Platform Architect

Job Role: Platform Architect 
Location: London 
Reporting to: Head of Platform or Platform Engineering Team Lead 

Established in 1984, MAK-SYSTEM’s vision is to design, develop, and deliver globally best-of-breed software to manage Blood, Plasma, Tissue, and Cells from end to end using the best technologies and functionalities for the patient’s benefit. Our software solutions continuously support the digital transformation of organizations such as: 

• Blood Centers 

• Plasma Centers 

• Transfusion Services 

• Tissue Banks 

• Stem Cell Labs 

• Cell and Gene Therapy organisations, including SMEs, Big Pharma, CMOs, and hospitals 

Key Responsibilities:

• Define and maintain the architecture of MAK-SYSTEM’s cloud platforms and managed services, translating business, customer, security, regulatory, and operational requirements into practical technical designs. 

• Lead the technical design of new platform capabilities, customer solutions, integrations, migrations, and significant platform changes, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, resilient, supportable, observable, and cost-effective. 

• Produce and maintain architecture diagrams, solution designs, standards, technical roadmaps, implementation guidance, and architectural decisions. 

• Work closely with Platform Engineering, Software Engineering, Security, Quality, Product, and Project teams throughout the design and delivery lifecycle. 

• Participate directly in engineering delivery, including infrastructure-as-code, automation, platform components, prototypes, and production solutions, taking ownership of engineering work where required. 

• Review proposed solutions, identify technical risks and dependencies, and provide practical guidance to engineers on complex design and implementation decisions. 

• Interact directly with customers when required to understand technical requirements, explain proposed solutions, present architectural decisions, and support the resolution of technical concerns. 

• Support non-functional activities, including performance, capacity, security hardening, observability, resilience, backup, disaster recovery, and significant incident investigations. 

• Evaluate new technologies and promote standardisation, reuse, automation, strong engineering practices, and the reduction of technical debt. 

• Mentor engineers and act as an enabler for innovation in tools, technologies, processes, and techniques. 

This is not a purely architecture position. The Platform Architect will remain actively involved in hands-on engineering and delivery. The balance between architecture, customer engagement, and engineering will vary according to current priorities. During some periods, the role may be focused entirely on hands-on engineering delivery. 

Objectives:

• To provide clear and practical architectural direction for MAK-SYSTEM’s cloud platforms and managed services. 

• To ensure platform solutions meet business, customer, security, regulatory, and operational requirements. 

• To combine architectural leadership with hands-on engineering and delivery. 

• To reduce technical risk, unnecessary complexity, duplication, and operational overhead through standardisation and reuse. 

Previous Experiences/Qualifications:

• Significant experience designing, building, and operating cloud platforms, preferably using AWS in regulated, business-critical, or highly available environments. 

• Strong hands-on platform, cloud, DevOps, SRE, or infrastructure engineering experience, with a willingness to undertake periods of engineering-focused delivery. 

• Experience defining solution architectures, technical designs, standards, and technology roadmaps, and leading complex cloud solutions, migrations, integrations, or platform changes. 

• Strong experience with infrastructure-as-code, container platforms, CI/CD, configuration management, and automation using technologies such as Terraform, Kubernetes, Helm, Docker, GitHub Actions, Ansible, Python, PowerShell, or Bash. 

• Significant experience with container technologies such as Kubernetes and docker (ideally EKS) is a must. 

• Strong understanding of cloud networking, Linux/Unix, distributed systems, microservices, identity and access management, security, monitoring, resilience, backup, and disaster recovery. 

• Experience with relational database technologies such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, or MySQL, including their availability, performance, backup, and operational requirements. 

• Understanding of the complete software and platform lifecycle, including architecture, engineering, testing, deployment, monitoring, maintenance, and support. 

• Ability to produce clear architecture diagrams, technical designs, standards, and implementation guidance while balancing long-term architectural direction with practical delivery requirements. 

• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate technical options and make clear, evidence-based recommendations. 

• Effective communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to work directly with customers, understand their technical requirements, present solutions, and explain complex subjects to technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Innovation, Flexibility, and Adaptability – undertake tasks with a positive attitude and respond well to management and customer requests. Must be prepared to meet business goals and respond well to change. 

• Fluency in English, both verbal and written, with a bachelor’s degree in a software engineering-related field or equivalent professional experience. Relevant AWS or architecture certifications would be beneficial.