Platform Engineer - Engine by Starling

Overview

The Cross Cutting Engineering team at Engine is the backbone of our innovation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining the reliable, scalable, and maintainable infrastructure and tooling that powers our entire software delivery pipeline — from the first line of code to production deployment and ongoing operations. We own the lifecycle of our features, tackle complex challenges with a first-principles approach, and foster a multi-disciplinary environment where you can explore and contribute across the platform. As a Platform Engineer at Engine, you’ll help build and scale our cloud-native banking platform across multiple global cloud providers and regions. We’re looking for engineers with a strong SRE mindset who own the entire software delivery pipeline and build internal tooling that empowers technology teams to operate applications flawlessly in production. We value curiosity, a willingness to learn, and a desire to work across multiple disciplines. If you’re excited by building and operating a global, cloud-native platform, we encourage you to apply. We have a great team – read about our work with Women In Tech, a Day in the life of a Software Engineer at Engine, and an interview with our Staff Platform Engineer.

• Building and Scaling Cloud Infrastructure: Design, build, and maintain cloud infrastructure across multiple providers (including but not limited to GCP) and regions, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security.
• Building on Google Cloud: Contribute to the build-out and optimisation of our core \”Engine\” on Google Cloud Platform using Java and Kubernetes.
• Scaling our SaaS Release Tooling: Enhance and improve multi-tenant, multi-region SaaS release and continuous deployment systems using Java, Golang, and Terraform at its core.
• Empowering Developers: Develop and maintain internal tooling using Java and Golang to improve developer experience and on-call efficiency.
• Automating Compliance and Security: Build automation solutions in Golang to enforce compliance and security controls across our platform.
• Driving Efficiency: Optimise the performance and reliability of our cloud environment with a strong focus on cost-effectiveness.
• Embracing Automation: Identify and implement automation opportunities to minimise manual processes across the platform lifecycle.
• Ensuring Security: Implement and maintain robust security practices to protect our platform and customer data.
• Championing Best Practices: Stay abreast of new technologies and industry changes, particularly in SRE practices and deployment automation, and share your knowledge with the team.
• Maintaining Compliance: Contribute to ensuring our platform adheres to relevant industry standards such as ISO27001, SOC2, and PCI-DSS.
• Collaborating and Learning: Work closely with cross-functional teams, share your expertise, and contribute to our vibrant learning culture.
• Aiming for Greatness: Strive for excellence in everything you do, maintaining a curious and inquisitive mindset.
• Documenting Solutions: Design and document scalable internal tooling clearly and comprehensively.
• Taking Ownership: Own features and improvements throughout their entire lifecycle.
• Participate in on-call: The option to join our on-call rota (not mandatory) to deal with interesting technical issues and gain deep insights into our platform\’s behavior.

Interview process: We want you to get to know us as much as we get to know you. Our interviews are conversational and the process is designed to be a two-way conversation. Typical steps include an engineer interview, take-home technical test, technical interview with engineers, and a final interview with our CTO or deputy CTO. The below is a general guide following a chat with our Talent Team:
– Initial interview with an Engineer – ~45 minutes
– Take-home technical test to discuss in the next interview
– Technical interview with some Engineers – ~1.5 hours
– Final interview with our CTO / deputy CTO – ~45 minutes

What skills are essential

• Proven experience as a Site Reliability Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Platform Engineer or similar role.
• Strong proficiency in Golang and/or Java (if you have experience with only one of these, you’ll be expected to pick up the other).
• Hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Solid understanding and practical experience with Kubernetes.
• Experience with Terraform or other Infrastructure-as-Code tools.
• Deep understanding of SRE principles and practices, including monitoring, alerting, incident management, and capacity planning.
• A strong focus on automation and a passion for eliminating manual tasks.
• Experience with building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of security best practices in cloud environments.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.
• A proactive and continuous learning mindset.
• Ability to design and document technical solutions effectively.

• Experience with other cloud providers, particularly AWS.
• Contributions to open-source projects.
• Experience with database technologies, particularly Postgres.
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring systems, and a solid understanding of database monitoring, analysis, disaster recovery, and performance tuning.
• Familiarity with compliance standards such as ISO27001, SOC2, and PCI-DSS is a plus.

At Engine by Starling, we are on a mission to find and work with leading banks all around the world who have the ambition to build rapid growth businesses on our technology. Engine is Starling\’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, and is the technology that powers Starling Bank. Engine split out as a separate business in early 2024. Starling Bank has seen exceptional growth and success, and a large part of that is down to the fact that we have built our own modern technology from the ground up. This SaaS technology platform is now available to banks and financial institutions worldwide, enabling them to benefit from innovative digital features and efficient back-office processes that have helped Starling succeed. Our technologists are at the heart of Engine and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment focused on building, creating, and disruptive technology. We operate a flat structure to empower you to make decisions regardless of your primary responsibilities; innovation and collaboration are core. We are committed to a supportive, open culture, and you will find help in your team and across the business. To thrive at Engine, be a self-driven individual who can take ownership of building, designing, discovering, and sharing knowledge to improve processes and deliver the best results for customers. Our five values are: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Engine. Our preference is that you’re located within a commutable distance of an office to enable in-person collaboration. We’re open to discussion on flexible working arrangements where possible.

Equal Opportunity

Engine by Starling is an equal opportunity employer. We promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We do not discriminate on race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. By submitting your application, you consent to data processing as described in our Privacy Notice. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we process, where, and for what purposes, and the rights you have in relation to your data.

Discover Starling Bank: London, England, United Kingdom • >1000 employees • Corporate / Direct Employer

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays)
• An extra day off for your birthday
• Annual leave increases with service, with option to buy/sell up to five extra days
• 16 hours paid volunteering time per year
• Salary sacrifice, company pension
• Life insurance at 4x salary & group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care
• Partner benefits with Waitrose, Mr & Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Refer-a-friend incentive scheme
• Perkbox membership with discounts and wellness platform
• Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships, and EV leasing