About Us
Renaissance® is a global leader in education technology. We help schools and school groups in the UK and around the world with educational assessments, practice and intervention solutions, and data analytics. Renaissance now incorporates GL Assessment (known internationally as GL Education), too – a leading provider of educational assessments.
Together, our assessments offer the ideal starting point to help teachers understand their students’ strengths and pinpoint areas of need. Our teaching and learning tools then provide effective next steps, with online literacy and maths solutions that meet students exactly where we are.
Worldwide, we support over 18 million students, operating in over 100 countries.
We're looking for a talented Cloud Platform Engineer to join our collaborative technology team. You'll work alongside cloud platform engineers, software engineers, data engineers/scientists, product owners, and leadership to design, deploy, and maintain our Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
In this role, you'll be responsible for creating consistent, secure, and scalable environments using Infrastructure as Code. You'll manage infrastructure pipelines, implement security controls, and ensure optimal performance through continuous improvement and observability.
Cloud Platform Engineer Job Responsibilities:
Infrastructure & Platform
- Design, deploy, and maintain Azure infrastructure using IaC principles with Terraform
- Collaborate with product and software engineering teams to define and implement infrastructure requirements
- Configure and optimize Azure services including Front Door, App Services, Function Apps, APIs, Azure SQL, Storage Accounts, Key Vaults, container solutions (AKS/ACA), and Application Insights
Networking & Security
- Design and implement secure network architectures using VNets, NSGs, Azure Firewall, and Application Gateway
- Implement security best practices including network segmentation, firewall rules, access controls, and compliance requirements
- Continuously monitor services for availability, performance, scalability, and security
Operations & Optimization
- Define and track SLIs, SLOs, SLAs, and KPIs
- Create and optimize CI/CD pipelines within Azure DevOps
- Troubleshoot and resolve infrastructure, networking, and security incidents
- Foster knowledge sharing and collaborative working across teams
Experience we’d love to see includes:
- Strong understanding of DevOps culture and principles
- Practical experience with Microsoft Azure cloud platform
- Experience with Azure PaaS services: Front Door, App Services, Function Apps, Azure SQL
- Strong knowledge of Azure networking (VNets, subnets, NSGs, network peering)
- Experience implementing network security, firewalls, and access controls
- Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code, preferably Terraform
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, ideally using Azure DevOps and YAML
- Working knowledge of Git and source control workflows
- Understanding of SQL databases and basic query capabilities
Nice to Have:
- Azure certifications (Administrator Associate, Solutions Architect, Security Engineer)
- Hands-on experience with AKS and/or Azure Container Apps
- Knowledge of Azure Private Endpoints and private connectivity patterns
- Scripting skills (PowerShell, Python, or Bash)
- Familiarity with monitoring tools (Application Insights, Log Analytics, Azure Monitor, Grafana)
- Experience with AI and automation tools for operational efficiency
- Knowledge of compliance frameworks (ISO 27001, GDPR, SOC 2)
- Experience with configuration management tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet)
- Understanding of FinOps principles and cloud cost optimization
Additional information:
This is role is a Hybrid role based out of our Houghton Le Spring office – the team come together a couple of times a week. There may be travel to other offices on occasion.
We offer a basic salary between £xx-xx per annum dependent on experience, Plus lots of amazing benefits.
Benefits:
- 25 Days a year plus Bank Holidays (3 to be used for our Christmas shutdown)
- A day off for your birthday to celebrate in style!
- Workplace Nursery scheme
- 5 volunteering days a year to use for the causes of your choice
- Access to a benefits and discount platform with access to 1000’s of discounts at retailers, leisure attractions and restaurants
- BUPA Healthcare, Life assurance, Permanent health insurance
- Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution – up to 8%
- Season ticket loan and EAP
We have an ongoing commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and have taken strides to become a more welcoming and inclusive workplace, including the introduction of our DEI Matters Network which is owned and driven by our staff.
We are an equal opportunities employer. We encourage and welcome applications from all underrepresented groups, as we believe and strive for community representation within our organisation.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend any interview, please contact us and we will talk this through with you.
All your information will be kept confidential according to GDPR guidelines. Please note that we can only consider applicants who already hold a full work permit.
This role is subject to DBS and background checks.
