At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a new team to build and manage a cutting-edge platform desktop service.
- Company: Join a leading firm in quantitative finance with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, annual bonus, 30 days leave, and comprehensive healthcare.
- Other info: Enjoy a flexible work environment with great career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Shape the future of financial technology while working with top-tier professionals.
- Qualifications: Strong Linux expertise and experience in leading engineering teams required.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
We tackle the most complex problems in quantitative finance, by bringing scientific clarity to financial complexity. From our London HQ, we unite world-class researchers and engineers in an environment that values deep exploration and methodical execution — because the best ideas take time to evolve. Together we’re building a world-class platform to amplify our teams’ most powerful ideas. As part of our engineering team, you’ll shape the platforms and tools that drive high-impact research – designing systems that scale, accelerate discovery and support innovation across the firm.
The Platform Desktop Engineering team is a new team within Core Infrastructure, responsible for the platform desktop. As Platform Desktop Engineering Manager, you will build and lead the team, taking accountability for the availability, security and evolution of the platform desktop service. This is a hands-on management role requiring strong technical knowledge of Linux environments. You will stay close to the build pipeline, provisioning tooling and security posture, enabling you to review technical decisions, assess risk and hold partner teams and vendors to account.
The role has a broad remit, spanning image builds, provisioning, security, monitoring and hardware. You will establish the team’s standards and priorities from the ground up, protecting engineers’ focus and making clear decisions about scope. Working closely with Linux Engineering, Security and wider infrastructure teams, you will foster a collaborative environment where engineers are encouraged to challenge, contribute ideas and act on them.
Key responsibilities of the role include:
- Hiring, onboarding and developing Platform Desktop Engineers, including objectives, feedback and career development
- Managing service performance, including availability, estate health, patching, provisioning and user experience
- Owning the support model, including service levels, request and incident management and escalation paths
- Balancing operational demands with planned engineering work and longer-term priorities
- Delivering the estate roadmap across image builds, provisioning tooling, automation and hardware refreshes
- Overseeing change management, communications and post-incident improvements
- Defining and reporting metrics that provide visibility of service performance and estate health
- Managing capacity, budget and hardware lifecycle across physical and virtual resources
- Working with Linux Engineering, Security, Identity, Tech Support and other partner teams to manage dependencies and escalations
- Supporting joiner, mover and leaver processes in partnership with HR
Who are we looking for?
The ideal candidate will have the following skills and experience:
- Experience leading an infrastructure, platform or endpoint engineering team
- Strong hands-on Linux expertise, including package management, performance troubleshooting and log analysis
- Good understanding of CI/CD pipelines for OS image creation using tools such as Dagger, Packer, Jenkins or Bash
- Experience supporting bare metal and VM provisioning at scale, ideally using OpenStack and Ironic
- Strong understanding of enterprise security, including vulnerability and patch management
- Sound judgement, balancing security best practice with pragmatic risk-based decisions
- Understanding of hardware provisioning and lifecycle management, including diagnostics and vendor management
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence priorities across teams
- Experience owning and improving production services end to end
Why join us?
- Highly competitive compensation plus annual discretionary bonus
- Lunch provided (via Just Eat for Business) and dedicated barista bar
- 30 days’ annual leave
- 9% company pension contributions
- Informal dress code and excellent work/life balance
- Comprehensive healthcare and life assurance
- Cycle-to-work scheme
- Monthly company events.
Platform Desktop Engineering Manager in City of Westminster employer: G Research
At G-Research, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of London where innovation thrives. Our commitment to employee growth is evident through mentorship opportunities, comprehensive healthcare, and a strong focus on work-life balance, all while fostering a culture that values diversity and collaboration. Join us to tackle complex challenges in cyber security and be part of a team that not only values your contributions but also invests in your future.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Platform Desktop Engineering Manager in City of Westminster
✨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 G Research 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 G Research.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
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✨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 G Research 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 Platform Desktop Engineering Manager in City of Westminster
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 G Research.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at G Research 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 G Research
✨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 G Research 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.
