Leonardo
Principal Platform Engineer (PKI)
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Principal Platform Engineer
Salary Range
£53,269 - £71,400
Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.
Why This Role Matters
Are you ready to take on complex technical challenges at the forefront of cyber and platform engineering?
At Leonardo, our Principal Platform Engineers are hands-on experts shaping the design, integration, and delivery of secure platforms critical to our customers' missions.
Your work will involve tackling customer problems through agile, innovative, and collaborative methods. The role may come with a hybrid model—blending remote work with on-site collaboration at one of our Leonardo offices.
At Leonardo UK, we are looking for a Principal Platform Engineer to join the Cyber & Security Solutions Division team. This role is focused on delivering, maintaining, and improving platform and systems engineering solutions that uphold critical defence, government, and public sector services.
Your Contributions
As a Principal Platform Engineer, you will:
- Act as the technical authority within one of our platform domains (e.g., virtualisation), providing specialist expertise on projects and programmes.
- Lead the design and implementation of secure platforms across on-premise, hybrid, and cloud environments.
- Capture, analyse, and interpret complex customer requirements to guide system design and architecture.
- Develop high- and low-level designs, ensuring adherence to secure-by-design security principles.
- Own technical delivery within work packages, including planning, estimation, and progress reporting.
- Mentor, coach, and develop junior and senior engineers, raising the technical skillset of the broader community.
- Contribute to technology strategies, feasibility studies, and innovation projects within the team.
- Engage with internal and external stakeholders, presenting technical solutions and justifying design decisions.
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What You’ll Bring
Core Expertise (Non-Negotiable)
- Deep technical knowledge of platform engineering domains, with a proven ability to deliver secure solutions.
- The ability to balance hands-on engineering with leading technical teams and mentoring.
- A problem-solving mindset, adept at innovating and recommending the best approach for complex, cyber-centric challenges.
Technical Requirements:
- Proficiency with Windows and Linux operating systems.
- Expertise in virtualisation platforms (e.g., VMware, Hyper-V).
- Krytical understanding of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) design and implementation:
- Capacity to manage the entire certificate lifecycle (issuance, renewal, revocation).
- Experience integrating PKI with environments like Active Directory, services, and devices.
- Familiarity with cryptographic principles and secure communications.
- Comprehensive command of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, firewalls).
- Strong automation and scripting skills (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, Terraform).
- Knowledge of cyber security controls and accreditation processes.
- Broad experience across the systems engineering lifecycle.
- https://designing and validating trust models and certificate usage frameworks across systems.
- Experience delivering within highly controlled or air-gapped environments (e.g., defence, sensitive governance).
Desirable (Bonus!) Potential
- Advanced expertise in cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and Infrastructure-as-Code.
- Hands-on DevSecOps experience (e.g., integrating monitoring, SIEM).
- Experience with Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) (e.g., Thales).
- Insight into cross-domain or secure communications environments (e.g., persistent network segmentation).
- Certificate management automation at scale.
- Understanding of containerisation platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).
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Security Clearance
This role is subject to pre-employment screening via:
- UK Government Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).
- Additional vetting called National Security Vetting (NSV).
Suitable candidates will require Developed Vetting (DV) clearance prior to joining. For further details and vetting guidance, review Leonardo’s [official information here].
Location
Primary Site:
Leonardo’s UK base in Yeovil.
Why Leonardo?
At Leonardo, our people are the driving force behind innovation and impact. We provide a robust, company-funded benefits package that prioritises wellbeing, growth, and a healthy work balance.
Your Rewards Include:
- Time to Recharge: Up to 12 flexi-days per year, in addition to generous leave.
- Secure Your Future: Award-winning pension plan with up to 15% employer contribution (+ flexible choices).
- Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice and a network of employee-led initiatives.
- Never Stop Learning: Free membership to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
- Tailored Perks: Your own annual £500 spending allowance to put toward flexible benefits—from private health to lifestyle discounts or gym access.
- Flexible Working: Hybrid model training tailored to your career path.
For complete details on all benefits, visit our careers portal.
Leonardo is a global patriarch in Aerospace, Defence, and Security, proudly headquartered in Italy. We have a 53,000-strong workforce, including 8,500 colleagues spanning nine sites in the UK. Every employee’s role is pivotal to innovation, advancements, and global safety strides.
At Leonardo, our commitment is to a workplace that is inclusive, accessible, and empowering.
Diversity powers innovation—if you have accessibility needs during the recruitment process, we’re ready to assist.
Apply now and be part of the bigger picture.
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