At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the Cloud Foundations team to innovate and secure cloud usage at Wise.
- Company: Join Wise, a global tech company revolutionising money management.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, RSUs, and a diverse, inclusive work culture.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for growth and learning.
- Why this job: Shape the future of cloud technology and make a real impact.
- Qualifications: Experience in cloud engineering and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 135000 - 175000 € per year.
Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money. Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.
We are looking for a highly technical Engineering Lead to own our Cloud Foundations domain — the platform that enables safe, scalable, and frictionless cloud usage across Wise. Cloud Foundations provides the “paved path with guardrails” for engineering teams: making it easy to deploy infrastructure while ensuring strong security, governance, and compliance by default.
You will define and evolve how cloud environments are provisioned, accessed, and governed across Wise — primarily in AWS today, with increasing adoption of GCP and other cloud and SaaS providers over time. As Wise continues to evolve its infrastructure strategy, Cloud Foundations is driving toward a more cloud‑agnostic platform model for core compute, storage, and networking capabilities.
You’ll lead a senior‑heavy team of 5 engineers, owning critical platform services such as managed cloud accounts, infrastructure deployment tooling, workload access patterns, and shared infrastructure primitives. This is a high‑impact role where your work will shape how hundreds of engineers build in the cloud.
At Wise, we optimise for autonomy with accountability. Cloud Foundations sits at the intersection of platform engineering, security, governance, and developer experience. Our goal is to enable teams to move quickly while staying within strong, automated guardrails. We believe the best solutions come from diverse perspectives and inclusive teams. As an Engineering Lead, you’ll create an environment where engineers feel safe to contribute ideas, challenge decisions, and grow.
What will you be working on?
- Cloud Foundations Platform Leadership: Define the technical vision and lead the evolution of Wise’s Cloud Foundations platform, balancing developer experience, governance, scalability, and operational resilience across multiple cloud providers.
- Multi‑Cloud Strategy & Platform Evolution: Help drive Wise’s long‑term cloud strategy toward greater cloud portability and reduced provider lock‑in for core infrastructure capabilities.
- Cloud Governance & Automated Guardrails: Design and implement governance that is built‑in, not bolted on.
- Developer Experience & Enablement: Enable teams to deploy infrastructure safely and independently through self‑service tooling, paved paths, reusable infrastructure primitives, and excellent platform ergonomics.
- Access, Identity & Zero Trust: Own workload and infrastructure access patterns, helping evolve Wise’s identity, authentication, and authorization models toward modern zero‑trust principles.
- Shared Infrastructure Services: Oversee shared infrastructure primitives including networking, compute foundations, storage patterns, deployment tooling, and cloud account lifecycle management.
- Strategic Execution & Operating Model Evolution: Translate strategic initiatives into actionable engineering plans and measurable OKRs.
- Team Leadership: Lead and grow a small, senior‑heavy team, creating an environment of trust, ownership, technical excellence, and continuous learning.
What do you need?
- Leadership & Communication: Experience leading, mentoring, or growing engineers and technical teams; Strong communication and stakeholder management skills; Ability to influence technical direction across teams and present progress clearly to both engineering and business stakeholders.
- Cloud & Platform Engineering Experience: Strong hands‑on experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS preferred); Experience working across multiple cloud providers; Understanding of the tradeoffs and strategic importance of cloud‑agnostic architectures.
- Infrastructure & Automation: Strong experience with Infrastructure as Code and platform automation; Hands‑on knowledge of Terraform and related tooling ecosystems.
- Security, Governance & Risk: Strong understanding of cloud security, governance, and compliance principles; Familiarity with zero‑trust architectures, IAM, and workload identity patterns.
- Strategic & Systems Thinking: Systems‑thinking mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity and organizational complexity; Experience defining OKRs, platform metrics, KPIs, or cloud maturity indicators.
Skills That Will Help You Succeed In This Role:
- Cloud Strategy Execution
- Governance & Standardization
- Operating Model Evolution
- Systems Thinking
- Platform Engineering
- Metrics & KPIs
- Cloud Security
- Risk Management
- Ambiguity Management
- Stakeholder Influence
Nice to have:
- Experience in regulated environments
- Familiarity with policy‑as‑code tools
- Experience with access tooling such as Teleport
- Experience building internal developer platforms
- Experience designing multi‑cloud or cloud‑portable infrastructure architectures
What do we offer:
Starting salary: £135,000 - £175,000 + RSUs
We are people building money without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive. We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.
Engineer Lead - Cloud Foundations in London employer: Wise
Wise is an exceptional employer that champions a culture of autonomy, accountability, and inclusivity, making it an ideal place for engineers to thrive. With a focus on professional growth, employees are empowered to contribute ideas and challenge decisions within a supportive environment, while also benefiting from competitive salaries and stock options. Located in a dynamic tech landscape, Wise offers unique opportunities to shape the future of cloud infrastructure across multiple providers, ensuring that every team member plays a vital role in our mission to revolutionise global money management.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Engineer Lead - Cloud Foundations in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current or former employees at Wise on LinkedIn. A friendly chat can give you insider info and maybe even a referral, which can really boost your chances.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by diving deep into Wise's mission and values. Show us how your experience aligns with our goals in cloud foundations and how you can contribute to making money management easier for everyone.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your technical skills! Brush up on your cloud engineering knowledge, especially around AWS and multi-cloud strategies. We want to see that you can lead and innovate in our Cloud Foundations domain.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the Wise team.
We think you need these skills to ace Engineer Lead - Cloud Foundations in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Engineer Lead role. Highlight your experience with cloud platforms, especially AWS, and how you've led teams in the past. We want to see how your skills align with our mission at Wise!
Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t hold back on showcasing your technical expertise! Mention your hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code, Terraform, and any multi-cloud strategies you've implemented. This is your chance to shine and show us what you can bring to the table.
Communicate Clearly:Strong communication is key in this role. When writing your application, be clear and concise about your achievements and how you've influenced technical direction in previous roles. We appreciate straightforwardness and clarity!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it gives you a chance to explore more about Wise and our culture!
How to prepare for a job interview at Wise
✨Know Your Cloud Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of cloud platforms, especially AWS, as this role is heavily focused on it. Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience and any projects you've worked on that involved cloud infrastructure or migration.
✨Showcase Leadership Skills
As an Engineering Lead, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to lead and mentor a team. Prepare examples of how you've successfully guided engineers in the past, and be ready to discuss your approach to fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment.
✨Understand Governance and Security
Familiarise yourself with cloud security principles and governance practices. Be prepared to talk about how you've implemented security measures in previous roles and how you would approach building secure-by-default patterns at Wise.
✨Communicate Clearly
Strong communication skills are key for this role. Practice articulating complex technical concepts in a way that's easy to understand for both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Think about how you can influence technical direction and present progress effectively.
