to technical architecture and engineering standards across cloud-native platforms, microservices and event-driven systems.
• Improve platform observability, performance, scalability, availability and operational resilience.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate manual processes, simplify developer workflows and improve engineering productivity.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship, influencing platform engineering practices across multiple teams.

Minimum requirements

• At least 8 years of hands-on experience in Platform Engineering, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) or a related technical discipline.
• Strong experience designing, implementing and operating cloud infrastructure, preferably using AWS.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration, ideally Amazon EKS.
• Proven experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation or equivalent.
• Strong experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, Jenkins or similar technologies.
• Practical experience with Git, GitHub, GitOps and automated software delivery practices.
• Strong scripting or programming capabilities using Python, Go, Bash, PowerShell or similar languages.
• Experience with cloud-native architectures, microservices, APIs and distributed systems.
• A solid understanding of cloud networking, identity and access management, security controls, observability and production support.
• Experience troubleshooting complex technical issues and improving the reliability and performance of production platforms.
• The ability to communicate technical decisions clearly and collaborate effectively with software engineering, architecture, security and infrastructure teams.

Advantageous experience

• Experience building or enhancing an Internal Developer Platform (IDP) or developer self-service tooling.
• Exposure to enterprise financial services, banking or other highly regulated environments.
• Experience implementing security guardrails, governance and compliance controls within CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with AI-assisted software development or integrating AI capabilities into engineering workflows.
• Relevant AWS, Kubernetes or cloud engineering certifications.
• A relevant degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related discipline.

Why consider this opportunity?

• Influence platform engineering capabilities used by more than 1,000 engineers.
• Work with modern cloud-native technologies in a large-scale financial services environment.
• Contribute to the evolution of secure, automated and AI-enabled software delivery.
• Solve complex engineering challenges with a focus on scalability, reliability and developer experience.
• Make a meaningful technical impact without the requirement for formal line management.

Ready to make an impact?

If you are a hands-on Senior Platform Engineer passionate about cloud automation, Kubernetes, developer platforms and modern software delivery, we invite you to apply.

Help shape the next generation of engineering platforms in financial services.