Head of Platform Engineering

Opportunity Overview: Head of Platform Engineering – Major UK Digital Transformation Location: Hybrid (3 days/week on-site in London) About the Organisation As part of a major tech and cultural overhaul, the organisation is rebuilding its entire digital infrastructure with a modern cloud-native stack. They are seeking forward-thinking leaders to help build a platform that supports secure, scalable, and seamless customer experiences — all while serving a critical public-facing mission. Role Overview This is not a BAU operations role — it’s a senior leadership opportunity to shape and lead the digital operations function across customer-facing platforms. You'll drive performance, reliability, release governance, and automation for a new cloud-native tech stack. You’ll lead platform operations, build and mentor a DevOps/SRE team, and establish the processes, tooling, and vendor partnerships to deliver a best-in-class digital experience. This is a high-impact role requiring strong collaboration across engineering, delivery, product, and supplier ecosystems. Key Responsibilities Own the digital operations strategy and ensure performance, stability, and resilience across web, mobile, and account management services. Lead the transition to a brand-new, cloud-native stack (React frontend, iOS/Android apps, Java backend). Build and manage a DevOps/SRE function focused on observability, automation, and incident response. Define and oversee operational KPIs, release cycles, and incident management workflows. Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and delivery to ensure seamless execution and performance. Manage third-party technology suppliers, ensuring accountability, visibility, and operational alignment. Launch and embed runbooks, monitoring tools, and pre-emptive performance strategies. Ensure the digital estate meets high standards for accessibility, security, and compliance (e.g., GDPR). Embed a continuous improvement culture and provide a clear capability roadmap within 18 months. Ideal Candidate Profile Proven experience leading digital operations or SRE/DevOps functions in complex, high-scale consumer digital environments. Deep understanding of release lifecycles, observability tooling, and incident command practices. Technical fluency in cloud-native systems, automation, and monitoring across modern web/app platforms. Experienced in cross-functional leadership, including product, engineering, delivery, and suppliers. Skilled in navigating vendor ecosystems, third-party integrations, and joint performance accountability. Adept at building high-performing, inclusive teams and creating a people-first team culture. Calm under pressure, with excellent decision-making skills in high-stakes operational environments. Able to think strategically while being hands-on during key delivery phases. Strong communication and stakeholder alignment capabilities across technical and non-technical teams. The client cannot offer sponsorship at this point. For more information please send your CV to me on Kamni.Sharma@lafosse.com