Job Description
Principal Infrastructure Platform Engineer
Whitehall Resources require a Principal Infrastructure Platform Engineer to work with a key client on a 6 month initial contract.
*This role will require on site work in Sheffield 3 days per week.
*Inside IR35.
Principal Infrastructure Platform Engineer
Role Description:
Strong Performance:
Consistently demonstrates sound technical judgment, aligns platform decisions with enterprise goals, and enables progress across multiple teams.
Exceptional Performance:
Sets enterprise-wide technical direction, reduces systemic risk, and scales impact through standards, strategy, and mentorship.
0–30 Days: Organizational Alignment & System Comprehension
Theme: Learns fast, builds credibility, operates effectively within enterprise constraints.
1. Architecture & Systems Knowledge
Meets Expectations
Demonstrates working knowledge of:
* Key Platform Products/Services
* Network topology, IAM, CI/CD, monitoring, and security tooling
* Accurately explains current-state architecture, dependencies, and constraints.
Exceeds Expectations
* Identifies undocumented system behaviors, hidden coupling, or legacy risks early.
* Provides leadership with a concise, accurate current-state assessment.
2. Reliability, Security & Risk Awareness
Meets Expectations
* Reviews historical incidents, audits, and compliance requirements.
* Understands escalation paths, operational ownership, and change management processes.
Exceeds Expectations
* Proactively identifies systemic reliability or security risks and articulates business impact.
* Surfaces risk tradeoffs in clear, executive-appropriate language.
3. Enterprise Influence & Collaboration
Meets Expectations
Establishes productive relationships across:
* Enterprise Infrastructure
* Security
* Application teams (our customers)
* Architecture review boards
* Respects governance and decision-making processes.
Exceeds Expectations
* Quickly earns trust as a neutral, high-judgment technical advisor.
* Is consulted informally on complex or sensitive technical decisions.
31–60 Days: Technical Leadership & Measurable Impact
Theme: Converts understanding into alignment, decisions, and improvement.
1. Architecture & Technical Direction
Meets Expectations
* Authors or contributes to enterprise-grade design documents.
* Aligns proposals with:
* Enterprise architecture standards
* Security and compliance requirements
* Cost and operational constraints
Exceeds Expectations
* Simplifies or clarifies existing architecture standards.
* Resolves cross-team architectural disagreements through data and reasoning.
2. Execution & Delivery
Meets Expectations
* Leads or materially contributes to at least one high-impact infrastructure initiative, such as:
* Platform modernization
* IaC standardization
* CI/CD reliability improvements
* Cost optimization
Exceeds Expectations
* Delivers measurable improvements (e.g., ↓ MTTR, ↓ deployment failures, ↓ cloud spend).
* Enables delivery across multiple teams without direct authority.
3. Reliability, Security & Operations
Meets Expectations
* Improves consistency of:
* Incident response
* Postmortems
* Change management practices
Exceeds Expectations
* Introduces or strengthens reliability metrics, or risk dashboards used beyond a single team.
* Elevates operational maturity at the program or portfolio level.
4. Mentorship & Technical Stewardship
Meets Expectations
* Mentors senior/staff engineers through design reviews and technical guidance.
* Models strong documentation and decision-making discipline.
Exceeds Expectations
* Raises design quality across teams.
* Reduces rework and decision churn through clearer architectural guidance.