At a Glance
- Tasks: Own and optimise global infrastructure for cinema content delivery.
- Company: Join UniqueX, a leader in cinema automation with a global presence.
- Benefits: Enjoy hybrid work, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with exciting projects across multiple countries.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on the future of cinema technology.
- Qualifications: Extensive Linux experience and strong knowledge of storage systems required.
The predicted salary is between 54450 - 66550 £ per year.
Reports to: Head of Platform Engineering
About the Company
Unique X delivers innovative, autonomous software solutions and content services to cinemas worldwide.
With operations in over 90 countries, our systems power everything from blockbuster film delivery to Theatre Management System (TMS) installations for some of the world's largest cinema chains and studios.
We're a growing team with global reach, based out of offices in Manchester, Norway, and Lithuania. Join us to help shape the future of cinema automation.
Team and Job Purpose
As a Senior Infrastructure Engineer, you will own the infrastructure that delivers cinema content worldwide — a global estate of physical and virtualised servers across data centres in Europe, North America and Africa, alongside our cloud footprint.
This includes setting the standards for how the estate is monitored, automated and recovered, and leading the engineering work that strengthens it as it grows.
Content has to reach cinemas before showtime, so reliability in this role is business-critical.
This is a full‑time role based in Manchester, with sites outside the UK managed remotely.
Key Responsibilities
- Infrastructure & Storage
- Maintain high‑availability storage across the estate.
- Plan capacity and hardware lifecycle, coordinating replacements with colo providers and remote hands teams.
- Hold access to the Manchester data centres and support physical operations on site.
- Platform Improvement & Delivery
- Strengthen resilience across the estate as it scales, designing out risk in advance.
- Support and extend our Central Storage platform, including its object storage, service layer, ingest stations and index services.
- Deliver new infrastructure capability, including new sites, services and tooling that improve operability.
- Monitoring & Alerting
- Design monitoring that provides early warning on hardware, storage and content delivery.
- Improve alerting quality and escalation logic so that attention is directed where it is needed.
- Lead incident response and post‑incident review, ensuring findings are fed back into the platform.
- Infrastructure Automation & Tooling
- Maintain and grow the code that manages the estate, so servers and cloud resources are defined in code rather than configured by hand.
- Apply AI‑assisted tooling to investigation, automation and documentation, verifying output before it reaches production.
- Team & Project Contributions
- Mentor engineers through review and pairing.
- Ensure clear documentation and handover for all platform components and access paths.
- Who We're Looking For
- Extensive Linux systems engineering experience at senior level (Ubuntu or similar)
- In‑depth storage knowledge and how it fails — software RAID, Ceph, NFS
- Ansible and Terraform in production
- Docker and containerised services
- Confident in at least one programming language — Java, Python or similar — alongside shell scripting
- Willingness to participate in an on‑call rota — shared, with a paid standby allowance
- Sound judgement under incident pressure, with strong written documentation and communication skills
- Proxmox or comparable virtualisation
- Working knowledge of AWS
- Monitoring and inventory tooling such as PRTG and Net Box
- Previous experience in media or content distribution
- Working Arrangements
- On‑call: shared rota with a paid standby allowance
- Right to work: UK right to work required; we are not able to sponsor visas
- #J-18808-Ljbffr
Senior Infrastructure Engineer in Manchester employer: Unique X
At UniqueX, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration in the heart of Manchester. As a Senior Infrastructure Engineer, you'll not only play a pivotal role in shaping the future of cinema automation but also benefit from our commitment to employee growth through mentorship and hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies. With a hybrid working model and a focus on work-life balance, UniqueX provides a rewarding environment where your contributions directly impact the global cinema landscape.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Infrastructure Engineer in Manchester
✨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 Unique X 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 Unique X.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Unique X.
✨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 Unique X 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 Senior Infrastructure Engineer in Manchester
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 Unique X.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Unique X 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 Unique X
✨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 Unique X 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.
