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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead technical design and ensure robust, scalable, and secure systems.
- Company: Join Arbor, transforming education with innovative school management tools.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, 32 days holiday, and a dedicated wellbeing team.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in schools while fostering a joyful work environment.
- Qualifications: Extensive experience in SRE, DevOps, or Platform Engineering with cloud expertise.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for mentorship and professional growth.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 90000 £ per year.
Location: Remote
Salary: £80,000 - £90,000
About us
At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn’t mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day. Our MIS and school management tools are already making a difference in over 7,000 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days.
At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren’t just about efficiency, outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education every day: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn.
About the role
We are looking for an experienced and collaborative Technical Lead to join our Engineering team and help us by taking ownership of system and solution design to ensure our products are robust, scalable, and secure. The remit and focus of the role is to blend deep technical expertise with leadership, embedding a culture of quality and reliability, and guiding the team in making sound technical decisions. It’s a broad and exciting role, so we’re looking for someone up for a challenge - if you’re highly technical and a proactive candidate, this is the role for you.
Core responsibilities
- Architectural Leadership: Define and guide system architecture, balancing trade-offs between speed, scalability, maintainability, and security to meet business goals.
- Reliability and Performance: Champion accountability from design through to production by ensuring systems are observable and meet agreed Service Level Objectives (SLOs). Drive continuous improvement in platform reliability, performance, and efficiency.
- Automation: Drive automation initiatives across the team to reduce operational toil and improve system efficiency.
- Technical Standards: Uphold coding standards, promote automated testing, and work with the architecture community to drive technology adoption and share best practices across teams. Ensure production readiness standards for all services.
- Planning and Delivery: Lead technical estimation and feasibility assessments, ensuring plans are realistic and aligned with team capacity. Contribute to structured release planning and support post-release reviews.
- Mentorship and Coaching: Mentor and coach engineers through constructive feedback, knowledge sharing, and motivation. Foster alignment and help the team galvanise around technical solutions and goals.
- Collaboration: Work closely with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, and other engineers to align technical direction with product strategy. Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
About you
Experience: Extensive professional experience in SRE, DevOps, or Platform Engineering on complex, scalable systems.
Cloud Systems: Extensive expertise with AWS and distributed cloud architectures.
Platform Scale: Proven experience operating platforms serving a high volume of requests (~1000 req/sec).
Infrastructure as Code: Advanced proficiency with Terraform and configuration management tools.
Scripting: Strong skills in Python, Go, or a similar language for automation and tooling.
Programming: Experience in PHP; preferably in a significantly sized Object Orientated codebase.
Observability: Deep experience with monitoring and observability platforms (e.g., DataDog, Prometheus, or equivalent), plus incident/problem management.
System Design: Expert understanding of distributed systems, microservices, and resilience patterns.
Containerisation: Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS).
CI/CD: Practical experience with building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for automated deployments.
Leadership: Demonstrated ability in mentoring and supporting the growth of fellow engineers, experience organising and driving team workstreams.
AI and productivity: Experience using AI, or an interest in increasing productivity with new tooling including generative AI.
Bonus Skills: Experience with chaos engineering and reliability testing. Knowledge of security best practices and compliance frameworks. Background in agile and lean methodologies (Scrum/Kanban). Contributions to open-source projects or the SRE community. Experience running ECS at scale. Experience working with a large web platform. Experience working with (agentic and generative) AI to increase productivity.
What we offer
The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work every day. We also offer: A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more! 32 days holiday.
Platform Technical Lead in London employer: Arbor Education
Contact Detail:
Arbor Education Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Platform Technical Lead in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections on LinkedIn or other platforms. Let them know you're on the lookout for a Platform Technical Lead role. You never know who might have the inside scoop on openings or can refer you directly.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews by brushing up on your technical skills and leadership experience. Be ready to discuss how you've tackled challenges in previous roles, especially around system architecture and team collaboration. We want to see your passion shine through!
✨Tip Number 3
Don’t just apply anywhere; focus on companies that align with your values. At Arbor, we’re all about transforming education for the better. Tailor your approach to show how your experience can contribute to our mission of creating happier working lives in schools.
✨Tip Number 4
Finally, apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of our team at Arbor. Let’s make a difference together!
We think you need these skills to ace Platform Technical Lead in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Platform Technical Lead role. Highlight your experience with AWS, DevOps, and any relevant projects that showcase your technical leadership skills. We want to see how you fit into our mission!
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Don’t hold back on detailing your technical expertise! Mention your proficiency in scripting languages like Python or Go, and your experience with containerisation and CI/CD pipelines. This is your chance to shine and show us what you can bring to the table.
Be Clear and Concise: When writing your application, keep it clear and to the point. Use bullet points where possible to make it easy for us to read. We appreciate a well-structured application that gets straight to the heart of your qualifications and experiences.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows us you’re keen on joining our team at Arbor!
How to prepare for a job interview at Arbor Education
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your technical skills, especially around AWS, Terraform, and containerisation technologies like Docker and Kubernetes. Be ready to discuss your experience with distributed systems and how you've tackled challenges in previous roles.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Technical Lead, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to mentor and guide others. Prepare examples of how you've supported team members in the past, and be ready to discuss your approach to fostering collaboration and alignment within a team.
✨Understand Their Mission
Arbor is all about transforming education for the better. Familiarise yourself with their products and values, and think about how your experience aligns with their mission to create happier working lives for school staff. This will show your genuine interest in the role.
✨Prepare for Scenario Questions
Expect to face scenario-based questions that assess your problem-solving skills and decision-making process. Think through potential challenges you might encounter in the role and how you would address them, particularly around system reliability and performance.
