At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and operate Google Cloud platforms, enhancing AI capabilities and ensuring secure cloud environments.
- Company: Join Arden University, a forward-thinking institution revolutionising higher education through digital innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy 30 days holiday, private medical insurance, and free courses for you and your family.
- Other info: Remote work flexibility and excellent career growth opportunities await you.
- Why this job: Be part of a passionate team making education accessible while working with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Hands-on experience with Google Cloud and strong automation skills are essential.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 72000 £ per year.
This role operates primarily on a remote working arrangement that will require little to no travel into our Coventry head office or various campuses. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts. Sorry we cannot sponsor skilled worker visas for this role.
About Arden University: We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education, by leading the thoughtful integration of AI into teaching and learning and equipping our students to thrive in an AI-enabled world.
About our Department: The Cloud Platform Engineer - Google Cloud (GCP) sits within our Technology Department that is crucial to making sure our employees and students can work effectively, deliver projects, find the right solutions and ensure we develop the technology that will make the biggest difference. Our IT team is made up of around 100 employees with a vast range of skills from Software Development to IT Operations and Security. Our IT Department values employee development and we have lots of great examples of employee progression and promotions within the team.
About the Opportunity: As a Cloud Platform Engineer - Google Cloud (GCP), you will play a key role in designing, building and operating Arden University's Google Cloud platform, including the cloud infrastructure and services that underpin our production Agentic AI capabilities. You will establish secure, resilient and scalable cloud foundations, develop reusable platform capabilities and strengthen DevOps practices, enabling our product, integration, data and AI teams to deliver services safely and efficiently. Combining hands-on cloud engineering with automation, infrastructure as code and platform operations, you will ensure our environments are consistent, well-governed, observable and cost-effective. Working closely with teams across Platform, Infrastructure, Cyber Security, Development, Integration, Data and AI, you will embed security, reliability and operational best practice throughout the cloud lifecycle. You will also help enable our evolving Agentic AI capabilities through secure access to models and tools, managed identities, retrieval services, runtime controls and monitoring, supporting Arden's wider digital transformation and multi-cloud strategy.
About You:
- Essential Skills Experience:
- Substantial hands-on experience engineering and operating production workloads on Google Cloud, including building and maintaining landing zones and cloud foundations.
- Strong knowledge of Google Cloud resource hierarchy, organisation policies, IAM, service accounts, Workload Identity, networking and secure project configuration.
- Practical experience with core Google Cloud services, including GKE, Cloud Run, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, Pub/Sub, Cloud DNS, load balancing, Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring.
- Experience deploying and scaling Kubernetes and containerised services across public or private cloud environments, including GKE, EKS or AKS, alongside serverless workloads.
- Proficiency in Terraform, reusable modules and Infrastructure as Code, with experience implementing CI/CD pipelines using tools such as Cloud Build, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI or Azure DevOps.
- Strong scripting and automation skills using Bash, Python, the Google Cloud CLI and Git, with practical knowledge of Linux, networking, APIs and SQL.
- Experience implementing cloud security controls, including encryption, secrets management, network security, vulnerability remediation, data protection and auditable guardrails.
- Experience supporting production generative AI and Agentic AI services on Google Cloud, including model and agent runtimes, RAG and data grounding, tool integration, agent identities, secure access, observability and evaluation.
- Strong understanding of cloud monitoring and operational reliability.
- Experience managing cloud consumption, budgets, forecasts, capacity and cost optimisation, including showback and chargeback practices.
- Understanding of cloud reliability, performance, scalability and capacity planning, balancing cost efficiency with operational resilience.
- Desirable Skills / Experience:
- Certifications in AWS / Microsoft Azure / Kubernetes.
- Experience with AWS and/or Microsoft Azure in hybrid or multi-cloud environments.
- Familiarity with additional Google Cloud services, such as Apigee, Eventarc, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Spanner, Secret Manager, Cloud KMS, Security Command Center and Vertex AI.
- Experience supporting data, integration, machine learning, generative AI or Agentic AI workloads, including managed agent runtimes, RAG, vector search and AI security controls.
- Experience with cloud migration, platform engineering, developer self-service, policy-as-code or configuration compliance.
- Understanding of software architecture, API and event-driven integration, and site reliability engineering practices.
- Experience working within security and risk-management frameworks, such as ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials.
- Experience working in Agile or Kanban teams and following formal incident, problem, change and release-management processes.
Why Arden: At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:
- 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!
- A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%.
- BUPA Cash Plan Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles).
- Access to Perkbox benefits.
- Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends.
- Plus, other excellent benefits.
- Our 'Golden Ticket' which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education.
Our Values: Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you. There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.
Closing Date: 5th November. We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.
Cloud Platform Engineer - Google Cloud (GCP) employer: Arden University
Arden University is an innovative and rapidly growing institution that prioritises accessibility and student success, making it an exceptional employer for those passionate about education. With a strong commitment to employee development, generous benefits including 30 days of holiday, private medical insurance, and opportunities for free study, Arden fosters a supportive and inclusive work culture. Joining Arden means being part of a dedicated team that values kindness and resourcefulness while shaping the future of higher education in a dynamic environment.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Cloud Platform Engineer - Google Cloud (GCP)
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Arden University or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Arden University.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Arden University.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Arden University that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Cloud Platform Engineer - Google Cloud (GCP)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Arden University.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Arden University and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Arden University
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Arden University uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
