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Salary: GBP 100,000 - 115,000 / annual
Second Front Systems is a fast-growing defence technology company seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to join its UK team. You will architect and operate scalable, secure cloud infrastructure supporting Game Warden, a mission-critical SaaS platform for UK government and defence stakeholders.
Key responsibilities include designing and implementing cloud-native infrastructure using Kubernetes and Pulumi (Go-based), ensuring compliance with UK government and Ministry of Defence security requirements. You will support operations across air-gapped and classified environments, working directly with government partners and security teams. You'll build and manage CI/CD pipelines integrating DevSecOps best practices, integrate SIEM and security tooling for observability and compliance, and design microservices in Go with focus on performance and security.
You will work cross-functionally to assess infrastructure needs, prioritize development, and deliver on product roadmap milestones in an Agile environment. Documentation is critical—from infrastructure to internal procedures—to ensure secure, repeatable, auditable deployments. You'll collaborate directly with UK defence and government stakeholders to provision secure cloud resources and meet deployment and accreditation criteria in classified settings. Additionally, you'll contribute to R&D efforts to advance platform capabilities in secure and disconnected environments and help shape the company's UK DevSecOps strategy and infrastructure standards.
Required experience: 5–7+ years in DevSecOps, systems engineering, or infrastructure software development. You must have architect-level expertise designing and operating cloud-native platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), deep experience with Kubernetes and Docker, strong Go or Rust proficiency, and familiarity with UK/international compliance frameworks (MOD Secure by Design, JSP 453, NCSC Cloud Security Principles, NIST 800-53). Proven experience deploying systems in air-gapped or classified environments is essential. You should have hands-on experience with secure CI/CD pipelines, SIEM/monitoring systems, REST APIs, and microservice patterns. Excellent communication and documentation skills are required, along with proficiency using AI tools (Claude, Gemini) for code generation, debugging, and research.
Preferred qualifications include AWS, Google, or Azure Solutions Architect certification, prior experience in UK defence or national security environments, early-stage or high-growth start-up background, familiarity with UK accreditation processes, and experience with GitLab, Google Workspace, and Slack. A genuine interest in national security and mission-driven innovation is valued.
Security clearance requirement: This position requires the holder to hold or be eligible to obtain Developed Vetting (DV) clearance. Candidates must be UK nationals (or hold dual nationality with UK) and have sufficient UK residency history for DV sponsorship. Active DV clearance is strongly preferred. Work in classified and air-gapped environments requires on-site presence at accredited facilities.
Location is primarily remote (UK-based) with frequent travel to customer and partner sites including Northwood and Corsham Defence Campus, and occasional travel to other UK government locations. Candidates must be based within the UK and willing to travel as operational demand requires.
