At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and innovate in cloud engineering, shaping the future of managed services.
- Company: Join Brightsolid, a top player in hybrid cloud solutions with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy 34 days holiday, health cash plan, excellent pension, and competitive salary.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team driving open-source transformation and AI readiness.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in cloud technology while working remotely and flexibly.
- Qualifications: Proven leadership in engineering teams and strong cloud infrastructure knowledge required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Description
Role Title
Head of Cloud Engineering
Location
- Remote, UK
- About Brightsolid
Brightsolid is a leading provider of hybrid cloud and managed services, delivering secure, sovereign, AI-ready infrastructure platforms across the UK.
Our next-generation cloud platform is built on an open, extensible architecture using Canonical’s Open Stack, enabling scalable, resilient, and multi-tenant cloud services for modern workloads including virtual machines, containers, bare metal and AI platforms.
Role Overview
The Head of Cloud Engineering is responsible for the end-to-end ownership of Brightsolid's technology platforms, spanning cloud infrastructure, network services, datacentre environments, and enterprise tooling.
This includes accountability not only for core infrastructure but also for critical enterprise platforms and Saa S services that underpin both internal operations and customer service delivery.
Key Responsibilities
- Platform & Engineering Leadership
- Own the architecture, engineering, and lifecycle of Brightsolid's cloud platforms and services.
- Lead Cloud Engineering and Network teams ensuring delivery of high-quality, scalable, secure infrastructure
- Drive engineering excellence through automation, standardisation, and modern operating models
- Cloud Platform Ownership
- Maintain full accountability for multi-tenant cloud platforms, both internal and customer-facing
- Lead the transition from legacy environments to open-source platforms (Ubuntu, Open Stack, Kubernetes)
- Ensure platforms meet defined SLAs, resilience, compliance, and security requirements
- Network & Datacentre Infrastructure
- Lead network engineering and datacentre strategy across all Brightsolid facilities
- Ensure high-availability, resilient, and high-performance connectivity and infrastructure
- Own disaster recovery, capacity planning, and infrastructure lifecycle management
- Enterprise Tooling, Saa S & Platform Ownership
- Own the strategy, architecture, and operation of all engineering and business-critical tooling across the group
- Provide full lifecycle ownership of key enterprise platforms, including:
- ITSM and Service Management platforms (e. g. Service Now or equivalent)
- CRM and customer engagement platforms (e. g. Salesforce or equivalent)
- Monitoring, observability, and alerting platforms
- Automation, CI/CD, and Dev Ops tooling
- Identity, access management, and security tooling
Take accountability for the selection, integration, optimisation, and governance of Saa S, Paa S, and third-party services, ensuring:
- Strong integration with core platform architecture
- High availability, performance, and user experience
- Compliance with security and data sovereignty requirements
- Clear ownership, cost control, and lifecycle management
Define and enforce standards for tooling rationalisation, reducing duplication and driving platform consistency across the organisation
Lead the transition from fragmented tools towards a cohesive, platform-led operating model, where tooling is:
- API-driven
- Automated-first
- Integrated into engineering workflows and service delivery
Partner with Product, Operations, Security, and Commercial teams to ensure tooling aligns with service delivery, customer experience, and revenue outcomes
- Open-Source & Platform Transformation
- Drive the adoption of open-source ecosystems, with a focus on Canonical, Ubuntu, Open Stack, and cloud-native tooling
- Reduce dependency on proprietary platforms (e. g. VMware) in favour of sovereign alternatives
- Deliver platforms that are AI-ready, scalable, and aligned to modern workload demands
- Vendor & Partner Management
• Own strategic vendor relationships across
- Cloud and infrastructure platforms
- Saa S/Paa S providers
- Hardware and datacentre vendors
- Ensure alignment between vendor strategy and Brightsolid's open-source and sovereign platform direction
- Manage commercial performance, cost optimisation, and innovation from partners
- Collaboration & Customer Engagement
- Work cross-functionally with Product, Sales, and Customer Success teams to support solution development and delivery
- Support pre-sales engagements, technical strategy discussions, and complex customer solutions
- Leadership & Culture
- Build and lead high-performing Cloud Engineering and Network teams
- Define and manage KPIs across platform availability, performance, cost, and customer outcomes
- Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement
Requirements
Requirements
Essential Skills and Experience
- Proven experience leading, mentoring and developing high-performing engineering teams, including direct people leadership, performance management, team structure and succession planning.
