Operations Engineer

Reality Mine has been a pioneer in delivering data-driven insights to the media and market research industries for over a decade. Our data capture systems give our customers insight into the online behaviour of opted‑in market research participants, collected in a privacy‑safe way, enabling them to make strategic, informed decisions.

As we continue to expand, we’re seeking an Operations Engineer who will play a key role within our IT team, working on the data capture systems that support our customer projects, as well as our internal IT systems.

Reality Mine is seeking an Operations Engineer to play a key role within our IT team, maintaining and supporting the data capture systems that power our customer research projects, alongside our internal IT systems. This is an operations‑focused role, centred on keeping these systems reliable, secure and performant, while enabling the wider business to work efficiently.

These systems combine off‑the‑shelf tools and custom applications to deliver online activity monitoring and analysis. Internal IT systems are mostly SaaS based, with a limited number of traditionally hosted servers and applications.

The data capture systems are built from a combination of open‑source and bespoke software running on the Linux platform, with Puppet also used alongside Terraform as part of the stack. Most of the role is focused on day‑to‑day updates and maintenance across Linux, Terraform on AWS, and Python. Over time, the role is expected to transition towards a stronger AWS focus, including cloud governance, security, cost control and operational best practice, alongside ongoing database management responsibilities such as upgrades, performance monitoring and tuning.

You will work closely with the wider IT team, reporting to the Operations Team Lead and collaborating with the Server Capture Technical Lead. Front‑line desktop and staff support is shared across the team, so you will contribute to this activity alongside your responsibilities for maintaining customer‑facing systems. In addition to day‑to‑day maintenance, operations and support, the role offers opportunities to develop automation, improve systems management and broaden your experience across a range of technologies.

You will also be involved in security, helping to address findings across both code and infrastructure, and working with the team to keep our systems safe and compliant.

Reality Mine employs modern development practices, using Git alongside CI/CD, unit testing and open‑source coding standards.

Our offices are in Trafford Park, Manchester, and the role consists of hybrid working, blending office days for collaboration and team building with home working. The rest of the week is up to you; deep focus at home, or more of the same!

• Day‑to‑day updates and maintenance of servers and services using Linux, Terraform on AWS, and Python
• Supporting the future transition towards a stronger AWS‑focused operations model, including governance, security and operational best practice
• Maintaining and improving database platforms, including upgrades, performance monitoring, tuning and general operational management
• Sharing front line desktop and staff support with the wider team, and handling support requests
• Deployment and scaling of systems
• Working alongside engineering, testing, user experience and other roles
• Handling alarms and alerts
• Improving monitoring and alerting
• Investigating and monitoring performance
• Addressing security findings across code and infrastructure
• Adhering to Company Policies and Procedures with respect to Security, Quality and Health & Safety

We value adaptability and a proactive mindset. From time to time, you may be asked to tackle new technologies, unfamiliar projects, or collaborate with different teams across the business.

After a suitable settling‑in period, you will also join our out‑of‑hours on‑call team, for which you will receive additional compensation.

At Reality Mine, our culture is built on innovation, self‑motivation, support and open communication, and we expect you to demonstrate these values not only through technical expertise, but also through how…