Lead Platform Engineer

• Own the non-data foundations of Apollo, Medialab’s marketing intelligence platform
• Shape how software is built, shipped and operated across the business
• Lead the design and development of core applications and internal tools
• Build and maintain production UIs using Python-centric stacks such as FastAPI, Jinja, HTMX and Tailwind
• Guide implementation decisions across backend services, APIs and application architecture
• Contribute directly to production code
• Ensure platform, application, infrastructure and developer workflows follow best-practice security guidelines
• Support a secure approach to AI assistants and agents with the innovation team
• Own the health, reliability and scalability of Apollo’s infrastructure and deployment pipelines
• Shape and maintain CI/CD processes, testing strategy and release workflows
• Improve local development, build and deployment workflows and developer productivity
• Make technical decisions for platform and application work in consultation with the Head of Data & Engineering
• Conduct code reviews and ensure platform-side changes meet quality standards
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to senior and offshore engineers
• Manage technical debt and balance delivery with sustainability
• Evolve engineering standards covering testing, documentation and code organisation
• Ensure observability, logging and error handling across applications
• Identify, communicate and resolve complex technical problems
• Collaborate with analytics engineers, product stakeholders and users
• Act as an ambassador for Apollo’s engineering discipline across the wider business

• Significant experience as a senior or lead software/platform engineer, with a track record of owning systems end-to-end
• Deep proficiency in Python, including building production APIs, services and applications
• Experience building user-facing applications
• Strong understanding of modern backend architecture, infrastructure and cloud-native systems
• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, deployment workflows and test strategies
• Confidence making technical decisions while remaining collaborative and open to challenge
• Proven experience leading engineers through code review, coaching and technical direction
• Strong problem-solving skills and a methodical, pragmatic approach to debugging and system design
• Comfort working in evolving environments with changing priorities and ambiguity
• Experience with FastAPI or similar Python web frameworks preferred
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and cloud platforms preferred
• Familiarity with server-rendered HTML, HTMX and utility-first CSS preferred
• Experience supporting data-heavy or analytics-driven platforms preferred

Demonstrates deep proficiency in Python and experience in building production APIs, services, and applications, while leading technical decisions and ensuring best practices in CI/CD processes and application architecture. Capable of managing technical debt and fostering collaboration among engineering teams to enhance productivity and system reliability.

• Python Proficiency
• CI/CD Pipeline Design
• Technical Leadership
• Backend Architecture
• Problem-Solving Skills

• Production API Development
• User-Facing Application Development
• FastAPI
• Infrastructure-as-Code
• Cloud Platforms
• Testing Strategy
• Deployment Workflows
• Code Review
• System Design
• Debugging

• Collaborative Decision-Making
• Methodical Approach
• Adaptability

• Marketing Intelligence
• Cloud-Native Systems
• Analytics-Driven Platforms
• Technical Debt Management
• Security Guidelines

• Jinja
• HTMX
• Tailwind
• Observability Tools
• Logging Tools