Principal Platform Engineer (VMWare Cloud Foundation)

Overview

In this role you will act as a technical authority to design, build and secure platform solutions for defence and public sector customers. You will lead on-premise platform design and delivery, translating complex requirements into robust architectures. You’ll balance hands-on engineering with mentorship and stakeholder collaboration to drive secure-by-design outcomes. The opportunity offers hybrid working and a chance to shape critical systems within a cross-functional team that supports mission-critical operations.

Pay / Benefits

• Hybrid working
• Generous leave with up to 12 additional flexi-days per year
• Pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution
• Mental health support and financial advice
• Access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning
• Flexible benefits stipend for private healthcare, discounts, and gym memberships

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for a platform engineering domain and provide specialist expertise to projects
• Lead design and implementation of secure on-premise platforms
• Capture and interpret complex customer requirements to guide system design
• Develop high- and low-level designs aligned with secure-by-design principles
• Own technical delivery within work packages including planning, estimation, and progress reporting
• Mentor and develop junior and senior engineers to raise capability across the team
• Contribute to technology strategies, feasibility studies, and innovation initiatives
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders, presenting solutions and justifying design decisions

Key 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
• Strong problem-solving mindset and capability to innovate for complex challenges
• Core areas (must have): Windows and Linux operating systems; Virtualisation platforms (VMware, Hyper-V); VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) stack (vSphere, vSAN, NSX-T, Aria Suite); software-defined datacentre platforms; NSX-based network virtualisation and micro-segmentation; TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, firewalls; Automation and scripting (PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, Terraform); knowledge of cyber security controls and accreditation requirements; experience across the systems engineering lifecycle; integration of compute, storage and network layers; delivery in secure/enterprise/defence environments
• Desirable: VCAP certification; cloud platforms (AWS) and Infrastructure as Code; experience integrating Active Directory, PKI, monitoring, SIEM; DevSecOps tools and CI/CD pipelines; VxRail; hyper-converged infrastructure; automation of VCF lifecycle; integration with enterprise identity and security services; containerisation platforms (Kubernetes, Docker)

• Mentorship and coaching
• Stakeholder engagement and clear communication
• Problem-solving mindset and adaptability
• Windows and Linux OS
• Virtualisation (VMware, Hyper-V)
• VCF stack (vSphere, vSAN, NSX-T, Aria Suite)

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