Head of Cloud Engineering (12m FTC)

Role Title: Head of Cloud Engineering (12m FTC) Location: Remote, UK About Brightsolid Brightsolid is a leading provider of hybrid cloud and managed services, delivering secure, sovereign, AI-ready infrastructure platforms across the UK. Our next-generation cloud platform is built on an open, extensible architecture using Canonical’s OpenStack, enabling scalable, resilient, and multi-tenant cloud services for modern workloads including virtual machines, containers, bare metal and AI platforms. Role Overview The Head of Cloud Engineering is responsible for the end-to-end ownership of Brightsolid's technology platforms, spanning cloud infrastructure, network services, datacentre environments, and enterprise tooling. This includes accountability not only for core infrastructure but also for critical enterprise platforms and SaaS services that underpin both internal operations and customer service delivery. Key Responsibilities Platform & Engineering Leadership Own the architecture, engineering, and lifecycle of Brightsolid's cloud platforms and services. Lead Cloud Engineering and Network teams ensuring delivery of high-quality, scalable, secure infrastructure Drive engineering excellence through automation, standardisation, and modern operating models Cloud Platform Ownership Maintain full accountability for multi-tenant cloud platforms, both internal and customer-facing Lead the transition from legacy environments to open-source platforms (Ubuntu, OpenStack, Kubernetes) Ensure platforms meet defined SLAs, resilience, compliance, and security requirements Network & Datacentre Infrastructure Lead network engineering and datacentre strategy across all Brightsolid facilities Ensure high-availability, resilient, and high-performance connectivity and infrastructure Own disaster recovery, capacity planning, and infrastructure lifecycle management Enterprise Tooling, SaaS & Platform Ownership Own the strategy, architecture, and operation of all engineering and business-critical tooling across the group Provide full lifecycle ownership of key enterprise platforms, including: ITSM and Service Management platforms (e.g. ServiceNow or equivalent) CRM and customer engagement platforms (e.g. Salesforce or equivalent) Monitoring, observability, and alerting platforms Automation, CI/CD, and DevOps tooling Identity, access management, and security tooling Take accountability for the selection, integration, optimisation, and governance of SaaS, PaaS, and third-party services, ensuring: Strong integration with core platform architecture High availability, performance, and user experience Compliance with security and data sovereignty requirements Clear ownership, cost control, and lifecycle management Define and enforce standards for tooling rationalisation, reducing duplication and driving platform consistency across the organisation Lead the transition from fragmented tools towards a cohesive, platform-led operating model, where tooling is: API-driven Automated-first Integrated into engineering workflows and service delivery Partner with Product, Operations, Security, and Commercial teams to ensure tooling aligns with service delivery, customer experience, and revenue outcomes Open-Source & Platform Transformation Drive the adoption of open-source ecosystems, with a focus on Canonical, Ubuntu, OpenStack, and cloud-native tooling Reduce dependency on proprietary platforms (e.g. VMware) in favour of sovereign alternatives Deliver platforms that are AI-ready, scalable, and aligned to modern workload demands Vendor & Partner Management Own strategic vendor relationships across: Cloud and infrastructure platforms SaaS/PaaS providers Hardware and datacentre vendors Ensure alignment between vendor strategy and Brightsolid's open-source and sovereign platform direction Manage commercial performance, cost optimisation, and innovation from partners Collaboration & Customer Engagement Work cross-functionally with Product, Sales, and Customer Success teams to support solution development and delivery Support pre-sales engagements, technical strategy discussions, and complex customer solutions Leadership & Culture Build and lead high-performing Cloud Engineering and Network teams Define and manage KPIs across platform availability, performance, cost, and customer outcomes Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement Requirements Requirements Essential Skills and Experience Proven experience leading, mentoring and developing high-performing engineering teams, including direct people leadership, performance management, team structure and succession planning. Strong experience building a culture of automation, accountability, operational discipline and continuous improvement. Experience working within a service provider or managed service environment delivering high-availability services in a 24x7 operational context. Strong understanding of multi-datacentre architecture, service provider internet services, WAN