Job Description
Job Title: Cloud Platform Engineer - Core
Job Type: Permanent
Location: Edinburgh or London (with blended home working)
Reports to: Lead Cloud Platform Engineer
abrdn plc. is one of the world’s largest investment companies, and we are built on a long-standing culture of caring about the future and making a positive impact. Together we invest for a better future. We do it to make a difference to the lives of our clients and customers, our employees, society and our shareholders. Our strategy is to build a vibrant and value-creating purpose-led organisation, with the current and future needs of our stake holders at the heart of all we do.
As we execute against our IT and Digital strategies, we are developing a central Cloud Function, with Technology Leadership Team sponsorship, that also has clear matrixed connections to key areas, such as Security & Resilience, Architecture, Infrastructure Services, and the Change Domains. This new cloud organisation will be responsible for the creation and maintenance of the cloud platform defining and realising patterns and guardrails in line with adoption focus, best practice, and regulation. The team will also provide a defined entry point for change (projects) and operations.
It will support and provide direction across the entire Technology function, it will hold core knowledge and will be responsible for decision making, delivering and supporting fast-start for projects. The central cloud function will support all key cloud projects within abrdn while building out a true platform approach.
Department overview
The Cloud Capability Centre is a new team within abrdn’s Group Technology. The team will grow to a target size of 5 as quickly as possible and will be right at the spearhead of cloud adoption and innovation within abrdn. In collaboration with all other areas of Group Technology it will create the environment within which new cloud and digital projects can deliver at pace – setting technical direction, ensuring cloud related decisions are made quickly and are appropriate to abrdn’s technology, business and governance environment.
The Cloud Capability Centre will be focused on the foundations of our cloud platform in Azure to support product, project, and operational delivery through engineering, provide cross platform capability and drive cloud adoption in abrdn. The team sits within Enterprise Services alongside application management, infrastructure and end user services while working closely with our Group Technology Strategy and Vector aligned product and project engineering, Digital Innovation, Data Engineering, Data Science & Data Platform teams.
Role description
The Cloud Platform Engineer – Core is responsible for development and operations of the cloud platform in abrdn as well as providing SME input to projects and product teams as they build out their workloads.
We are initially focusing on building maturity in Microsoft Azure through adoption of best practice aligned to the Microsoft Cloud Adoption and Well Architected frameworks.
The role will focus on development and operational management of the core platforms structure, platform services such as logging and monitoring, guardrails through policy whilst enabling workload teams to adopt and run effectively. Working closely with Networking, enterprise IT Ops Management and Security teams the role will ensure a robust platform is in place to support democratised use by workloads.
The role is part of the Cloud Platform team which in addition to development and operation of the core platform is accountable for standards, patterns and automations at the platform and workload levels. The role is primarily focused on the core activity but will be expected, based on priorities to support wider Cloud Platform team objectives when required.
Key Outcomes
Development of cloud platform structure that caters for centralised run and decentralised product delivery models.
Operational management of Management Groups, Subscriptions, Resource Groups, Tagging, RBAC and realisation of cost optimisation activities.
Enable the shift to base image management and operational deployment of patches to running IaaS resources.
Working with workload infrastructure teams to manage Backup and Recovery approaches, embedding a cloud native approach to service resilience and recovery.
Consistent and robust logging and monitoring approach that enables workloads alongside enterprise approaches in IT Ops Management and Security.
Liaising with development teams across abrdn (inside and outside Group Technology) to understand ways of working, the impact on platform structure, guardrail alignment and priority platform development activities.
Manage the backlog for platform development.
Candidate requirements
Role Specific Skills and Knowledge:
Highly motivated, can do attitude with an attention to detail.
Able to work with multiple key stakeholders and manage competing priorities.
Able to work in an agile manner to balance new feature developments and manage the ongoing operation of the platform approach.
Technical Skills
The candidate is expected to have a proven track record in the use of cloud technologies, Recent experience of some/all of these technical skills are required.
Azure Services and the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework.
Azure administration across identity, governance, monitoring, networking and resource management
Image management approaches in Azure
Information Security and infrastructure/application/data resilience across cloud platforms.
Knowledge/awareness of AWS administration approaches
Our Benefits
There is more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.
When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around, including 40 days annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary, performance-based bonus, private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount site amongst many others. You can read more about our benefits
here.
How we create value
Our strategic drivers are the foundations from which we deliver for all our stake holders: High impact intelligence, Client & customer-led growth, Belief in our trusted brand and Future fit. You can find out more about our values
here
.
We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.
If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.