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Principal Platform Engineer || Agentic AI || Internal Developer Platform (IDP)

Ultimo
Staines-upon-Thames, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
Full-time
You apply on Ultimo's own careers site

The Principal Platform Engineer builds and operates IFS’s internal developer platform, including self-service workflows and deployment tooling. The role works closely with product and platform teams to deliver reliable infrastructure capabilities and enable developers to use them independently.

Permanent
Hybrid

Skills & Expertise

Kubernetes and AKS
GitOps
Infrastructure as Code
CI/CD
Backstage, Port, or Cortex
Go
React and Next.js
Kafka and RedPanda

Key Responsibilities

Implement and maintain the internal developer platform and its production capabilities.

Build self-service workflows, service catalogues, scaffolders, and golden path templates.

Integrate platform tooling with application and infrastructure systems, and support product development teams.

Full Description

Job Description

As a Principal Platform Engineer (IDP Focus), you will be the primary hands-on technical resource responsible for the implementation, configuration, and ongoing support of the IFS Internal Developer Platform. You will work within the Platform Engineering team to build the tooling and automation that enables product teams to self-serve infrastructure, services, and deployment pipelines on top of Kairos and Nexus.

This is a deeply technical, delivery-focused role. You will be building and operating production IDP capabilities, not advising on them.

• Implement, configure, and maintain the IFS Internal Developer Platform (IDP) end-to-end

• Build self-service workflows, service catalogue entries, scaffolders, and golden path templates

• Integrate IDP tooling with Kairos (application framework) and Nexus (infrastructure and deployment)

• Build and maintain CI/CD integration patterns for product team consumption

• Create and maintain developer-facing documentation, guides, and enablement materials

• Provide platform support and technical enablement to product development teams

• Contribute to platform standards, architectural decisions, and the IDP roadmap

• Identify and resolve platform reliability and performance issues

• Collaborate closely with the Platform Lead and adjacent platform teams (Base Tech, Auth, Nexus)

Qualifications

Internal Developer Platforms

• Hands-on experience building or operating IDPs in production environments

• Practical experience with IDP tooling: Backstage, Port, Cortex, or comparable platforms

• Experience implementing service catalogues, scaffolders, golden paths, and self-service infrastructure workflows

• Familiarity with integrating IDPs into CI/CD pipelines and cloud-native infrastructure

Engineering

• Strong hands-on engineering capability across the NGA stack, or the ability to get there fast:

• Backend: Go

• Frontend: React (with Next.js)

• Messaging / Streaming: Apache Kafka / RedPanda

• Data: PostgreSQL

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps toolchains

• Event-driven and event-based architecture patterns

• Comfortable operating in a cloud-native environment: Kubernetes (AKS), containers, GitOps

Platform Engineering

• Strong understanding of developer experience principles and platform thinking

• Ability to operate across platform and product team boundaries

Experience supporting and enabling development teams in a platform capacity

Additional Information

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.

Applications are handled on Ultimo's site