About the Team
In service of its world-leading life sciences services, training, and research, the Applications team within ITS operates a substantial platform based on circa 120 Kubernetes clusters, combining a large VMware on-premises estate with a growing presence in public cloud.
The Platform Coordinator will oversee the full spectrum of platform operations, spanning both on-premises user application platforms and public cloud services. This role ensures the seamless delivery, support, and evolution of platforms used by developers, bioinformaticians, and learners across EMBL-EBI, contributing directly to the success of EMBL-EBI’s training mission.
The role requires strong technical leadership, stakeholder management, and a holistic view of platform operations to ensure efficiency, cost control, and high service quality across all environments.
In addition, the Platform Coordinator will lead the Solutions Architecture function, driving the standardisation of platform and solution architectures across the organisation. This will focus on simplifying the technology landscape, promoting reusable patterns and reference architectures, and improving delivery efficiency while maintaining flexibility for innovation.
The Platform Coordinator leads a combined team of DevOps engineers and Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), managing the operational health, reliability, and evolution of EMBL-EBI’s on-premises and cloud platforms. This includes Kubernetes, CI/CD tools like Gitlab, web traffic management, web statistics services, and public cloud platforms (AWS and GCP).
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership
Translate strategic objectives into actionable technical plans for the platform team.
Oversee the lifecycle of technical projects, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to best practices.
Manage operational performance and ensure high availability of both on-premises and cloud platforms.
Maintain and develop strong collaborative relationships with IT teams and EMBL-EBI service stakeholders.
Lead platform administration including Kubernetes clusters, GitLab, web statistics, and web traffic management systems.
Oversee management of public cloud estates (AWS and GCP), promoting FinOps practices for cost tracking, forecasting, and governance.
Engage in architecture design and promote reusable blueprints and best practices across the platforms.
Support EMBL-EBI Training by implementing the technical components of course delivery.
Drive continuous improvement, evaluating technologies, and prototyping solutions to meet evolving business needs.
Team Leadership and Management
Lead and coordinate a combined team of 4 SREs and 3 DevOps as a single, cohesive unit.
Manage performance, development, and career progression through regular 1:1s, objective setting, and coaching.
Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing.
Encourage Agile practices and coaching within the team.
Promote accountability for platform stability, performance, and customer satisfaction.
Stakeholder and Service Management
Act as the primary point of contact for platform-related inquiries and escalations.
Ensure high-quality service delivery and proactive issue resolution.
Collaborate with Training and Research teams to uphold standards of platform availability and learning experience.
You have (Requirements)
Proven experience managing complex IT platforms, including on-premises and cloud environments.
Strong understanding of Kubernetes, GitLab, cloud services (AWS/GCP), and web infrastructure management.
Experience leading combined teams of DevOps and SREs, with the ability to unify teams across different specialties.
Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
Knowledge of FinOps principles and cost management in multi-cloud environments.
Agile and project management experience.
Technical problem-solving skills and hands-on experience in platform administration is desirable.
Behaviors we value in our team:
You enjoy working & leading as part of a collaborative, international team. You can meet more of the team here
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
You will be committed to high-quality, reliable services. Proactively monitor and improve processes, systems and performance
Striving for service excellence
Empathy & understanding for users
Lead a team and drive forward a strategic goal of the Applications Team
Excellent attention to detail and problem-solving skills
Other helpful information
Hybrid Working: At EMBL-EBI we are pleased to offer hybrid working options for all our employees. A dedicated desk will be available everyday, but our team work two days on site and three from home.
Contract length: 3 years (renewable upto 9 years)
Salary: Grade 8 monthly salary starting at £4,825 per month after tax but excluding pension and insurance contributions. Plus other paid generous benefits.
Why join us
Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential. Watch this video to see how EMBL-EBI makes an impact.
Enjoy lots of benefits:
Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns
Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition public holidays
Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.
For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here.
What else you need to know
International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Please take a look at our International Applicants page for further information.
EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.
Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.
How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.
Closing Date
05/04/2026