Platform Support Operations Engineer

Platform Support Operations Engineer | London | Hybrid 3 days | Permanent

Role Overview: Manage and support Azure cloud platform operations with a focus on Infrastructure as Code, network operations, and identity management whilst ensuring platform reliability, security, and performance across Azure environments.

Key Characteristics:

1. 1. Azure Platform Operations - Extensive hands-on experience managing and supporting Azure environments including Virtual Machines, Azure Storage (Blob, Files, Disks), Azure SQL Database, App Services, Azure Functions, and container services (ACI, AKS). Proficient in Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, cost management and optimisation, resource tagging strategies, and maintaining platform availability through proactive monitoring and incident response.
   2. Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) - Strong working knowledge of Terraform for provisioning and managing Azure infrastructure including writing and maintaining Terraform modules for Azure resources and implementing infrastructure changes through workflows. Experience with version control (GitHub/ADO), code reviews, and understanding of infrastructure drift detection and remediation.
   3. Configuration Management (Ansible) - Proficient in using Ansible for configuration management, application deployment, and orchestration tasks across Azure VMs. Experience writing playbooks for Azure resources, using Azure dynamic inventory, managing Azure-specific modules, and automating routine operational tasks across environments hosted in Azure.
   4. Networking & SASE Architecture - Solid understanding of Azure networking including Virtual Networks (VNets), subnets, Network Security Groups (NSGs), Application Security Groups, Azure Firewall, route tables, VNet peering, Azure VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and Azure Bastion. Knowledge of SASE frameworks with Azure integration, Azure Virtual WAN, zero-trust network architecture, and experience with solutions such as CATO, Zscaler or Palo Alto integrated with Azure.
   5. Identity & Access Management - Expert knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Azure RBAC, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), managed identities, service principals, and Azure AD Connect for hybrid scenarios. Experience managing user provisioning/deprovisioning, conditional access policies, multi-factor authentication, Azure AD Application Proxy, federated authentication, SAML/OAuth integration, and implementing least-privilege access controls across Azure subscriptions and resources.
   6. Container Services - Working knowledge of Docker containerisation and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for supporting containerised applications.
   7. DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines - Experience supporting continuous integration and deployment pipelines using Azure DevOps (Azure Pipelines, Repos, Artifacts) or GitHub Actions integrated with Azure. Ability to troubleshoot build failures, manage YAML pipeline configurations, support deployment processes across Azure environments, manage service connections, and collaborate with development teams on release automation.
   8. Monitoring & Observability - Proficient in implementing and managing Azure Monitor, Log Analytics workspaces, Application Insights, and Azure dashboards. Experience creating alert rules, action groups, workbooks, and analysing metrics and logs using KQL (Kusto Query Language). Skilled in performance troubleshooting, implementing Azure Service Health monitoring, and setting up distributed tracing. Ideally, knowledge and experience of Datadog Observability tooling.
   9. Security & Compliance - Strong understanding of Azure security best practises including Azure Security Center/Microsoft Defender for Cloud, encryption using Azure Key Vault, network security with NSGs and Azure Firewall, Azure Policy for governance, and compliance frameworks (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR). Experience conducting security assessments using Microsoft Secure Score, implementing security hardening, and responding to security incidents.
   10. Backup & Disaster Recovery - Experience implementing and managing Backup for VMs, SQL databases, and file shares, Azure Site Recovery for disaster recovery, automated snapshot policies, geo-redundant storage configurations, and backup vault management. Understanding of high availability architectures using Availability Zones, Azure Load Balancer, Azure Application Gateway, VM Scale Sets, and conducting DR tests to ensure business continuity.
   11. Collaboration & Incident Response - Strong team player with experience working across DevOps, infrastructure, security, and development teams. Skilled in incident management and managing status dashboards, coordinating platform incidents, documenting runbooks, creating standard operating procedures, and contributing to post-incident reviews with focus on continuous improvement and platform resilience.

If you align to the key requirements then please apply with an updated CV.