Head of Platform Engineering & CI/CD in London

OVERALL SUMMARY

At Close Brothers we look to recruit individuals from all different backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if you don’t tick every box. We celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity. Vacancies are available on a part-time, job-share or full-time basis because we know the best person for the job isn’t always available full-time. Our aim is to facilitate requests wherever possible and managers will consider requests on an individual basis.

Join the Close Brothers Technology Team where you will be accountable for the enterprise-wide platform engineering capability that enables product value streams to deliver frequent, secure, resilient and compliant change.

Working as part of the Technology team our ideal team member will have previous experience in designing and operating CI/CD platforms at scale with excellent management skills.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Enterprise ownership of CI/CD platforms and platform engineering services consumed by all product value streams
• Decision authority to define and enforce standard delivery pathways and engineering controls
• Define and deliver the enterprise platform engineering and CI/CD strategy aligned to security, architecture and operational resilience priorities
• Deliver self‑service platforms, templates and tooling that reduce lead time and manual effort for product value streams
• Embed preventative security, risk and SDLC controls directly into CI/CD pipelines using policy‑as‑code
• Reduce release failures, rollback events and operational incidents attributable to change
• Own budgets for platform tooling and services, including cost transparency and optimisation
• Build and direct a high‑calibre platform engineering capability with clear performance expectations

Developing Our People: as a line manager, you will be responsible for inspiring and motivating your team, as well as developing performance through coaching. You will encourage your team to take responsibility for their own personal development and provide support through regular feedback.

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF YOU HAVE:

• Strong background in DevOps, infrastructure‑as‑code, and automation.
• Proven ability to lead senior engineers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience operating in regulated or risk‑aware environments.

IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU HAVE:

• Financial services or similarly regulated sector experience.
• Experience reducing dependency on outsourced delivery models.
• Familiarity with policy‑as‑code and automated control enforcement
• Recognised cloud or platform engineering certifications (e.g. Azure, AWS, or equivalent).
• DevOps or CI/CD‑related certifications or formal training (e.g. DevOps Institute, similar).
• Evidence of structured management or people‑management development (formal or experiential).

We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We recognise that candidates may have specific needs that require adjustments to ensure they have a fair and equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities. Candidates who require the job description or application form in an alternative format, or any other adjustments, are encouraged to email us at recruit.ssc@closebrothers.com or request a call back.

ABOUT US

At Close Brothers we support employees to balance their work life priorities and in this role you will be able to enjoy a mixture of hybrid working.

Close Brothers is a leading UK merchant banking group providing lending, deposit taking and securities trading. We employ approximately 3,000 people, principally in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Close Brothers Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250.

To find out more about Close Brothers, please visit our careers page: https://www.closebrothers.com/careers

To find out more about life at Close Brothers:
https://www.closebrothers.com/life-close-brothers#374017299-899295541

To find out more about our benefits:
https://www.closebrothers.com/employee-benefits

To find out more about our commitment to creating an inclusive environment:
Our Responsibility - Diversity and inclusion ¦ Close Brothers Group

#LI-CD1 #LI-Hybrid

Close Brothers is a UK specialist banking group providing lending and deposit taking. We employ approximately 3,000 people, principally in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Close Brothers Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Our specialist lending and deposit solutions include:

• Commercial: Offers specialist and predominantly secured lending principally to the SME market.
• Retail : Provides intermediated finance through motor dealers, motor finance brokers and insurance brokers, and savings products for individuals and corporates.
• Property: Offers residential development finance to established UK property developers, funding for commercial properties, and bridging and refurbishment loans.

At Close Brothers, we are here to help people and businesses thrive over the long term.

Through our deep sector knowledge and expertise, focus on delivering excellent and specialist service, and strength of established relationships, we support our customers through the cycle. Our values of deep expertise, consistent service and long-term relationships embody our distinctive culture and customer-centric approach.

We also recognise our responsibility to help address the social, economic and environmental challenges facing our businesses, employees and customers, now and into the future.