Staff Platform Engineer

Level : 5 Salary band : £110,000 - £120,000 Location : Hybrid - 3 days per week in London Office (Angel, Islington) At Automata , we're on a mission to transform how scientists work by making automation accessible to every lab in the world. We believe that by giving labs the power to automate, we can unlock discoveries that will shape the future of life sciences—from diagnostics and drug discovery to synthetic biology. But we’re more than just a company disrupting the industry—we're a team of innovators, problem-solvers, and creators passionate about empowering scientists. Our LINQ platform combines hardware and software to streamline workflows, making lab automation fast, flexible, and affordable. This means our customers can focus on groundbreaking research, while we take care of the rest. Why Work at Automata? Impact : Your work will directly contribute to advancements in science and medicine, supporting labs around the globe as they push boundaries in research and innovation. Innovation : You’ll be part of a team solving complex problems (seriously, no one else has figured out how to do this yet), using cutting-edge technology (we have robots). Growth : We invest in our people . Whether through hands-on experience, professional development, or collaborative projects, you’ll grow both professionally and personally. Community : Join a diverse, passionate team that values collaboration (golf on a Thursday, Soccer once a month, movie nights whenever we fancy it). We are looking for a Staff Platform Engineer to lead the technical direction of Automata’s platform infrastructure. This is a high-impact role where you will define architecture, drive standards, and enable teams to deliver faster and more reliably across cloud and on-premise environments. You will operate across teams, setting the vision for platform engineering and ensuring that our systems meet the highest standards of performance, security, and compliance . Why is this role important for Automata? As a Staff Platform Engineer, you will be responsible for shaping the technical foundation of Automata’s platform at scale . You will define the systems and practices that allow teams to move quickly while maintaining reliability in highly regulated, customer-facing environments. Your work will multiply engineering productivity and ensure that Automata can scale its platform globally. In this role, you will be responsible for Define and drive the platform architecture across cloud, edge, and bare-metal deployments Establish and evolve golden paths that standardise how engineers build, deploy, and operate services Lead the design of multi-cluster Kubernetes platforms , including bare-metal and hybrid setups Own strategy and best practices for data infrastructure (Postgres and beyond) Drive adoption of GitOps (ArgoCD) and scalable IaC frameworks Architect systems for highly regulated environments (ISO27001, SOC2, GxP) Lead observability strategy using OpenTelemetry and modern tooling Guide network architecture , including physical networking and vendor integrations (Juniper/Mist) Drive platform-level automation and AI adoption (e.g., developer tooling, Claude Code workflows) Influence and improve orchestration patterns (Temporal and similar systems) Partner with product, engineering, and field teams to ensure successful customer deployments Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar across the organisation Balance technical excellence with pragmatic decision-making What it takes 8+ years of experience in platform engineering, infrastructure, or distributed systems Deep expertise in Kubernetes , including bare-metal and large-scale production systems Strong experience designing cloud + on-prem hybrid architectures Advanced knowledge of Postgres and data infrastructure Proven experience defining and scaling platform standards and developer workflows Strong background in IaC and GitOps at scale Experience designing systems for compliance-heavy environments Deep understandin