CDS Tech

Background

CDS Tech is the newly formed technology services arm of Bailie Group, a family-owned group of human-centred communications and technology services businesses. With a strong heritage in delivering critical transformation projects, CDS Tech is poised to become the 'go to' professional services partner for Cloud, Security, Data and Digital transformation services – both in the UK and beyond. Underpinned by a People First and Client Obsessed mindset, our ambition is to drive meaningful impact for our clients, their audiences, their users, and society. Societal impact is not just an outcome – it's our north star, guiding everything we do and ensuring we make a lasting, positive difference.

The role

As we continue to grow, we are seeking a Principal Engineer (Cloud) to join our team as a senior technical leader specialising in cloud platform development. This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced engineer with deep expertise in AWS, Azure, Terraform, and Kubernetes who thrives on designing sophisticated cloud infrastructure, mentoring teams, and shaping technical direction for high-impact client engagements. You'll architect cloud-native solutions that are secure, scalable, and cost-effective while making a real difference to organisations and society.

About the role

We are looking for a Principal Engineer (Cloud) to play a key role in leading our most technically complex cloud engagements. You will design and build sophisticated cloud infrastructure using Terraform and container orchestration, establish observability practices, and champion cloud security and FinOps principles. As a V-shaped engineer with deep cloud platform expertise, you'll work across the full stack while mentoring engineering teams and setting the standard for cloud excellence.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert technical leadership across large, complex cloud engagements, making critical architectural decisions and setting engineering standards

• Design, build, and maintain sophisticated cloud infrastructure using AWS, Azure, Terraform, Kubernetes, and ECS, ensuring platforms are robust, secure, and cost-effective

• Write, review, and maintain high-quality production-ready code across the full stack, championing modern development patterns and AI tooling

• Lead cloud architecture discussions, evaluating trade-offs between serverless and containerised approaches, and designing for scalability, resilience, and cost optimisation

• Establish comprehensive observability practices including logging, metrics, tracing, and monitoring to ensure operational excellence

• Champion cloud security including secure-by-design principles, zero trust architectures, and FinOps practices

• Mentor and develop engineering teams, establishing best practices and elevating the craft of those around you

• Contribute to presales activities, prepare technical proposals, and lead client pitches to win new cloud engagements

Skills and experience

Essential

These are the skills that you need to perform the role successfully; however, if you feel you'd be a great fit for the role and CDS from what you have read we would love to hear from you – the skills are written as a guide, not a checkbox exercise:

• Extensive experience with Cloudflare, including Workers, zero trust security, CDN configuration, DDoS protection, and edge computing patterns

• Excellent knowledge of AWS and Azure platforms, with deep understanding of cloud-native architectures and the ability to design scalable, resilient solutions

• Extensive experience with Terraform, building robust infrastructure automation for reliable, repeatable deployments across complex cloud environments

• Deep expertise in Docker, Kubernetes, ECS, and container orchestration, including service mesh architectures and best practices

• Comprehensive knowledge of cloud security including secure-by-design, zero trust, IAM, encryption, and compliance frameworks

• Strong understanding of FinOps, cloud cost management, and optimisation strategies

• Extensive experience implementing observability solutions using CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Prometheus, Grafana, or similar tools

• Deep knowledge of cloud networking, VPCs, load balancing, DNS management, and hybrid cloud connectivity patterns

• Strong full-stack capability with good knowledge of front-end (React, TypeScript, Next.js) and back-end languages (C#, Python, Node.js, or Java)

• Excellent communication skills with proven coaching and mentoring experience and a servant leadership approach

Desirable

If you have any of these, they are the extra cherry on top that will help you excel:

• Experience with Google Cloud Platform in addition to AWS and Azure

• Interest in and experience with AI-assisted development tools

• Understanding of public sector ways of working, procurement, and governance

• Working knowledge of accessibility standards and tools, with a commitment to building inclusive software

Why join us

There are many compelling reasons to join our newly formed technology services business, and we'll bring these to life when we meet you during the process. For now, though, we believe the following aspects offer an exciting opportunity for the right candidate...

Shaping the future of CDS Tech – your work will directly impact our brand, market positioning, revenue growth, and success.

Autonomy and ownership – a unique opportunity to own the delivery function and drive real impact for clients and programs of work that genuinely make a positive difference to society.

High-impact partnerships – work with some world-leading, most recognisable technology brands as our partners and position CDS Tech for success.

Competitive package – attractive salary and benefits, meaningful work and genuine opportunities for growth and professional development.

Vetting

Due to the nature of this role and the business, you will need to either currently hold or be able to obtain UK Government clearance to a minimum of SC level.

Values

Our values were created by everyone in CDS Tech working together. They are Tenacity, Togetherness, Integrity, Curiosity and Challenging. Our values are weaved throughout the company, from recruitment to who we work with, and people's expectations. We are looking for people who share the same values and will enrich our culture with their own background and experiences.

Hybrid & Homeworking

To ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees we have minimum standards for homeworking environments which must be maintained. Further details are available on request.

At CDS, we work hybrid, and we are looking for people commutable to our central Leeds office. We ask our people to come into the office at least 2 days a week to build connections and encourage collaborative work.

In return we offer

• Smart, engaged co-workers and a culture of inclusion, innovation, and opportunity

• A business focused on professional development and personal growth opportunities

• Company pension and life assurance scheme

• Medicash health plan – online GP access, support services & discounted gym membership

• Cycle to work scheme

• Season pass loan for rail or bus travel

To apply for this role, please email your CV to: recruitment@cds.co.uk