Site Reliability Engineer I

Site Reliability Engineer I

Entry level 60000 - 80000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Generative Engineering

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Ensure our platform runs smoothly and efficiently while scaling with cutting-edge technology.
  • Company: Join a dynamic start-up revolutionising AI design in engineering.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, remote work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Work in a fast-paced environment with a focus on continuous improvement.
  • Why this job: Be part of a team that’s shaping the future of engineering with AI.
  • Qualifications: Experience in SRE, DevOps, or Platform Engineering; strong AWS skills required.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.

Generative Engineering is bringing AI design into the real world by enabling generative engineering design for physical products. Our focus is creating millions more engineers globally and giving them the data and knowledge necessary to make efficient decisions quickly, one of the main challenges of the physical engineering industry today. Our team has a background in scaling software to millions of users and successfully disrupting industries, creating Unicorns and Decacorns along the way. We combine the advantages of an early-stage start-up with the ability to focus on creating high-quality, high-impact systems, without the distraction of fundraising.

We’re looking for a Site Reliability Engineer to keep our platform fast, available, and trustworthy as we scale. You’ll own the AWS and Terraform footprint behind our services, build the CI/CD and observability that let us ship without fear, and be the person who can drop into a misbehaving container and actually figure out what’s going on.

Must Haves

  • Any depth of SRE, DevOps, or Platform Engineering experience — we don’t care how many years you’ve been working. We’re looking for solid Infra and sharp judgement.
  • Strong AWS production experience (EC2, ECS/Fargate, Lambda, S3, IAM, VPC, RDS, networking) — ideally including incidents you owned end-to-end.
  • Terraform in anger — modular, reviewed, version-controlled.
  • Comfortable debugging Python services (FastAPI or similar) in production — from container, to ALB, to DNS, to security group.
  • Docker fluency: building lean images, debugging missing tools (yes, curl), and reasoning about healthchecks, lifecycle hooks, and rollback loops.
  • CI/CD experience — ideally GitLab CI, but GitHub Actions / Argo / Buildkite count too. Fast, safe, observable pipelines.
  • Networking depth — you can reach for curl, dig, tcpdump, or a flow log without panicking; you understand IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack, egress, and why a healthcheck can pass externally and fail internally.
  • Calm under pressure: you’ve been on call, handled real incidents, and written post-mortems that actually changed how the system runs.
  • A clear point of view on AI tooling — when to use it, when to ignore it, and how to keep it from making your infra worse.

Nice to Have

  • A ComSci or related degree — Experience in a fast-paced startup environment.
  • Observability stack experience — Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, Datadog, Loki, or equivalents. You know what a good SLO looks like.
  • Container orchestration beyond ECS — Kubernetes in production, including debugging it under load.
  • Database operations — PostgreSQL migrations, RDS tuning, backups you’ve actually restored.
  • Security and compliance: SOC 2, IAM hardening, secrets management, supply-chain hygiene, least-privilege as a default reflex.
  • Scaling and cost work — Fargate vs Lambda trade-offs, autoscaling, spot fleets, capacity planning.
  • HPC / batch compute experience (AWS Batch, ParallelCluster, Slurm, Karpenter) for heavy simulation or ML workloads.
  • GPU infrastructure: CUDA-aware scheduling, GPU operator, driver pain.
  • Nix experience (inc Nix Flakes) for reproducible builds and dev environments.
  • Open-source contributions, especially in the SRE / infra ecosystem.
  • Chaos engineering, game days, or anything else that proves you trust your runbooks.
  • Just state the word ‘Salmon’ anywhere in your application, just to prove you can read a job advert.

We aim to improve all our colleagues’ abilities and careers by exposing them to the bare bones of a tech start-up whilst giving them the opportunity to support the company in any way. If our people continuously improve, so does our product.

Site Reliability Engineer I employer: Generative Engineering

Generative Engineering is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic work culture where innovation thrives and employees are empowered to grow. As a Site Reliability Engineer, you'll be part of a forward-thinking team dedicated to revolutionising the engineering landscape with AI, while enjoying opportunities for professional development and hands-on experience in a fast-paced start-up environment. Our commitment to employee growth, coupled with the chance to work on impactful projects, makes this an ideal place for those seeking meaningful and rewarding careers.

Generative Engineering

Contact Details:

Generative Engineering Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Site Reliability Engineer I

Join Developer Communities

Get involved in online developer communities like GitHub or Stack Overflow. We can showcase our skills by contributing to open-source projects – it’s a great way to network, learn, and possibly catch the eye of a recruiter while doing something we love!

Attend Coding Meetups and Hackathons

Check out local coding meetups and hackathons. These events are fantastic for meeting other developers and potential employers, plus they're a great way to get some hands-on experience and showcase our problem-solving skills in real-time.

Set Up a Public Portfolio

We should create a public portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing our projects and code. This not only demonstrates our technical skills but also gives employers a peek into our creative process and problem-solving abilities.

Utilise University Career Services

If we're fresh out of uni, let's not forget about our university’s career services! They often have tailored resources and connections in the software development field. Plus, internships can lead to entry-level roles – a true win-win!

We think you need these skills to ace Site Reliability Engineer I

Site Reliability Engineering
DevOps
Platform Engineering
AWS (EC2, ECS/Fargate, Lambda, S3, IAM, VPC, RDS)
Terraform
Python Debugging (FastAPI or similar)
Docker

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show Off Your Coding Skills:As this is an entry-level role in software engineering development, make sure to include your coding projects. Whether it's a cool school project, a personal website, or even contributions to open-source, it all counts! Link to your GitHub or any platforms you've showcased your code on – we want to see what you've got!

Tailor Your CV to Highlight Relevant Skills:Make your CV work for you by focusing on the programming languages and frameworks you've learned. If you've dabbled in JavaScript, Python, or any specific frameworks, be sure to include those. Plus, showcasing any relevant coursework or certifications can really help us get a clearer picture of your skill set.

Craft a Motivating Cover Letter:Since you're applying for an entry-level position, your cover letter is your chance to shine. Tell us why you’re passionate about software engineering and what excites you about working with Generative Engineering. Highlight any internships or projects that shaped your interest in coding – it’s all about your motivation!

Use Your Network:Don't hesitate to mention any connections you might have to Generative Engineering in your application. If you know someone who works there or have attended any events they hosted, slip that into your cover letter. It shows your genuine interest and can give you that extra edge in your application!

How to prepare for a job interview at Generative Engineering

Know Your Code: Prepare for Technical Questions

For a role in software engineering, you can bet your Interviewer might throw some coding problems your way. Brush up on common algorithms and data structures, and practise coding on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. That way, you're ready to showcase your problem-solving skills confidently!

Portfolio Power: Show Off Your Projects

As an entry-level candidate, your portfolio is your secret weapon. Make sure you have a few solid projects on GitHub that demonstrate your coding skills and understanding of software development processes. Be ready to walk through your code and explain your thought process during the interview.

Familiarise Yourself with Agile and Development Tools

Understanding Agile methodologies can really set you apart from other entry-level candidates. Get familiar with tools like JIRA or Trello, and be prepared to discuss how you've used them in your projects or studies. This shows you're not just a coder but also a team player.

Demonstrate Your Learning Mindset

Since you're applying for an entry-level position, it's important to show your eagerness to learn. Be ready to discuss how you’ve tackled challenges in your studies or projects, what new skills you’ve picked up recently, and how you plan to continue developing in this fast-paced field.