Senior Platform Engineer (FTC)

Salary: £50,000 - 50,000 per year

Requirements:

• Experience designing, deploying, administering, and supporting VMware environments, including ESXi, vCenter, and vSAN.
• Experience administering Windows Server in enterprise environments, including designing, implementing, and supporting Microsoft services such as Active Directory, Group Policy, and PKI.
• Experience supporting VDI environments.
• Strong scripting and automation skills using one or more of PowerShell, Ansible, Bash, Python, or Terraform.
• Experience designing, implementing, maintaining, and supporting secure, resilient, and highly available systems.
• Experience producing technical documentation, operational procedures or runbooks, and implementation plans.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and engagement skills.
• Demonstrable experience in a senior infrastructure, platform engineering, systems administration, or technical consultancy role.
• Relevant certifications in VMware, Omnissa, Microsoft, or automation technologies are desirable.
• Knowledge of Linux operating systems and willingness to further develop skills in Linux and related tooling are desirable.
• Experience with Kubernetes and containerised platforms is desirable.
• Experience supporting infrastructure in regulated, public sector, financial, or security-conscious environments is desirable.
• To work at NPL, you will need to obtain BPSS security clearance. For this role in our Time & Frequency department, you will need unrestricted SC clearance or the ability to obtain it.
• Nationality, residency, and security requirements may apply to work in specific departments and will be discussed during recruitment.

Responsibilities:

• Administer, maintain, and optimise VMware vCenter and vSAN environments.
• Support and develop VDI platforms.
• Manage Windows Server environments, including Active Directory, Trusts, DNS, Group Policy, PKI, certificate services, and security hardening.
• Design, implement, and support resilient, highly available infrastructure solutions, and troubleshoot complex infrastructure, platform, and network issues.
• Deliver upgrades, migrations, patching, and lifecycle management activities.
• Develop automation and orchestration capabilities using scripting and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
• Support enterprise security initiatives, including privileged access management, monitoring, logging, and data protection.
• Produce technical documentation, operational procedures, and support runbooks.
• Contribute to disaster recovery, business continuity, and redundancy planning.
• Travel to sites as required to support deployment, implementation, and operational activities.

Technologies:

• Active Directory
• Ansible
• Bash
• Support
• Kubernetes
• Linux
• Network
• PowerShell
• Python
• Security
• Terraform
• VMware
• Windows
• Backbone
• DevOps
• Embedded

More:

We are recruiting a Senior Platform Engineer for a 12-month fixed-term contract in our world-leading Time & Frequency department. We are a global authority in precision timing, developing a resilient time distribution capability through the £180 million National Timing Centre programme, backed by government investment. This work will provide a robust complement to satellite systems and support essential services such as telecommunications, online banking, emergency response, and transport. At the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), we are a world-leading centre of excellence in measurement science, engineering, and technology, helping underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds who meet the role criteria and are committed to diversity, inclusion, employee wellbeing, flexible working, social activities, rewards, benefits, and recognition. We make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process and guarantee an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme for disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. We review applications and conduct interviews throughout the advert period, and may bring the closing date forward.

last updated 39 week of 2026