Senior Cloud Engineer UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

You will be joining the Digital Engineering team within the Digital Research group at UKCEH Lancaster, where you will contribute to the research and development of cloud-based systems that support Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI), including national capability projects and programmes like Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC), FDRI and NC-UK.

As a Senior Cloud Engineer, you will play a leading role in architecting end-to-end solutions, as well as implementing cutting-edge, platform-agnostic systems that operate within a hybrid cloud environment. Your work will focus on applying cloud-native principles to ensure these systems are reliable, scalable, and robust. A key aspect of your role will involve improving integration and interoperability across diverse systems, data sources, and heterogeneous datasets—contributing to the long-term digital vision of the environmental science community.

You will be part of a growing, multidisciplinary team that embraces shared software architectural principles to develop sustainable software solutions and foster collaborative science—both within UKCEH and with our partner organisations. Working closely with environmental researchers across the organisation, this role will contribute to developing infrastructure that drives real-world impact.

Central to this work is collaboration with experts in user experience design, software engineering, solution architects, data management, semantic technologies, and colleagues within the Digital Research (DR) group and IT. Agile methodologies and co-design practices will be applied throughout the entire product development lifecycle, with a strong emphasis on building and strengthening these capabilities within the team.

This role also presents the opportunity to address cutting-edge technology challenges, including building research cloud infrastructure, developing data lake solutions, implementing digital twins, creating collaborative platforms with access to FAIR digital objects, and leading many other exciting initiatives.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Lead the architecture design, development, and delivery of cloud-based solutions, ensuring security, compliance, and alignment with organisational standards across hybrid cloud environments.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data scientists, Research Software Engineers, Data Steward, semantic experts and IT to implement scalable, robust, and interoperable solutions that support digital research infrastructure.
• Contribute to high-quality research outputs (e.g., peer-reviewed publications, software, technical reports), and support team members to share insights and expertise beyond the organisation.
• Work with colleagues to support the development of project proposals and funding bids, identifying opportunities, contributing to bid writing, and aligning resources and expertise.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to internal teams, aligning cloud strategies with development goals, and advising on the integration of digital assets and systems.
• Champion and support the adoption of cloud-native practices for the development and deployment of cloud-based systems.
• Promote an agile and DevOps culture, promoting cloud-native principles and methodologies within and across UKCEH.
• Identify and cultivate collaborative opportunities within NERC/UKRI and the wider community related to the development of Digital Research Infrastructure.
• Help shape deliverables, milestones, and outcomes for research and infrastructure projects, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and stakeholder needs.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders through co-design, workshops, and iterative feedback to ensure research and infrastructure solutions are usable, relevant, and impactful.
• Provide line management and mentoring, nurturing an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing team culture.

For the role of Senior Cloud Engineer, we are looking for somebody who:

• Holds a degree in an appropriate subject (Computer Science, Software Engineering) and/or a PhD or equivalent experience.
• Has experience in multidisciplinary research and working with one or more cloud platforms/providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Has led the end-to-end development of scalable, cloud-native solutions using distributed architectures (e.g., microservices), including user requirements gathering, design and implementation.
• Stays up to date with the latest trends and developments in cloud computing technologies and software architecture design principles.
• Experience in line management and mentoring, with a strong commitment to developing team members’ skills and fostering a collaborative work environment.
• Demonstrates leadership within their field and actively engages and motivates others to drive ideas forward (e.g., through peer-reviewed publications or software).
• Has an understanding of DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code platforms.
• Has experience with containerisation technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes (e.g., AKS).
• Has applied appropriate agile and co-design development methodologies to deliver software products and keeps abreast of innovative developments in Agile and DevOps practices.
• Has experience working collaboratively with stakeholders across multidisciplinary teams and delivering projects through co-design approach.

UKCEH is looking for an experienced Cloud Engineer to join our 600-strong team, contributing to scientific discovery and generating the data, insights and solutions that researchers, businesses and governments need to solve complex environmental challenges. Working at UKCEH is rewarding. Our science makes a real difference, enabling people and the environment to prosper, and enriching society. We are the custodians of a wealth of environmental data, collected by UKCEH and its predecessors over the course of more than 60 years.