Platform Engineer
Oxford/ Hybrid, GB, OX4 4DQ
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Hybrid, with a minimum of 20% in the Oxford office per month
About Us:
We’re Nominet – a world-leading domain name registry operating at the heart of the UK internet. While we're best known for running .UK domains, our DNS expertise also underpins critical internet infrastructure that government services, including the NHS, rely on.
As a public benefit company, our work has a positive impact on society. We’ve donated millions to projects that use technology to improve people’s lives and have committed to delivering £60m worth of support over the next three years.
The Role:
As a Platform Engineer, you will support, maintain and enhance Nominet’s private cloud platforms, including core data centres, globally distributed edge sites and the resilient networks connecting them.
You will work across the full technology stack, from hardware and networking through to containerisation, balancing day-to-day operational support with project work. You will also help develop automation tools and deployment pipelines to keep our platforms secure, consistent and reliable.
Working closely with other engineers, you will contribute to the continued evolution of our Platform-as-a-Service offering and the critical infrastructure supporting the UK’s internet services.
What You'll Be Doing:
- Operate and improve private cloud infrastructure across datacentres and edge locations, covering compute, storage, Linux, virtualisation and Kubernetes. Maintain the network services that connect the platform, including routing and switching, external peering, transit connectivity, BGP and inter-datacentre links.
- Manage the platform lifecycle through patching, upgrades, capacity planning, performance optimisation, hardware support and proactive maintenance.
- Automate provisioning, configuration and operational workflows using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, Packer and GitOps, reducing manual effort and risk.
- Monitor platform health, manage backups, troubleshoot complex issues and respond to alerts, incidents and service requests, including through the on-call rota.
- Collaborate with technical teams to strengthen platform security, resilience and availability and to evolve Nominet’s Platform-as-a-Service offering.
About You:
- Hands-on experience operating complex infrastructure or platform environments across several of the following: networking, Linux, compute, storage, virtualisation and containers.
- Strong troubleshooting and incident-response skills, with the confidence to take ownership and make sound decisions in a critical production environment.
- Experience using automation, configuration-management or infrastructure-as-code tools, such as Ansible, Terraform, Packer or equivalent technologies.
- Good networking knowledge, including routing and switching, with an understanding of how highly available services are designed and supported.
- Willingness to participate in an out-of-hours on-call rota
Nice to have:
- Experience with technologies such as Juniper, Dell, RHEL, VMware or Kubernetes.
- Knowledge of BGP, internet peering, transit connectivity or globally distributed infrastructure.
- Experience of GitOps, immutable infrastructure or operating a private-cloud or Platform-as-a-Service environment.
What to expect next:
-
1st stage: Introduction call with a member of the TA team (30-45 mins)
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2nd stage: Hiring manager interview (60 mins)
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3rd stage: Onsite interview (Technical Task 90 mins)
Our Values:
- We Make Things Happen
- We Pull Together
- We Bring A Positive Mindset
- We Keep It Simple
Our people make things happen, but our values are our compass as a company, guiding our day-to-day work and building our culture. They reflect that we're strongest when we're proactive and pull together, while underlining the importance of a "glass half full" mindset and aiming to keep things simple for success.
What We Offer:
- Early Finish Friday – 34-hour working week with full-time pay (finish at midday on Friday)
- 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to buy an additional 5 days
- Bupa private healthcare + Employee Assistance Programme
- Pension scheme matched to 7%
- Electric vehicle scheme with on-site charging points
- Rewards platform with discounts at hundreds of retailers and restaurants
- Medicash discounts on routine healthcare including optical and dental
- Company and individual performance-based annual bonus
Diversity Statement:
We're passionate about creating a workplace where every individual is valued, respected, and empowered. Somewhere we can benefit from all forms of diversity and discover the true value in our differences. If there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.
Security Statement:
Nominet is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of the internet and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment by participating in the relevant security and screening processes. All roles working for Nominet will be subject to a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check. Some roles, due to the nature of their work, will require additional security clearance.
Please note Nominet is unable to provide visa sponsorship or relocation support for this position.
Job Segment:
Data Center, Linux, Technology