About the Team
In service of its world-leading life sciences services, training, and research, the Applications team within ITS operates a substantial platform based on circa 120 Kubernetes clusters, combining a large VMware on-premises estate with a growing presence in public cloud.
The Platform Coordinator will oversee the full spectrum of platform operations, spanning both on-premises user application platforms and public cloud services. This role ensures the seamless delivery, support, and evolution of platforms used by developers, bioinformaticians, and learners across EMBL-EBI, contributing directly to the success of EMBL-EBIs training mission.
The role requires strong technical leadership, stakeholder management, and a holistic view of platform operations to ensure efficiency, cost control, and high service quality across all environments.
In addition, the Platform Coordinator will lead the Solutions Architecture function, driving the standardisation of platform and solution architectures across the organisation. This will focus on simplifying the technology landscape, promoting reusable patterns and reference architectures, and improving delivery efficiency while maintaining flexibility for innovation.
The Platform Coordinator leads a combined team of DevOps engineers and Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), managing the operational health, reliability, and evolution of EMBL-EBIs on-premises and cloud platforms. This includes Kubernetes, CI/CD tools like Gitlab, web traffic management, web statistics services, and public cloud platforms (AWS and GCP).
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership
Translate strategic objectives into actionable technical plans for the platform team.
Oversee the lifecycle of technical projects, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to best practices.
Manage operational performance and ensure high availability of both on-premises and cloud platforms.
Maintain and develop strong collaborative relationships with IT teams and EMBL-EBI service stakeholders.
Lead platform administration including Kubernetes clusters, GitLab, web statistics, and web traffic management systems.
Oversee management of public cloud estates (AWS and GCP), promoting FinOps practices for cost tracking, forecasting, and governance.
Engage in architecture design and promote reusable blueprints and best practices across the platforms.
Support EMBL-EBI Training by implementing the technical components of course delivery.
Drive continuous improvement, evaluating technologies, and prototyping solutions to meet evolving business needs.
Team Leadership and Management
Lead and coordinate a combined team of 4 SREs and 3 DevOps as a single, cohesive unit.
Manage performance, development, and career progression through regular 1:1s, objective setting, and coaching.
Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing.
Encourage Agile practices and coaching within the team.
Promote accountability for platform stability, performance, and customer satisfaction.
Stakeholder and Service Management
Act as the primary point of contact for platform-related inquiries and escalations.
Ensure high-quality service delivery and proactive issue resolution.
Collaborate with Training and Research teams to uphold standards of platform availability and learning experience.
You have (Requirements)
Proven experience managing complex IT platforms, including on-premises and cloud environments.
Strong understanding of Kubernetes, GitLab, cloud services (AWS/GCP), and web infrastructure management.
Experience leading combined teams of DevOps and SREs, with the ability to unify teams across different specialties.
Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
Knowledge of FinOps principles and cost management in multi-cloud environments.
Agile and project management experience.
Technical problem-solving skills and hands-on experience in platform administration is desirable.
Behaviors we value in our team:
You enjoy working & leading as part of a collaborative, international team. You can meet more of the team here
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
You will be committed to high-quality, reliable services. Proactively monitor and improve processes, systems and performance
Striving for service excellence
Empathy & understanding for users
Lead a team and drive forward a strategic goal of the Applications Team
Excellent attention to detail and problem-solving skills
Apply now! Benefits and Contract Information
Financial incentives: depending on circumstances, monthly family/marriage allowance of £278 monthly child allowance of £336 per child. Non resident allowance up to £579 per month. Annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
Hybrid working arrangements
Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
Generous time off : 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays
Relocation package including installation grant (as applicable)
Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
Family benefits: On-site nursery, child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
Contract duration: This position is a 3 year contract renewable up to 9 years
Salary: Monthly salary starting at £4,825 after tax but excl. pension & insurances) + benefits (Total package will be dependent on family circumstances)
International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants.
Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities.
Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
To apply, please submit a covering letter and CV via our online system. Applications will close on 05/04/2026 .
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