Principal Platform Engineer

Principal Platform Engineer

Full-Time 48000 - 72000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead the design and optimisation of our cloud infrastructure and core technology stack.
  • Company: Join Fundamental XR, a leader in immersive surgical training technology.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work environment, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Dynamic startup culture with a focus on collaboration and innovation.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact on surgical education and patient safety with cutting-edge technology.
  • Qualifications: Experience in backend web services, AWS, and CI/CD practices required.

The predicted salary is between 48000 - 72000 £ per year.

Fundamental XR is seeking a seasoned and hands-on Platform/Infrastructure Engineer to join our dynamic team. In this crucial role, you will be responsible for guaranteeing the reliability, security, and scalability of our core technology stack and cloud infrastructure, directly supporting the organisation's business continuity and information security needs. You will play a pivotal part in optimising daily operations across a diverse technology platform, advancing key strategic initiatives like data-driven continuous delivery and ISO 27000 compliance.

About Us: Fundamental XR is a global leader in immersive, data-driven surgical training. We combine extended reality (XR), haptics, and performance analytics to help surgeons train more effectively, demonstrate competence, and reduce risk to patients before they ever enter the operating theatre. Our patented HapticVR technology delivers realistic, hands-on simulation without the constraints of traditional training. Built on a hardware-agnostic platform, Fundamental XR enables scalable, high-fidelity training anywhere in the world, removing the need for costly wet labs, animal testing, or cadavers. Trusted by leading medical institutions and industry partners, we are setting a new standard for surgical education, skills validation, and patient safety.

Key Responsibilities

  • Infrastructure Ownership: Serve as the primary engineer for the platform team, overseeing the support and maintenance of the core technology stack (licensing, authentication, build environments, release management, and CMS backend).
  • Cloud Architecture & Development: Lead the architecture and technical direction of our AWS and Serverless-based platforms. Establish environment structures, define service design patterns, and maintain conventions for new services and shared libraries.
  • Continuous Delivery & Release Management: Design, implement, and maintain robust CI/CD workflows (for NodeJS, React, Unity, and Electron applications) that are reliable, fast, and scalable. Evolve release strategies as products grow.
  • Observability & Operations: Act as the subject matter expert for operational tooling and observability, including system logging, monitoring, alerting, and performance/error monitoring. Drive the adoption of advanced monitoring solutions and introduce tracing to enable systematic improvements following incidents.
  • Security & Compliance: Lead technical efforts on backend security, including ISO 27001 initiatives. Design robust IAM policies, secrets management systems, and secure access control mechanisms within AWS.
  • Reliability Engineering: Guide and participate in incident response. Diagnose and resolve production issues, document learnings, and automate improvements through runbooks and system hardening.
  • Developer Experience (DevEx): Constantly enhance developer experience by simplifying local setups, building and maintaining automation scripts, CLIs, and templates to improve development, testing, and deployment workflows.
  • Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Provide strong technical vision within the platform team, championing best practices, leading design discussions, conducting code reviews, and mentoring engineers.

Required Skills & Experience

  • Application Engineering: Advanced experience with backend web services (TypeScript / NodeJS), including integration with React and Electron frontends. Skilled with SQL and NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, DynamoDB).
  • Cloud & Serverless: Deep expertise with AWS infrastructure (networking, IAM, security, cost management) and Serverless Framework.
  • Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) & AI Tools: Proven track record in maintaining infrastructure via IaC principles. Confident leveraging AI tooling to expedite administrative and development tasks.
  • DevOps & CI/CD: Comprehensive knowledge of DevOps practices and hands-on experience building and supporting CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions). Ability to develop automations for self-service tooling.
  • Monitoring: Expert in monitoring, alerting, and operational tooling (e.g., CloudWatch, logging, metrics).
  • Security & Best Practices: Strong emphasis on security, performance, scalability, and reliability. Commitment to upholding and promoting industry best practices.
  • Leadership: Service-driven mindset; experienced with user research, roadmapping, and key metrics analysis (e.g., onboarding time, adoption rates). Collaborative communicator who enjoys providing technical leadership and mentorship.

About You:

  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment and motivated by high-impact responsibility.
  • Driven to achieve high standards while remaining pragmatic and adaptive.
  • Highly collaborative and skilled at communicating technical vision to diverse audiences.
  • Proactively identify and address issues, using challenges as opportunities for collective team growth.

Principal Platform Engineer employer: Fundamental XR

At Fundamental XR, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of innovation and collaboration. Our dynamic work environment encourages professional growth through mentorship and hands-on experience in cutting-edge technology, all while contributing to meaningful advancements in surgical training. Located in a vibrant tech hub, we offer competitive benefits and the unique opportunity to be part of a team that is revolutionising healthcare education and patient safety.

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Contact Details:

Fundamental XR Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Principal Platform Engineer

Tip Number 1

Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, attend meetups, and connect with people on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can put in a good word for you.

Tip Number 2

Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your projects and contributions. This is a great way to demonstrate your expertise in backend services and cloud architecture to potential employers.

Tip Number 3

Prepare for interviews by brushing up on your technical knowledge and soft skills. Practice common interview questions related to platform engineering and be ready to discuss your experience with CI/CD workflows and security best practices.

Tip Number 4

Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’re always on the lookout for talented individuals like you. Plus, it’s a great way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people.

We think you need these skills to ace Principal Platform Engineer

AWS Infrastructure
Serverless Framework
TypeScript
NodeJS
React
Electron
SQL

Some tips for your application 🫡

Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Principal Platform Engineer role. Highlight your experience with AWS, CI/CD, and security practices, as these are key to what we’re looking for at Fundamental XR.

Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t just list your skills; demonstrate them! Include specific examples of how you've used TypeScript, NodeJS, or any relevant technologies in past projects. We love seeing real-world applications of your expertise.

Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it straightforward. Use clear language and avoid jargon unless it's necessary. We appreciate a well-structured application that gets straight to the point!

Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it’s super easy!

How to prepare for a job interview at Fundamental XR

Know Your Tech Stack Inside Out

Make sure you’re well-versed in the core technologies mentioned in the job description, like AWS, NodeJS, and CI/CD practices. Brush up on your knowledge of infrastructure as code and be ready to discuss how you've implemented these in past roles.

Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills

Prepare to share specific examples of how you've tackled production issues or improved system reliability. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers and highlight your impact.

Demonstrate Your Security Savvy

Since security is a key focus for this role, be prepared to discuss your experience with ISO 27001 initiatives and IAM policies. Bring examples of how you've ensured compliance and security in previous projects.

Ask Insightful Questions

At the end of the interview, have a few thoughtful questions ready about the team’s current challenges or future projects. This shows your genuine interest in the role and helps you assess if the company is the right fit for you.