Principal Platform Engineer We're building the UK's next generation engineering powerhouse, providing critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience. We specialise in turning advances in sensing, AI, and communications into operational capability for the edge, where connectivity may be degraded or denied. Our work focuses on accelerating the deployment of technology, improving decision-making for frontline teams, and protecting people and critical assets in demanding environments.

Headquartered in Bristol, Rowden employs around 200 people and operates over 20,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing facilities. We have a growing international footprint and are one of Europe's fastest-growing engineering businesses.

About The Role

We're seeking a Principal Platform Engineer to define and lead the engineering platform that underpins how Rowden develops, deploys, and operates technology. The platform will improve developer experience and make Rowden's engineering faster, more consistent, more scalable, and more secure. This is a high-impact opportunity to build the engineering foundations of one of the UK's most exciting technology companies.

Working closely with Software, Infrastructure, ML, IT, Product, QA, and Security teams, you'll lead the delivery of the platform vision, define its architecture, and raise the standard of engineering practice across the organisation. You'll ensure the platform scales with Rowden's ambitions and meets the demands of its engineering teams. This is a hands-on role; you will lead by building.

This role offers hybrid working with a minimum of 3 days per week on-site at our Bristol HQ.

Compensation

is tailored to the scope of the role and the specific experience a candidate brings. Because that can vary significantly, we do not always publish a fixed salary band.

openly at the first stage of the process and can share an indicative range before either side invests significant time. Candidates must be eligible for SC Clearance. uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels Working closely with the Head of Platform Engineering, you'll define and deliver robust platform services, establish the patterns for self-service infrastructure, CI/CD, and observability, and drive the integration of AI/ML capabilities across the organisation.

You'll translate platform strategy into a coherent technical roadmap, setting standards that teams across Rowden can build on with confidence. As a Principal Platform Engineer, you will be responsible for: Defining the technical architecture and long-term direction of Rowden’s internal developer platform (IDP). Leading the design and evolution of IDP capabilities, including self-service provisioning and deployment workflows.

Defining the platform's approach to agentic AI, establishing the patterns, guardrails, and runtime infrastructure required to deploy and operate AI agents reliably across the organisation. Setting standards for API-first architectures that enable interoperability between systems, services, and external partners. Owning the design and governance of CI/CD pipelines to support consistent, secure, and efficient software delivery across the organisation.

Driving the adoption of modular platform capabilities that allow teams to compose and extend functionality at scale. Owning infrastructure-as-code standards and automation practices to ensure repeatability, scalability, and reliability. Embedding security, compliance, and best practices into the platform by design, and ensuring these are sustained as the platform evolves.

Defining and maintaining platform standards, patterns, and reusable components that drive consistency across teams. Leading improvements to observability, monitoring, and alerting capabilities across systems and services.