Salary: Up to £70,000 per annum dependent upon experience
Contract Type: Permanent – Full Time
Security Level: SC
Location: Either Cardiff or Gatwick based with hybrid working options
Visa Restrictions: This position does not offer visa sponsorship
The UK Civil Aviation Authority is the UK's aviation and aerospace regulator and a recognised world leader in aviation safety and innovation. Our Software Engineering function enables the organisation to deliver modern, resilient services that support our mission and the wider aviation community.
We are now seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to help evolve and operate our Azure Kubernetes platform for our Drones systems. This is a hands-on technical role with significant influence across architecture, automation, systems reliability, and operational use.
The Role
As a Senior Platform Engineer, you will design, build, and support the platforms that underpin the digital services our drone’s community uses. You will work closely with engineering teams, architects, and product to provide secure, scalable, and automated environments.
You will act as the escalation point for platform-level incidents, requiring broad troubleshooting capability across networking, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and application configuration.
You will help shape best practice in cloud engineering and contribute to the ongoing development of our platform strategy.
Core Accountabilities
- Operate and manage Azure Kubernetes platforms, including cluster configuration, upgrades, and workload troubleshooting
- Lead incident resolution for platform issues and perform root cause analysis
- Build, maintain, and evolve cloud components across IaaS and PaaS services
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps with YAML
- Implement and maintain secure networking patterns
- Apply cloud security best practices across identity, networking, secrets, and compliance
- Create and maintain platform observability using Azure Monitor, Analytics, and Application Insights
- Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure service reliability on the platform
- Contribute to architectural discussions and platform design decisions
- Promote best practice in cloud engineering and mentor other engineers where appropriate
- Coordination and support to junior team members both at the sprint and product level
- Maintain a mid/long-term view of platform best practices, tooling etc, and produce recommendations for improvement
- Ability to positively influence decisions and lead implementation of important platform changes.
About You
You will have a background in AKS enabled DevOps Engineering, Platform management or similar role, Cloud experience in Azure and an ability to work across multiple applications.
Essential Skills and Experience
- Experience with Microsoft Azure (IaaS, PaaS, identity, governance)
- CI/CD delivery experience using Azure DevOps and YAML pipelines
- IAC experience with Terraform
- Kubernetes experience, ideally with AKS (clusters, workloads, ingress, scaling, upgrades)
- Experience with Helm, Helm charts, releases, and repositories
- Experience of service mesh technologies
- Solid understanding of Azure networking: VNets, NSGs, routing, private endpoints, load balancing, etc
- Scripting proficiency in Bash, PowerShell, or Python
- Linux operating system knowledge and troubleshooting capability
- Experience implementing monitoring, logging, and observability solutions in Azure
- Ability to communicate platform issues like risk, platform health, cost etc to non-technical audiences
Desirable Skills
- Experience contributing to architecture or platform design
- Understanding of microservices and API-driven architectures
- Experience with SQL, Postgres, Redis, or EventGrid
- Prior experience in a Senior or Lead engineering role
- Experience working in hybrid cloud environments
- Strong understanding of cloud security best practice and secure platform design.
Additional Information
For many appointments within the CAA, these roles require access to operationally sensitive infrastructure and/or Nationally Protected information. For these roles the post holders must undergo National Security Vetting and achieve the appropriate level of clearance.
SC - To be vetted we will usually expect a reasonable period of residency in the UK so that meaningful checks can be undertaken. For this role this will need to be 5 years.
If you do not meet these requirements, we may not be able to accept your application.
For more information on SC clearance please visit - Vetting explained - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The CAA values high ethical standards and personal integrity among employees. If invited for interview you will be asked to complete a declaration of interest.
Relocation & Property
The CAA will be relocating from Aviation House (Our Gatwick Office) to new premises in a few years’ time. Our move is driven by strategic, operational and environmental considerations.
We will be moving to a new local home, up to a 15-mile radius of Aviation House, to minimise disruption for our valued colleagues and customers.
We are now working with colleagues and visitors to understand what we need in our new office, before we start our property search. We will sell Aviation House and land, vacate the site and move to new premises, but we do not expect to move before 2028
Inclusive Recruitment
We are passionate about diversity and ensuring all are included at the CAA. We are an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.
As a member of the Disability Confident scheme, applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a role with us will be guaranteed an interview. We use fair and inclusive selection approaches to hire the best person for the job based on merit alone. If you require an adjustment for any reason, please let us know.
Use of Artificial Intelligence by candidates in the CAA recruitment process
We recognise that many of our candidates find Artificial Intelligence to be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be rejected on that basis.
Working With Us
We are on a journey towards being increasingly adaptable, where our colleagues collaborate as part of cross-functional teams. This approach ensures we never stop learning together. It also means that you may become involved in activities that take you out of your day-to-day role, providing you with opportunities to develop and grow your career with us.
We have embraced hybrid working and offer flexible working patterns, being open to having a conversation about what works for you. We know where and when we work is important in achieving a work-life balance.
We offer a range of excellent benefits such as flexible working arrangements, free onsite gym at Gatwick, discounted gym membership for London, 28 days annual leave, additional 5 days leave purchase scheme, a generous pension scheme and much more!
Our Values
Do The Right Thing, Never Stop Learning, Build Collaborative Relationships, Respect Everyone –
Closing Date: Monday 15th June 2026
Interview Date: W/C Monday 22nd or 29th June 2026
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
No recruitment agencies please.
Job Segment: Cloud, Aerospace Engineering, Software Engineer, Aerospace, Technology, Aviation, Engineering
