Overview

Smith Institute uses advanced mathematics, AI, and data science to help customers do remarkable things - from balancing the electricity grid to optimising satellite communications and safeguarding multi-billion-pound 5G spectrum auctions.

We are seeking a Senior Cloud Engineer to lead the deployment and architecture of our models and services in cloud environments, enabling our wider delivery teams. This is a senior technical role, directly reporting to the Chief Technology Architect and collaborating with technical leadership across the company. It is ideal for someone who thrives in cross-disciplinary teams and is motivated by shaping proofs of concept into practical, production-ready solutions.

Responsibilities

• Own the cloud architecture of production solutions across AWS and Azure, from early-stage prototypes to robust, scalable deployments.
• Design, build and manage infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines to support data engineering, ML/AI model delivery, web interfaces, and internal tools.
• Collaborate with engineers, scientists and consultants to integrate data-driven solutions into cloud services.
• Influence security, cost-efficiency, scalability, and monitoring standards across our cloud-based deployments.
• Lead cloud architecture decisions in project scoping and architecture reviews.
• Contribute to internal capability building in DevOps, cloud strategy, and tooling.
• Support use and deployment of the latest data and AI tools, including LLMs and agentic AI.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific or engineering discipline, with master's or doctoral-level study preferred.
• 3+ years of practical experience as a Cloud, DevOps, or Infrastructure Engineer.
• Deep hands-on experience with cloud services, including AWS and Azure.
• Infrastructure-as-code tooling (e.g. Terraform).
• CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation (e.g. Azure DevOps).
• Containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong scripting and workflow automation skills (especially in Python).
• Version control (Git), testing, and secure deployment practices.
• Experience collaborating in cross-functional teams and mentoring peers.

Desirable Skills

• Exposure to LLM and AI agent deployment, and supporting data orchestration.
• Web development or API development tooling.
• Familiarity with managed data engineering and/or MLOps platforms.
• Experience in client-facing environments or consultancy.

Why Work at Smith Institute?

• Flexible working for all- work your contracted hours at times that best suit you and our customers, at home, in the office or as a mixture of both
• Health and well-being support- Smith Institute provides up to three months' contractual sick pay, have qualified Mental Health First Aiders, a Mindful Employer Plus membership and offer additional leave allowance to care for close family members
• Social events- most months our Social Committee organise events and we also have ongoing activities, including pub socials, a book club, a fantasy football league and a board games library
• Employee benefits- employee discount platform and Employee assistance programme
• Enhanced leave- bereavement, dependency, maternity, paternity & shared parental leave
• Mentoring- from colleagues and leading academics
• Generous pension scheme with Life Assurance and income protection
• All IT equipment provided and maintained
• Interesting and challenging work with purpose