Platform Tech Lead - #2078102

Kubernetes Platform Tech Lead (GKE / Google Cloud Platform)

Location: Sheffield (Hybrid)

Contract: Initial 6 moths

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Kubernetes Platform Tech Lead to join a high-performing engineering and operations team building a scalable, resilient, and developer-friendly GKE Kubernetes platform on Google Cloud Platform.

You will play a key role in designing, building, and evolving a centralised Kubernetes platform, enabling application teams to deploy efficiently while ensuring strong governance, security, and operational excellence across enterprise-scale environments.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you will drive innovation, explore modern cloud-native tooling, and contribute to the long-term strategic direction of the platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate a GKE-based Kubernetes platform enabling seamless application deployment across the enterprise
• Lead and mentor engineers and support teams, acting as a technical authority for the platform
• Develop platform capabilities using Infrastructure as Code and automation tools such as Terraform, Python, Helm, FluxCD, and Tekton
• Manage and optimise a fleet of Kubernetes clusters from a centralised platform control plane
• Ensure compliance with enterprise security, operational risk, and governance standards including:
• Network security, firewalls, and identity controls
• Logging, monitoring, and observability
• Availability, resilience, and container security
• Implement and support CI/CD and continuous testing pipelines across platform and workloads
• Manage patching and lifecycle updates for VMs, containers, and platform components
• Support non-functional testing including performance, resilience, and scalability validation
• Troubleshoot platform and application issues in collaboration with engineering teams
• Maintain high-quality technical documentation and operational runbooks
• Provide 24/7 rotational on-call support for critical platform services
• Contribute to strategic platform evolution and multi-cloud enablement initiatives

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong hands-on experience building and managing Kubernetes platforms (preferably GKE)
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture, components, and ecosystem
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Python, or similar)
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tooling
• Experience with Kubernetes configuration tools such as Helm, Kustomize, or Kpt
• Experience working in Agile engineering environments
• Programming experience in Python or Go
• Solid understanding of cloud-native systems and distributed platforms
• Ability to troubleshoot complex platform and application issues
• Strong stakeholder communication and technical leadership skills

Nice to Have

• GCP Professional-level certifications
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or equivalent
• Experience with FluxCD, ArgoCD, or GitOps-based delivery models
• Observability experience using Prometheus, Grafana, and Google Cloud Monitoring
• Experience working in regulated enterprise environments (e.g., financial services)
• Exposure to multi-cloud or hybrid Kubernetes environments

About the Role

This is an opportunity to shape a large-scale enterprise Kubernetes platform within a regulated, high-availability environment. You will be part of a forward-thinking team driving cloud-native transformation and platform engineering excellence across the organisation.