At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and empower the Platform Engineering team to deliver scalable solutions.
- Company: Join YouLend, an award-winning fintech recognised for its supportive culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy stock options, private medical insurance, and a vibrant office in Central London.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team that values collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a high-growth environment with massive global opportunities.
- Qualifications: Proven leadership in Platform or DevOps teams, ideally in fintech.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
We’re seeking a people-oriented Director of Platform Engineering to lead, develop, and empower our Platform team. This role balances strategic leadership with operational excellence - you’ll define how Platform Engineering enables the wider business while building a high-performing, engaged team. You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders, translating business objectives into platform strategy, and ensuring the team delivers scalable, reliable, and efficient solutions. The ultimate goal will be to solidify platform as a product to both internal and external customers.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, manage, and develop the Platform Engineering team, driving a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Define and execute the Platform Engineering strategy in alignment with wider business goals.
- Partner with senior stakeholders across Engineering, Product, and the business to ensure platform capabilities enable delivery and growth.
- Own and improve platform reliability, scalability, security, and performance.
- Establish clear KPIs and metrics to measure platform impact and team effectiveness.
- Drive best practices across infrastructure, DevOps, and platform capabilities (e.g. CI/CD, observability, cloud architecture, data platform).
- Support career development, mentoring, and succession planning within the team.
- Act as a trusted deputy to the VP of Platform, stepping in as needed and contributing to wider technology leadership decisions.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- Proven experience leading Platform, DevOps, or Infrastructure teams at a senior level; ideally within a fintech environment.
- Strong people leadership skills, with a track record of building and developing high-performing teams.
- Experience defining and delivering platform strategy aligned to business outcomes.
- Deep understanding of modern cloud environments, infrastructure-as-code, developer tooling, internal dev platforms (IDPs) and distributed systems architecture.
- Familiarity with our tech stack: AWS, Azure, Terraform, Terragrunt, Pulumi, Kubernetes, Docker.
- Strong knowledge of DevOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and engineering best practices.
- Experience driving operational excellence including reliability, monitoring, and incident management.
- Ability to influence and communicate effectively with senior stakeholders and non-technical audiences.
- Commercial awareness with experience managing budgets and optimising platform costs.
- A pragmatic, delivery-focused mindset with the ability to balance short-term needs and long-term strategy.
Job Benefits
Why join YouLend?
- Award-Winning Workplace: YouLend has been recognised as one of the “Best Places to Work in 2024 and 2025” by the Sunday Times for being a supportive, diverse, and rewarding workplace.
- Award-Winning Fintech: YouLend has been recognised as a “Top 250 Fintech Worldwide” company by CNBC.
- High-growth (>100% growth during 2022 and 2023), so clear outlook to compensation (bonus or share option appreciation) and career growth (through growth with the business).
- Well-capitalised with supportive private equity backing.
- Part of Banking Circle Group with a fully licensed Luxembourg bank, which can provide a balance sheet and support European expansion in otherwise complex regulated markets.
- A high-quality team that pushes each other to succeed through direct feedback and aligned incentives.
- Strong, transparent team culture: we have each other’s backs.
- Independent work environment where results matter.
- Data-driven culture and emphasis on speed (anti-red tape).
We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Stock options
- Private Medical Insurance (via Vitality)
- EAP with Health Assured
- Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave
- Great office space (including a gym!) in Central London
- Subsidised lunch (via Feedr)
- Deliveroo allowance if working late in the office
- Monthly in-office masseuse
- Team and Company socials
- Sports clubs
At YouLend, we champion diversity and embrace equal opportunity employment practices. Our hiring, transfer, and promotion decisions are exclusively based on qualifications, merit, and business requirements, free from any discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, nationality, or any other protected basis under applicable law.
Director of Platform Engineering in London employer: YouLend
YouLend is an award-winning fintech company that prioritises a supportive and diverse workplace, recognised as one of the 'Best Places to Work' in 2024 and 2025. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, a transparent team culture, and a motivating work environment, YouLend offers unique benefits such as stock options, private medical insurance, and a comprehensive wellness programme, all set in a vibrant Central London location. Join us to be part of a high-growth organisation where your contributions directly impact our success and where you can thrive alongside a talented team.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Director of Platform Engineering in London
✨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 YouLend 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 YouLend.
✨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 YouLend.
✨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 YouLend 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 Director of Platform Engineering in London
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 YouLend.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at YouLend 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 YouLend
✨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 YouLend 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.
