Senior Manager – DevOps Platform & Forward Engineering

Job Title: Senior Manager – DevOps Platform & Forward Engineering

GCL: F

Introduction to role:

Are you ready to engineer the backbone that accelerates secure software delivery across a global enterprise and turns DevSecOps into measurable business value?

You will lead two complementary engineering groups. One is a Platform Engineering division passionate about building golden pipelines, reusable delivery templates, policy-as-code, and shared standards. The other is a Forward Deployment Engineering group that integrates these capabilities into project and product teams to ensure real adoption and results. Acting as the operational and strategic extension platform creation and platform consumption, you will set the direction, guide high-impact initiatives, and build strong feedback loops that improve products and increase adoption over time.

Can you establish an aggressive approach to platform development and still dive deep into pipelines, security and policy-as-code when it counts! This is an opportunity to raise your profile by delivering enterprise-scale engineering capabilities backed by leadership. You will work with leading experts and modern technology to change how software ships safely and efficiently.

Accountabilities:

• Platform Strategy and Roadmap: Define and drive the platform, DevOps and DevSecOps roadmap to deliver secure-by-design, scalable and reusable capabilities aligned to business priorities and emerging risks.
• Golden Pipelines and Reusable Templates: Own the design, build and continuous improvement of enterprise-wide reusable GitHub Actions, Jenkins shared pipelines, CI/CD frameworks, Terraform-based infrastructure patterns, policy-as-code templates and related platform services that improve consistency, speed and security.
• Forward Deployment and Adoption: Direct an embedded engineering function that onboard delivery teams to platform capabilities, operationalise shared patterns in real environments, and ensures measurable adoption and value realization.
• DevSecOps and Cloud Security Leadership: Integrate secure release engineering and cloud security concepts in all areas, including static and dynamic application testing, software composition analysis, software bill of materials, software supply chain protection, least-privilege strategies, and safeguards against threats such as pipeline poisoning.
• Internal Developer Portal and Self-Service Enablement: Establish and scale developer portals and self-service experiences that simplify adoption, improve governance and elevate the developer experience across complementary teams and use cases.
• Feedback Loops and Product Approach: Operate as the connector between platform creators and consumers, using embedded implementation feedback to refine backlog priorities, improve platform usability and raise adoption.
• Technical Authority and Problem Solving: Provide senior technical leadership across architecture and release engineering design, resolve difficult cross-team problems, and make pragmatic decisions that optimize security, resilience, scalability, maintainability and quality.
• People Leadership and Culture: Set direction for two engineering groups, handle performance, coach and mentor technical leaders and engineers, and cultivate an inclusive, high-performing engineering culture.
• AI-Driven Engineering and Security: Champion responsible use of AI to amplify developer productivity, strengthen policy quality and accelerate security analysis across pipelines and platform operations.
• Collaborator Influence and Governance: Build trusted relationships across engineering, security and business collaborators; align diverse priorities; and drive adoption of shared standards and release engineering capabilities at enterprise scale.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• The successful candidate will bring sophisticated domain expertise in platform engineering, DevOps, software deployment processes, cloud-native delivery, and DevSecOps or equivalent experience. They will have a strong background leading technical initiatives across a broad interpersonal area.
• Deep hands-on technical expertise must be demonstrated in coordinating software distribution workflows. This includes crafting and scaling enterprise-wide reusable GitHub Actions, Jenkins shared pipelines, and CI/CD frameworks. These support multiple teams and use cases across an organization.
• Strong experience is required in GitHub Actions, GitHub, Jenkins Shared Pipelines Development, AWS, Terraform, CI/CD, serverless architectures, distributed systems, and modern platform engineering practices. Candidates should also have demonstrable experience creating reusable Terraform modules and patterns and enabling self-service engineering through Internal Developer Portals.
• Advanced knowledge is required in cloud security and DevSecOps, including SAST, DAST, SCA, SBOM, policy-as-code, software supply chain security, secure pipeline design, governance, and least privilege architecture patterns.
• Candidates should demonstrate confirmed experience in leading engineering teams, including developing teams with different operating models and aligning them to shared outcomes. Experience leading both central platform teams and embedded or forward deployment/field engineering models is highly desirable.
• The role requires strong problem-solving capability, with the ability to address difficult but defined problems that span multiple technical and organizational areas, and to develop practical, scalable solutions.
• Strong communication and collaborator leadership skills are critical. The ideal applicant must be able to independently influence and persuade internal and external collaborators, including in situations where priorities or objectives may conflict.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Experience with internal developer platforms and broader developer experience engineering would be beneficial.
• Experience in multi-cloud environments would be helpful.
• Experience defining or implementing enterprise security standards, frameworks, or governance models would be valuable.
• Experience using or enabling AI capabilities in software engineering, platform operations, or security workflows is helpful.

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and bold world.

Why AstraZeneca:

Here, engineering breakthroughs translate into scaled impact across research, manufacturing and patient-facing solutions. You will collaborate with leading specialists and use advanced data and machine learning techniques. Collaborate with modern platforms to turn sophisticated challenges into practical, secure delivery pat terns. These patterns are recognized and supported at the highest levels. We value grit alongside ambition, pair aggressive goals with rigorous standards, and bring diverse fields together to fuel ideas that move faster without compromising on doing things the right way—so your contribution directly supports better decisions and better outcomes for patients.

Step into this leadership role to define how secure software ships at scale—share your story and show us how you will elevate platform engineering across the enterprise.

Date Posted

Closing Date

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity.  We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills.  We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.  We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics.  We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.