At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design and scaling of our data platform for energy companies.
- Company: Gorilla is revolutionising energy data infrastructure for a sustainable future.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible work options, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Join a mission-driven team focused on innovation and making a real impact in the energy sector.
- Qualifications: Experience in data platforms, strong Python skills, and expertise with AWS and Terraform required.
- Other info: Mentorship opportunities available to enhance your technical skills and career growth.
The predicted salary is between 43200 - 72000 £ per year.
At Gorilla, we're building the data infrastructure that powers energy companies on their journey to net-zero. As a Lead/Staff Data Platform Engineer, you'll play a key role in defining and scaling our data platform to meet the increasing complexity and volume of data-driven use cases in the energy industry. You’ll combine deep hands-on technical expertise with the ability to drive initiatives across teams, shaping the technical foundation that supports our products and customers. You won’t just be building services—you’ll be designing the architecture, improving the developer experience, and guiding our platform strategy with a strong focus on performance, security, and scalability.
Your Role
- SaaS experience in high-load, data-intensive environments.
- Lead the technical vision and strategy of our internal data platform, influencing architectural decisions and establishing best practices across the engineering organization.
- Design, implement, and evolve platform services that enable teams to work with data efficiently and securely, using modern tooling such as Terraform, Docker, and cloud-native patterns.
- Drive cross-team initiatives, helping teams adopt and scale platform capabilities (e.g., CI/CD, observability, workflow orchestration) with a focus on reliability, security, and performance.
- Collaborate with stakeholders (data engineering, backend, DevOps, product) to identify platform gaps and design scalable, long-term solutions that unlock product innovation.
- Mentor and support engineers, fostering technical growth, improving team practices, and elevating the quality of engineering across the board.
- Ensure operational excellence by automating infrastructure, monitoring key systems, and leading incident response and root cause analysis for platform-related issues.
- Evaluate and introduce new technologies and practices (e.g., container orchestration, data lake solutions, workflow orchestration tools) based on evolving business needs.
What You’ll Need
- Proven experience designing, building, and scaling data platforms or backend infrastructure in production environments.
- Strong Python skills, with a solid foundation in software engineering principles.
- Expertise with AWS services, including Lambda, ECS/EC2, S3 and RDS.
- Deep experience with Terraform and infrastructure-as-code practices.
- Familiarity with tools like Airflow or DBT, and data platforms such as Snowflake or Databricks.
- Solid experience with CI/CD, observability, and platform reliability practices in cloud-native environments.
- Understanding of distributed computing concepts, and experience designing systems for scale, security, and availability.
- A proactive, collaborative mindset and demonstrated ability to lead technical projects and align stakeholders around shared goals.
- Strong communication skills and a mentoring attitude that improves the technical capabilities of those around you.
- Experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes) in cloud or hybrid environments.
- Understanding of data governance and security best practices in regulated industries.
Lead/Staff Data Platform Engineer employer: Gorilla
Contact Detail:
Gorilla Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead/Staff Data Platform Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with the specific technologies mentioned in the job description, such as AWS services and Terraform. Having hands-on experience or projects that showcase your skills with these tools can set you apart during discussions.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare to discuss your previous experiences in leading technical projects. Be ready to share examples of how you've influenced architectural decisions and established best practices in your past roles, as this aligns closely with the responsibilities of the position.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your collaborative mindset by thinking of ways to demonstrate your ability to work across teams. Consider preparing anecdotes where you successfully drove cross-team initiatives or mentored others, as these are key aspects of the role.
✨Tip Number 4
Research the energy sector's current trends, especially around data platforms and net-zero initiatives. Being knowledgeable about industry challenges and innovations will help you engage in meaningful conversations during the interview process.
We think you need these skills to ace Lead/Staff Data Platform Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV highlights your experience with data platforms, backend infrastructure, and relevant technologies like AWS, Terraform, and Python. Use specific examples that demonstrate your ability to lead technical projects and collaborate with teams.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: In your cover letter, express your passion for building data infrastructure in the energy sector. Discuss how your skills align with Gorilla's mission to support companies on their journey to net-zero, and mention any relevant projects or achievements.
Showcase Technical Expertise: When detailing your experience, focus on your hands-on technical skills and leadership in designing scalable systems. Mention specific tools and practices you've used, such as CI/CD, observability, and container orchestration, to demonstrate your fit for the role.
Prepare for Technical Questions: Anticipate technical questions related to data platform architecture, security best practices, and cloud-native environments. Be ready to discuss your problem-solving approach and how you've mentored others in your previous roles.
How to prepare for a job interview at Gorilla
✨Showcase Your Technical Expertise
Be prepared to discuss your hands-on experience with data platforms and backend infrastructure. Highlight specific projects where you've designed, built, or scaled systems, especially in high-load environments. This will demonstrate your capability to handle the technical demands of the role.
✨Emphasise Collaboration Skills
Since the role involves driving cross-team initiatives, be ready to share examples of how you've successfully collaborated with different stakeholders. Discuss how you identified platform gaps and worked with teams to implement scalable solutions, showcasing your ability to align diverse groups around shared goals.
✨Demonstrate Leadership and Mentoring
As a Lead/Staff Engineer, your ability to mentor others is crucial. Prepare to talk about your experiences in guiding junior engineers, improving team practices, and fostering a culture of technical growth. This will highlight your leadership qualities and commitment to elevating the engineering standards.
✨Discuss Your Approach to Security and Reliability
Given the focus on performance, security, and scalability, be ready to discuss your understanding of data governance and security best practices. Share how you've ensured operational excellence through automation, monitoring, and incident response, which will show your proactive mindset in maintaining robust systems.