Lead Platform Engineer

Do you want to shape the future of secure platforms that underpin the UK’s most critical missions? At Leonardo, our Lead Platform Engineers are recognised experts, providing technical authority and thought leadership across projects and programmes. They define, deliver, and evolve the technical direction of our platforms, ensuring our solutions remain robust, secure, and innovative. 
 
Your work at Leonardo UK will see you take the lead in solving customer problems in an agile, innovative and team-centric manner. The role may involve a blended hybrid working model, with a mixture of working from home and working on site at one of our Leonardo offices to ensure close collaboration with the wider team and with our customers.

This role is focused on delivering, maintaining, and improving platform and systems engineering solutions that underpin critical defence, government and public sector services. 
 
What you will do as a Lead Platform Engineer

• Act as the technical authority across multiple projects and programmes, ensuring consistency of design and best practice.

• Define platform architectures and drive technical roadmaps for on-premise, hybrid, and cloud environments.

• Lead feasibility studies, technology assessments, and innovation initiatives.

• Provide expert-level guidance in troubleshooting and resolving complex technical challenges.

• Mentor Principal, Senior, and early-career engineers to grow capability across the community.

• Represent Leonardo at technical reviews, customer forums, and industry events, presenting and defending solution designs.

• Contribute to bids, proposals, and business winning activities with technical expertise.

• Ensure that security, compliance, and engineering governance are applied across technical delivery.

• Demonstrated expertise as a technical authority across multiple platform domains.

• Ability to influence strategy, shape technical direction, and deliver solutions to the highest standards. 

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders alike.

• Deep technical expertise in platform engineering domains: Windows/Linux OS, virtualisation, cloud, networking, cyber tooling, and automation.

• Experience leading the design and integration of complex, secure systems.

• Knowledge of DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code, and containerisation.

• Strong awareness of secure-by-design principles and accreditation requirements.

• Proven track record of mentoring and developing engineers.
  

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting 
 
Location

This role is based at our Bristol site, with hybrid/custom working options where appropriate.

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