Apprentice Infrastructure Engineer in Cardiff

Launch your future in cloud engineering with an apprenticeship that gives you real experience, expert support, and a welcoming learning environment. Working alongside our skilled Infrastructure Engineering team, you’ll help design, deliver and maintain our cloud platforms, troubleshoot issues, and contribute to automation that improves how we work. With a clear learning pathway and dedicated mentorship, you’ll build confidence and capability in a fast‑moving digital profession.

You’ll gain real experience across several specialist areas:

• Database Operations – understanding performance, backups, replication, and maintenance.
• DevOps / DevSecOps – automation, secure pipelines, continuous delivery and operational excellence.
• FinOps – cost optimisation, cloud spend awareness and responsible resource usage.
• Linux & Storage – system administration, storage management and troubleshooting.
• Network Operations – cloud networking, connectivity, monitoring and resilience.
• Platforms – supporting and enhancing internal cloud platforms, tools and shared services.

You’ll be part of a supportive team working in a flexible hybrid way, splitting your time between home and our Cardiff office. You’ll also spend one day each week with our apprenticeship provider, ALS Training, in central Cardiff giving you dedicated time to learn, grow and develop the skills you need to thrive.

Over 24 months, you’ll be supported every step of the way helping you achieve your apprenticeship while building highly sought-after technical skills. Alongside your formal learning, you’ll gain hands-on experience with our talented Infrastructure teams and a range of specialist technical teams who deliver cloud-based solutions across Companies House and support for the last remaining on-premise infrastructure. Through regular rotations, you’ll see the full breadth of infrastructure engineering roles and work with a variety of technologies that shape how we operate.

During your apprenticeship, you’ll grow your capabilities across key areas such as:

• Information security – understanding security principles and the controls used to protect systems and services.
• IT infrastructure – supporting a wide range of technologies including compute, storage, networking, physical and cloud infrastructure (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), COTS, and open-source solutions.
• Developing modern industry standards – learning why up-to-date development and technical standards matter and how to apply them.
• Ownership and initiative – learning how to investigate issues, document your findings and work with your team to resolve them.
• Problem management – exploring how to identify and assess problems across systems, processes and services at strategic, tactical or operational levels.
• Systems design – contributing to the design of components within larger digital systems.
• Systems integration – understanding how systems connect, the challenges involved, and how to build and test effective interfaces.
• Troubleshooting – developing your diagnostic skills and learning how to apply basic troubleshooting techniques across a range of technologies.

As you progress through the apprenticeship, you’ll gain hands-on experience in:

• Core Cloud & Automation Skills

• Terraform – building, managing, and automating infrastructure as code.
• AWS Cloud Infrastructure – deploying, securing, scaling, and operating cloud platforms.
• Docker – containerising applications and managing lightweight, portable environments.
• CI/CD Pipelines – understanding automated build, test and deployment workflows using tools commonly used in Companies House.
• Version Control (Git) – managing source code, collaborating through branches and pull requests.

Additional Technical Skills you might also get the opportunity to learn more about:

• Programming Languages – exposure to languages used at Companies House, such as Java, Node.js and Python, plus scripting basics.
• SQL & MongoDB – querying, modelling, and working with relational and non-relational databases.
• Unix/Linux – essential command line usage, system administration and troubleshooting.
• Networking Fundamentals – understanding VPCs, subnets, routing, firewalls and connectivity in cloud environments.
• Storage Technologies – object storage (e.g., S3), block storage, file systems, encryption and backup concepts.
• Monitoring & Observability – logging, metrics, alerting, dashboards and incident response principles.
• Security Foundations (DevSecOps) – identity & access management, secrets handling, vulnerability awareness and secure-by-design thinking.

You’ll benefit from additional core skills development, a supportive apprentice community, onsite parking, an onsite gym, and a variety of active social groups across Companies House. You’re joining us at a time of exciting transformation, and you’ll play a real part in shaping how our systems evolve for the future.

Person specification

This is a role that provides the opportunity to participate in the support and rollout of existing and emerging technologies and the chance to gain knowledge of Companies House hardware and software systems. We are looking for someone who has:

• The willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Good organisational skills, able to manage tasks and time effectively.
• A genuine interest in technology and digital services.
• The ability to work collaboratively and support colleagues.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and creativity in finding solutions.

Eligibility Criteria

There are some important things to be aware of when applying for this apprenticeship:

• There are no age restrictions for this apprenticeship – we welcome all applications.
• If you are shortlisted for interview, we will ask you to confirm your name and qualifications with us, so that we can share them with our apprenticeship provider - this is simply so that they can check your eligibility for apprenticeship funding.
• So that we can provide you with all of the support and training you need, you’ll be required to attend our Cardiff office for a minimum of 3 days per week during the training period and then a minimum of 2 days a week once training has been completed.
• To be eligible for this apprenticeship, you need to have achieved a GCSE grade C (or equivalent) in Maths and English Language (or equivalent qualifications). We’ll ask for evidence of this before you can progress to interview.
• Live in Wales for at least three days a week at the start of the apprenticeship and throughout its duration.
• Not be in full-time education when you start the role.
• Hold a British Passport or indefinite leave to remain status in the UK.

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Developing Self and Others
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Problem solving and creativity in finding solutions.

We believe that our success is driven by the well-being and satisfaction of our team members at all levels of the organisation. At Companies House we’re committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary, ensuring your career journey with us is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. We pride ourselves on offering a quality work-life balance with our employee wellbeing being central to our working practices. As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity, being committed to ensuring we’re representative of the citizens we serve and creating an inclusive environment. Everyone in Companies House brings something different, and so will you. To fulfil our commitment to recruiting and attracting diverse talent we welcome applications from underrepresented groups. We also welcome applications from Welsh speakers. We are proud to be a disability confident leader. Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments as needed through our process. These could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments and receiving interview questions in advance, to name a few. If you require any reasonable adjustments at application stage, or if you’d like to discuss any person-centred adjustments, please contact us by emailing recruitmentCH@companieshouse.gov.uk.

You will be aligned to our Cardiff office, where you will be expected to attend on a regular basis. We are currently using a hybrid approach to the way we work which provides opportunities for you to be adaptable in the way you work so that you can achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life. The degree of choice you have will depend on your role and your day-to-day work activities. Your manager will agree regular patterns of attendance with you, however you may be required to make yourself available to attend the office more frequently when required to meet business needs.