Head of Platform Engineering

Opportunity Overview: Head of Platform Engineering - Major UK Digital Transformation

Location: Hybrid (3 days/week on-site in London)

About the Organisation

As part of a major tech and cultural overhaul, the organisation is rebuilding its entire digital infrastructure with a modern cloud-native stack. They are seeking forward-thinking leaders to help build a platform that supports secure, scalable, and seamless customer experiences - all while serving a critical public-facing mission.

Role Overview

This is not a BAU operations role - it's a senior leadership opportunity to shape and lead the digital operations function across customer-facing platforms. You'll drive performance, reliability, release governance, and automation for a new cloud-native tech stack.

You'll lead platform operations, build and mentor a DevOps/SRE team, and establish the processes, tooling, and vendor partnerships to deliver a best-in-class digital experience. This is a high-impact role requiring strong collaboration across engineering, delivery, product, and supplier ecosystems.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the digital operations strategy and ensure performance, stability, and resilience across web, mobile, and account management services.
• Lead the transition to a brand-new, cloud-native stack (React frontend, iOS/Android apps, Java backend).
• Build and manage a DevOps/SRE function focused on observability, automation, and incident response.
• Define and oversee operational KPIs, release cycles, and incident management workflows.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and delivery to ensure seamless execution and performance.
• Manage third-party technology suppliers, ensuring accountability, visibility, and operational alignment.
• Launch and embed runbooks, monitoring tools, and pre-emptive performance strategies.
• Ensure the digital estate meets high standards for accessibility, security, and compliance (e.g., GDPR).
• Embed a continuous improvement culture and provide a clear capability roadmap within 18 months.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Proven experience leading digital operations or SRE/DevOps functions in complex, high-scale consumer digital environments.
• Deep understanding of release lifecycles, observability tooling, and incident command practices.
• Technical fluency in cloud-native systems, automation, and monitoring across modern web/app platforms.
• Experienced in cross-functional leadership, including product, engineering, delivery, and suppliers.
• Skilled in navigating vendor ecosystems, third-party integrations, and joint performance accountability.
• Adept at building high-performing, inclusive teams and creating a people-first team culture.
• Calm under pressure, with excellent decision-making skills in high-stakes operational environments.
• Able to think strategically while being hands-on during key delivery phases.
• Strong communication and stakeholder alignment capabilities across technical and non-technical teams.

The client cannot offer sponsorship at this point. For more information please send your CV to me on