Infrastructure Engineer in Reading

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation. AHEAD prioritises creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD. We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived. We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The Infrastructure Engineer is responsible for implementing, operating, and supporting AHEAD’s hybrid infrastructure across on‑premises and cloud environments. This role focuses on building reliable, secure, and scalable platforms that enable business operations, working closely with senior engineers, security, and architecture teams to execute against established designs, standards, and roadmaps. The ideal candidate will have a solid background in infrastructure, networking, and cloud technologies, demonstrating strong troubleshooting skills, and will be comfortable collaborating across teams to deliver high‑quality services.

• Implement, configure, and maintain infrastructure components including servers, storage, networking, and cloud resources under the guidance of senior engineers.
• Execute infrastructure changes and deployments following established designs, standards, and change management processes.
• Contribute to automation efforts (e.g., PowerShell, Python, Terraform, Ansible) to streamline provisioning, configuration, and operational tasks.
• Implement and follow security best practices, including system hardening, patching, access controls, and configuration baselines.
• Monitor system performance, availability, and capacity; respond to alerts and incidents; perform routine maintenance and health checks.
• Participate in incident management activities, including troubleshooting infrastructure issues, documenting findings, and implementing corrective actions.
• Support capacity planning and cost optimisation by collecting and reporting utilisation metrics for compute, storage, and network resources.
• Maintain accurate documentation of infrastructure configurations, standards, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (Security, Applications, Cloud Engineering, Service Desk, and managed service providers) to deliver integrated, reliable solutions.
• Provide Tier 2/3 support for infrastructure‑related tickets, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication with stakeholders.
• Participate in an on‑call rota and after‑hours maintenance windows as required, in line with business needs and applicable working time regulations.

• Typically, 5+ years of experience in Technology or IT Infrastructure/Operations roles.
• Hands‑on experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP) for IaaS/PaaS services.
• Working knowledge of core networking concepts and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, routing, load balancing).
• Experience with virtualisation and/or containerisation technologies (e.g., VMware, Hyper‑V, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Exposure to infrastructure automation and scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python, Terraform, Ansible) is required.
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging platforms and the use of metrics/alerts to maintain system health.
• Strong problem‑solving and troubleshooting skills with a focus on root‑cause analysis and prevention.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively across technical and non‑technical teams.
• Highly organised, detail‑oriented, and able to work independently while managing multiple tasks and priorities.

• Experience building reusable modules and runbooks.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent experience.

The role holder must be able to carry out the essential duties of the role, with reasonable adjustments where required, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. Regular attendance and reliability are expected, in line with contractual obligations and company policies. Participation in an on‑call rota and occasional out‑of‑hours working is required, managed in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998 and applicable rest and working time requirements. The role may involve manual handling of IT equipment (e.g., laptops, monitors, peripherals); appropriate training and safe working practices will be provided in line with health and safety requirements.

Applicants must have the right to work in the United Kingdom, as this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. The role may involve handling systems and data subject to UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 requirements; adherence to company data protection and information security policies is required.

£44,599 – £67,757 a year. The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On‑Target Earnings ('OTE') for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between. We fuel growth by stacking our office with top‑notch technologies in a multi‑million‑dollar lab, by encouraging cross‑department training and development, and sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analysing resumes, assessing responses, or capturing recordings and creating transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at [email protected].