Senior Systems Engineer - Secure Cloud & Infrastructure

Senior Systems Engineer - Secure Digital Platform (SDP) Data & Integration

Location: Reading - 3 days onsite / 2 days remote
Rate: £65-£71 per hour, inside IR35
Security Clearance: Active SC Clearance required
Nationality: Sole British National required
Contract: 6 Months +

We are seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to support a secure digital platform within a highly regulated defence and aerospace environment.

You will be responsible for the design, implementation, operation, support and continuous improvement of enterprise infrastructure, cloud platforms and hosting services. The role provides technical leadership across hybrid environments, ensuring systems are secure, resilient, scalable and aligned with business and programme objectives
.

You will work across Microsoft Azure, on-premises infrastructure, virtualisation, storage, networking and container platforms including Kubernetes and Red Hat Open Shift
. Working closely with security, architecture, application and service delivery teams, you will support business-critical services while driving automation, modernisation and operational excellence.

• Design, deploy and support enterprise infrastructure across cloud and on-premises environments.
• Administer and optimise Microsoft Azure services and cloud-native infrastructure.
• Manage and maintain Windows Server and Linux environments.
• Deploy, configure and support Kubernetes and Open Shift platforms.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation solutions.
• Ensure infrastructure meets security, compliance, resilience and availability requirements.
• Monitor system performance, capacity and operational health.
• Support backup, disaster recovery and business continuity capabilities.
• Work with security teams to implement secure-by-design infrastructure solutions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex incidents, problems and technical issues.
• Maintain technical documentation, standards and operational procedures.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to knowledge sharing.
• Support infrastructure transformation, cloud migration and technology refresh programmes.

• Deliver reliable, scalable infrastructure solutions.
• Support the adoption and governance of cloud services.
• Maintain high levels of platform availability, performance and resilience.
• Drive infrastructure modernisation initiatives.

• Design and support Kubernetes and Open Shift hosting platforms.
• Enable secure deployment of containerised workloads.
• Improve automation, observability and operational efficiency.
• Support platform scalability and lifecycle management.

• Maintain infrastructure services against agreed service level objectives.
• Identify and resolve recurring operational issues.
• Improve monitoring, alerting and performance management.
• Ensure operational processes follow industry best practice.

• Promote Infrastructure as Code and automation-first approaches.
• Develop and maintain automation using scripting and orchestration tools.
• Reduce manual operational overhead through process improvement.
• Drive continuous service improvement and innovation.

• Support infrastructure roadmaps and strategic plans.
• Manage technical risks, dependencies and operational challenges.
• Participate in capacity planning and technology lifecycle management.
• Provide technical assurance and delivery confidence across programmes and projects.
• Escalate issues and risks appropriately.

• 5+ years' experience in systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, platform engineering or a similar role.
• Demonstrable experience delivering infrastructure within defence, aerospace or highly regulated environments
  .
• Active SC Clearance
  .
• Sole British National
  .
• Strong experience administering Microsoft Azure services and infrastructure.
• Experience supporting hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.
• Experience working within classified or secure environments.
• Strong knowledge of Windows Server and Linux operating systems.
• Experience with enterprise virtualisation platforms such as VMware or Hyper-V.
• S…