- Strong experience building a culture of automation, accountability, operational discipline and continuous improvement.
- Experience working within a service provider or managed service environment delivering high-availability services in a 24x7 operational context.
- Strong understanding of multi-datacentre architecture, service provider internet services, WAN connectivity, cloud infrastructure and operational support models.
- Experience owning change management, problem management, SLA reporting and KPI reporting for engineering operations.
- Strong understanding of security technologies and the role of security, compliance and resilience in platform operations.
- Experience working closely with service operations, security operations, product management, sales and customers.
- Eligible to work in the United Kingdom.
Desirable Skills and Experience
- Experience with Open Stack networking and Linux-based networking technologies.
- Experience with modern network security approaches.
- Experience working directly with Cisco, Canonical, NVIDIA and other strategic technology partners or service providers.
- Relevant certifications such as CCNP, RHCE or equivalent.
Working pattern
Role is remote.
Travel is required to meet customers and support marketing engagements.
Occasional travel to Brightsolid head office or branch office is required to manager discretion.
We offer a generous package including 34 days holiday, Health Cash Plan, excellent Pension, a competitive salary, and many more staff discounts and benefits.
Join Brightsolid and be part of a team that is shaping the future of cloud managed services. Apply now to take the next step in your career as a Solution Architect.
- Behaviours
- Able and willing to work to the Brightsolid values.
- Customer focused can-do attitude.
- Adapts communication style to suit the needs and understanding of the audience and situation.
- Respects the views and actions of others, appropriately challenging as required.
- Develops good working relationships with colleagues.
- Shows commitment to their team, seen as helpful and approachable by colleagues.
- Monitors progress against objectives, taking appropriate action to deliver results.
- Consistently meets deadlines and delivers against commitments.
- Draws on experience and knowledge to solve problems.
- Offers constructive ideas to help resolve problems and deliver solutions.
- Seeks guidance to help inform and support decision-making.
- Takes responsibility for own personal and career development, developing technical competence.
Seeks mentorship, embraces feedback, and is enthusiastic about building new skills over time.
- Prepared to take on challenges.
To apply for this role, please follow our online application process and submit a CV and cover letter.
Closing date for applications
23rd July at 12:00noon
Benefits
Head of Cloud Engineering employer: DC Thomson
DC Thomson is an excellent employer, offering a dynamic and collaborative work culture that empowers legal professionals to thrive. With a flexible hybrid work pattern and opportunities for professional growth, employees can make a meaningful impact across diverse sectors, including puzzles and energy. The competitive salary and supportive environment make it an attractive place for ambitious lawyers looking to advance their careers in Dundee.
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We think this is how you could land Head of Cloud Engineering
✨Join the IT Consultancy Buzz
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We think you need these skills to ace Head of Cloud Engineering
Some tips for your application 🫡
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In IT consulting, it's all about problem-solving, so make sure your CV highlights your analytical skills and any relevant projects you've tackled. Mention specific technologies or methodologies you've used to resolve issues or improve processes; this shows you can think critically and deliver results, which is vital for us at DC Thomson.
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How to prepare for a job interview at DC Thomson
✨Brush Up on Your Technical Skills
For an IT consulting role, be ready to demonstrate your technical prowess. You might face questions on systems integration, cloud technologies, or even troubleshooting specific software. If you have experience with tools like AWS, Azure, or even specific programming languages, make sure you can talk about them fluently.
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Since IT consulting often involves teamwork and client interactions, expect behavioural questions that assess your interpersonal skills. Be prepared with examples that demonstrate your adaptability, communication skills, and how you handle client feedback. Before the interview, think of situations where you worked closely with clients to create effective IT strategies or changes.
