Platform Engineer - Associate Vice President (f/m/d)

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

The Platform Engineer is responsible for the administration and operation of the organisation’s global operating system platforms. Duties include systems management, monitoring, responding to and resolving emerging system issues -  and where appropriate, the coordination and escalation to the Senior Engineers and other teams within IT.

The Platform Engineer supports a business-critical infrastructure comprised of a large global on-premises Windows application and infrastructure server estate, the associated management and monitoring infrastructure and Cloud-based services.

The Platform Engineer ensures that the expected standards and policies are applied consistently throughout the estate and produces documentation with which to administer and maintain the systems operationally. Under the guidance of Senior Engineers, the Platform Engineer participates the delivery of IT projects for the organisations.

The role requires cross-team and cross-region collaboration with other technical teams as required outside SMBC Bank EU AG.

Business Area

The Distributed Systems Group (DSG) is part of the wider Business Infrastructure team within PD-ITSD. DSG are responsible for 3 key areas of the organisation’s IT infrastructure, namely, Client Computing (Citrix, application delivery and packaging), Datacentre Compute and Storage (enterprise compute, storage and virtualisation) and Platform (Operating Systems, OS management/monitoring, Cloud SaaS and Database Administration).

The Platform Engineer uses their technical skills to provide exceptional levels of Platform performance and reliability to the organisation, enabling the Business to succeed. This requires a strong and broad technical skillset, covering both traditional on-premises server engineering and administration, as well as Cloud based SaaS products.

The Platform Engineer will work in a discrete, focussed team dedicated to a specific technology area but will foster core relationships with other IT teams in both EMEA and North America.

The primary focus of the Platform Engineer is to ensure the operational availability of all systems within the Platform team’s remit, whilst working as part of a team to deploy new IT systems and initiatives for the benefit of the organisation as directed.

Position Description

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• Maintain, monitor and operate the Platform environment in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures.
• Operate the Platform estate ensuring that issues and exceptions are logged and escalated to Senior Engineers / Subject Matter Experts and/or escalated to management where required.
• Respond to, manage and resolve incidents and tickets raised through the organisation’s IT service management ticketing systems by the Business or other IT teams.
• Proactively monitor and enhance the platform environment by ensuring alerts generated by the system are managed and progressed.
• Provide technical support to the other departments within IT, on Platform related matters and BAU issues.
• Ensuring that the Platform environment is enrolled in the appropriate capacity management reporting systems in order to provide accurate system utilisation data.
• Assisting the Platform team Senior Engineer/s with managing the environment's hardware and software life-cycles, ensuring that the organisation’s systems do not become affected by end-of-life or end-of-support milestones.
• Support the Platform related work streams of projects and ensure that project deliverables are executed in a timely fashion.
• Ensuring all technical documentation is maintained to an appropriate level and reflects the as-installed environment.
• Integrate automated processes where relevant and appropriate.
• Managing and developing collaborative relationships with other groups within the IT division, locally and globally.
• Undertake other reasonable tasks at the discretion of the Platform team manager and head of the section.
• Preparedness to work unsociable hours and weekends and be contactable when away from the office.
• Participate in the on-call support rota supporting the organisation’s IT systems out of hours
• Ongoing development of technical skills pertinent to role.
• Adhere to the policies and procedures of the organisation.
• Occasional international travel may be required.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Windows Server and Desktop Operating Systems
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft systems management technologies (SCOM, SCCM etc)
• Strong knowledge of complex Microsoft Active Directory environments and concepts
• Good knowledge of Cloud/SaaS technologies including Microsoft Azure services and concepts
• Good knowledge of IP networking concepts, infrastructure protocols and security (IPv4, DNS, DHCP, PXE, Load Balancing, Firewalls etc)
• Good knowledge of scripting languages used within programmatic systems management and automation (e.g. Powershell)
• A good understanding of security concepts and how these should be applied to the Platform estate
• A good understanding of virtualised computing environments and modern enterprise datacentre technologies

Skills      

• In-depth, practical administration and engineering experience with Microsoft Server, Desktop and Cloud technologies
• Experience of troubleshooting complex Windows Server and Desktop operating system issues including performance, debugging and deployment
• Experience of Microsoft native management products
• Experience in managing and troubleshooting complex Active Directory environments including replication, authentication protocols and Group Policy etc
• Experience of administering Cloud / SaaS based services
• Experience of geographically distributed, highly virtualised enterprise class datacentre environments running business critical applications

Experience and Qualifications

• Practical experience within strict change control and mature process driven environments
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent service management knowledge
• Educated to degree level or possess equivalent professional experience

Personal Characteristics

• An individual with excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills who can communicate effectively with end users, peers across the IT function and direct management
• A dependable self-starter who can take appropriate action with minimal direction
• A customer focused individual, who is flexible and eager to take ownership of issues
• An individual who demonstrates a consistent and meticulous attention to detail
• An individual who demonstrates an effective professional presence and impact
• An individual who can work under pressure to resolve issues and maintain a positive outlook
• An individual who can work collaboratively with multiple support teams on emerging issues
• An individual who can operate conscientiously and effectively in a multi-cultural environment

Competencies

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working 
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance 
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services  
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities 
• Ambitious remuneration package

So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!