UK Data Archive
At the UK Data Archive, home to the UK’s largest collection of social science survey data, we are on a mission to become a world-class repository for cross-disciplinary data. Central to our strategy is the adoption of modern software engineering practices such as testing, security, and building in quality during the development.
We are looking for a Junior Platform Engineer who will be instrumental in achieving these goals by helping to transform our organisational culture and mature our AWS infrastructure. Your role will encompass assisting in the design, maintenance, and optimization of our deployment infrastructure with a focus on automation. You will share ownership with the development team for the development of secure CI/CD pipelines, implementing infrastructure-as-code, and fostering a learning environment within the team.
This role is a great chance for someone who is creative and eager to make a real difference. You will be part of a driven, mixed team and work in a place that really values learning and experimentation. You will be a key member of the development team and work closely with them. Together, we will focus on making things run smoothly, safely, and with fast feedback loops. If you are not afraid to challenge the usual way of doing things and you are excited about growing through teamwork and fresh ideas, come join us on this exciting journey.
Duties of the Role
As a Junior Platform Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in spearheading the transformation of our organisational culture towards a DevOps mindset. Your involvement will be instrumental in shaping how our AWS infrastructure is architected and managed, ensuring that it efficiently supports our software development life cycle (SDLC). In addition, you will be instrumental in a major cloud migration project during 2025.
Your core responsibilities will include designing, maintaining, and optimising the deployment infrastructure alongside the development team. You will have a keen focus on automation, ensuring that all aspects of the SDLC that can be automated, are automated, to facilitate continuous integration and rapid development and deployment cycles.
You will also be responsible for ensuring the security of the software development infrastructure. This includes implementing robust security policies, conducting regular security audits, and ensuring compliance with industry standards.
As the DevOps champion, you will be instrumental in guiding the team towards an infrastructure-as-code (IaC) model, employing technologies such as AWS CDK, and inculcating a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility among developers, operations, and other stakeholders.
You will play a crucial role in advancing the organisation's development and operational processes, promoting agility, scalability, observability, and security through automation, and fostering a culture of collaboration.
A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the job pack.
Qualifications and Skills required
The Junior Platform Engineer, ideally coming a software engineering background, should possess knowledge in AWS cloud services. Knowledge of AWS CDK infrastructure automation tooling, and CI/CD pipeline creation and management using GitHub Actions is essential. Experience with containerization technologies like Docker is essential, while orchestration tools such as Kubernetes is preferable. Proficiency in scripting languages (Bash) is essential, while Python is desirable.
Knowledge of security best practices, including an understanding of compliance standards and security audit procedures, is crucial. You should exhibit an understanding of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) principles and have a collaborative mindset to work within a cross-functional team.
Exceptional analytical skills, eagerness to learn and adapt, and the ability to foster a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement are vital. Being comfortable with a Linux environment is highly desired.
This post is fixed term until 31/03/2030 due to the cyclical nature of the temporary funding source. Whilst this a full-time post (36 hours per week), part-time applications will be considered from applicants looking to work 30 hours or above per week. A job share arrangement could be considered for the right candidates and we would similarly welcome applications from those looking to work 0.5 FTE (18 hours per week) on this basis.
This post involves access to Government systems, information or data and will be subject to the staff vetting process. Further information can be found in the job pack.
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.
To support this commitment we have our Global Forum, a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/student-facilities/religion-and-faith
Please see the attached job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification, which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application. Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please email the Resourcing Team (resourcing@essex.ac.uk).
*More information: Working at the University
