Senior Systems Engineer - Secure Cloud & Infrastructure

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 OpenShift. 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 OpenShift 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 OpenShift 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.
• Strong understanding of networking technologies, including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, load balancing, firewalls and routing.
• Hands-on experience administering Kubernetes clusters.
• Practical experience supporting Red Hat OpenShift environments.
• Experience supporting large-scale enterprise container platforms.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, Bicep, ARM Templates or Ansible.
• Strong scripting and automation skills using PowerShell, Bash, Python or similar.
• Experience with monitoring, logging and observability platforms.
• Experience with backup, recovery and disaster recovery solutions.
• Strong troubleshooting, root cause analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to mentor and support junior engineers.
• Experience working within Agile, DevOps or Platform Engineering environments.

• Azure Solutions Architect or Azure Administrator certification.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).
• Red Hat OpenShift Administration certification.
• VMware VCP certification.
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent service management certification.
• Knowledge of Azure Arc and hybrid cloud management technologies.
• Experience with Software Defined Networking (SDN).
• Knowledge of Zero Trust Architecture principles.
• Experience with service mesh technologies such as Istio.
• Knowledge of cloud cost optimisation and FinOps principles.
• Experience with edge or distributed computing architectures.
• Experience supporting infrastructure transformation and cloud migration programmes.

A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Systems Engineering or a related discipline is desirable, alongside significant professional experience in infrastructure, systems, cloud or platform engineering.

This is an excellent opportunity for a Senior Systems Engineer with strong Azure, Kubernetes/OpenShift and secure infrastructure experience to work on technically challenging programmes within a critical UK defence and aerospace environment.