TechOps Architect

Help us use technology to make a big green dent in the universe!

Kraken powers some of the most innovative global developments in energy.

We’re a technology company focused on creating a smart, sustainable energy system. From optimising renewable generation, creating a more intelligent grid and enabling utilities to provide excellent customer experiences, our operating system for energy is transforming the industry around the world in a way that benefits everyone.

It’s a really exciting time in energy. Help us make a real impact on shaping a better, more sustainable future.

Kraken Customer

What we do: build the most AI-driven, innovative, forward-thinking platform for energy management. From optimizing resources to delivering cost-effective, exceptional customer experiences through advanced Customer Information Systems (CIS), billing, meter data management, CRM, and AI-driven communications, Kraken is powering the next wave of innovation in the energy industry.

Why we do it: future energy will not look like energy as we know it today. We need to not just think about our future, but build for it. Now.

We are very excited to be building a small and efficient TechOps team at Octopus. We are looking for an ambitious, knowledgeable and experienced TechOps Architect with a passion for tackling challenges, driving innovation and someone who, quite frankly, can help us with our big growing pains.

You will be a key partner in defining what TechOps is at Octopus. We will be shaping this team to provide a world class support service to our employees, building our way out of problems with engineering firepower and undertaking transformational organisational change.

What is TechOps?

A more modern, more lean version of a traditional enterprise IT team. We cover everything from what most people would call “1st line support” all the way up to high-level strategic planning, and everything in between.

We tackle big problems and the breadth of work is huge. Dealing with ambiguity is a key part of working in TechOps, and every day will be a new and exciting one, working on varying challenges across the company.

We have a cloud-first approach to everything we do. This allows us to scale quickly and focus on things where we can add the most value. No on-prem AD here!

About the role

As a TechOps Architect, you will be responsible for high-level strategic and architectural technical decisions around the business. We also strongly believe that no matter what role you have within TechOps, it’s still important to keep your ear to the ground and see, first hand, the problems our users are facing, and the impact that decisions you make have on everyone at Octopus. This means you’ll spend some of your time helping out with day-to-day “1st, 2nd and 3rd line” support.

Where our TechOps Generalists may be a jack of all trades, master of none, as an Architect, you’ll be a master of all. You’ll have a wide breadth of knowledge and experience across all areas of IT, but also an immensely deep understanding of those areas too. You will have interest and/or experience in related areas like software engineering, security, platform architecture, UI/UX design etc

Roles that you might currently be in: 3rd line support, DevOps Engineer, Systems architect, Systems designer, Systems engineer, Network Architect, Workplace technology, Solutions specialist, Solutions designer, Solutions architect, Solutions architect, Enterprise Architect.

What you'll do...

• Define what good looks like for a small and lean TechOps team.
• Tackle some of the toughest technical issues as we scale to tens of thousands of people.
• Make wide-scale strategic technical decisions across the whole Octopus Energy Group, globally.
• Design, build and continually improve processes, automations and systems that will improve user experience, remove inefficiencies, allow us to scale quickly and keep our team small.
• Mentor the wider TechOps team, providing support and guidance for any technical project they may be working on. (This role will not involve directly managing people).
• Support the rest of the team in providing delightful day-to-day technical support to all areas of the business, to ensure our incredible employees are able to do their job as efficiently as possible. Their problems are our problems.
• Collaborate closely with our Security team to ensure we strike the right balance between security, productivity and user experience.
• Managing supplier relationships and the procurement process for SaaS and hardware.
• Lead and manage complex technical projects with multiple stakeholders from around the business. Examples of some TechOps projects include…
• Rollout of, and migration to, a new identity provider
• macOS and Windows MDM migration
• Rollout of a new device trust and posture compliance solution
• The replacement of insecure factors like SMS with phishing-resistant factors
• Office fit-outs, including tech like network, AV, access control etc
• SaaS migrations for acquisitions e.g. Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace

What you'll need...

• Experience leading on a range of technical projects across various technologies and platforms.
• Experience with scripting, using APIs and automating mundane, error-prone repetitive tasks.
• To be comfortable with a huge amount of ambiguity and spinning a lot of plates all at the same time.
• Experience working with multiple teams and managing multiple stakeholders.
• Experience supporting, managing and deploying applications to macOS, Windows, iOS and Android devices.
• Experience with Identity & Access Management systems like Okta or Microsoft Entra.
• Experience administering and troubleshooting Single Sign-On (SSO) technologies such as OAuth, OIDC and SAML.
• Understanding of identity provisioning technologies such as SCIM.
• Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical, senior stakeholders.
• A conscientious approach to everything you do and a passion for doing the right thing rather than the easy thing.

Should have:- You have strong opinions on best practice and you challenge traditional norms, advocating for more modern, novel approaches.

• Experience with email gateway administration and email routing.
• Understanding of email security protocols and standards e.g. SPF, DKIM, DMARC etc.
• Experience using git and GitHub for code changes and CI/CD.
• Experience mentoring less experienced team members.

Nice to have:- Experience building macOS apps with Swift

• Experience with Munki and AutoPkg for macOS software deployment
• Experience with Chocolatey and PowerShell for Windows software deployment
• A foundational understanding of programming and software engineering.
• Familiarity with frontend and backend engineering, including languages such as TypeScript and Python, and frameworks such as React, Remix and Django.
• Familiarity with our security tooling - CrowdStrike EDR, Kolide, osquery, Zscaler

Don’t think you check off all of the above? We love hiring passionate people with a drive to learn so get in touch and let us know which areas you don’t currently have confidence and/or experience with, we’d love to hear from you!

This role can be fully remote on or close to the UK timezone. We also have offices in the following cities around the UK and the EU where we’d encourage you to work from if convenient: - UK - Brighton, Manchester, Leicester, Coventry or London

• EU - Valencia, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Munich or Milan

We're very excited to be growing our small team. We're looking for skills and experience to help shape and define the future of not only our team, but the wider business at a global scale. If you're reading this and grinning, please apply! There are huge challenges to tackle, and we need amazing people who are keen to get stuck in.

Why else you'll love it here

• Wondering what the salary for this role is? Just ask us! On a call with one of our recruiters it's something we always cover as we genuinely want to match your experience with the correct salary. The reason why we don't advertise is because we honestly have a degree of flexibility and would never want salary to be a reason why someone doesn't apply to Octopus - what's more important to us is finding the right octofit!
• Octopus Energy Group is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We won best company to work for in 2022, on Glassdoor we were voted 50 best places to work in 2022 and our Group CEO, Greg has recordeda podcast about our culture and how we empower our people. We’ve also been placed in thetop 10 companies for senior leadership and most recently The Sunday Times, Best Places To Work 2023
• Visit our UK perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits