Platform Engineering Lead

Platform Engineering Lead

Remote - South Africa 

6 month contract to start - It will then roll into a Full time role thereafter

Our client is standing up as an independent company, and technology is at the centre of how we get there. We are working through three phases: Unify — becoming one business on one operational platform, quickly and safely; Extend — redesigning our customer and operational journeys to be digital-first, removing the manual steps and handoffs that slow us down; and Transform — reaching a state where systems run repeatable work by default and our people spend their time on what only people can do: teaching, solutioning, relationships, and judgement. This is not a transformation project with a finish line. It is a permanent shift in how people and technology work together at our company.

Humans do the work. Technology carries the weight.

Role Snapshot

 Title: Platform Automation Engineering Lead

 Location: Remote , South Africa

 Reporting to: CIO

 Employment Type: Full-time

 Direct reports:

o M365/Intune Engineer

o Azure Engineer

o Network Engineer

We are hiring a hands-on Platform Automation Engineering Lead to build a code-first, AI-enabled platform capability across Microsoft 365 and Azure, while establishing a reliable operating model for core network and connectivity services. This is a player-coach leadership role: you are accountable for platform outcomes and expected to execute directly on the highest-risk, highest-value technical work. This role is more than M365/Azure administration. It owns how we build and run platform automation as an engineering discipline: issues-to-code, policy-as-code, drift detection, agent-assisted delivery, MCP tool surfaces, and safe release patterns.

What You Will Own

 Platform automation engineering strategy and delivery across M365, Intune, Azure, and core network services.

 Operational reliability and security posture for identity, endpoint, cloud, and connectivity layers.

 Configuration-as-code standards, CI/CD controls, and change governance for managed platforms.

 Agent-enabled platform delivery model (issue quality, PR quality, review discipline, and release safety).

 MCP/tooling layer that exposes governed platform capabilities to agents and automation flows.

 Service health, incident response, problem management, and continuous hardening cadence.

 Team outcomes for three platform engineers (M365/Intune, Azure, Network).

 Monthly executive reporting to CIO on platform health, risk, performance, and priorities.

Key Responsibilities

 Lead the day-to-day platform engineering function spanning M365, Intune, Azure, and network operations.

 Define and execute a 12-month platform roadmap balancing reliability, security, modernization, and cost control.

 Own M365 and Intune engineering standards across identity, endpoint compliance, access policy, and governance.

 Own Azure engineering standards across landing zones, monitoring, security controls, backup/recovery, and platform services.

 Operate a code-first platform model where significant changes are designed, reviewed, tested, and released through versioned pipelines.

 Use AI-enabled engineering tooling to accelerate delivery while maintaining strict review and quality gates.

 Build or adopt MCP-compatible platform tool surfaces so agents can perform governed platform actions safely.

 Partner with network engineering to ensure resilient connectivity, secure access, and operational readiness.

 Drive incident and problem management discipline, including root-cause analysis and permanent fixes.

 Ensure all significant platform changes follow version control, peer review, and controlled release practices.

 Establish clear ownership boundaries and quarterly delivery goals for each direct report.

 Mentor and develop team capability while maintaining hands-on technical contribution.

First 90 Days Deliverables

 Platform health baseline across M365, Azure, Intune, and network: risks, gaps, ownership, and mitigation plan.

 Stabilization plan and execution for top-priority reliability and security issues.

 Operating cadence established for incidents, major changes, and service reviews.

 Team charter in place for M365/Intune, Azure, and Network engineers with clear outcomes and accountabilities.

 Code-first operating baseline in place: issue templates, PR quality standards, release and rollback controls.

 Initial AI-enabled delivery loop established with measurable quality gates for agent-assisted changes.

 Executive dashboard live with key platform KPIs, risks, and 30/60/90-day priorities.

Success Measures (First 12 Months)

 Platform reliability and security posture measurably improved across M365, Azure, Intune, and network layers.

 Change success rate improved with fewer high-impact incidents linked to platform changes.

 Critical risks reduced through a managed hardening and remediation backlog.

 Strong service ownership behavior established across the three-engineer team.

 Faster incident resolution and improved post-incident fix completion.

 Clear roadmap delivery against agreed quarterly outcomes.

 High-quality code-first delivery: materially improved first-pass PR/CI success and reduced rework.

 Practical AI-enabled engineering adoption that increases throughput without reducing control quality.

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to fair and inclusive hiring. Applicants are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet every preferred qualification.

Application Instructions

Candidates should provide:

 CV

 A short note covering:

o A code-first platform capability they built (not just administered)

o A cross-domain platform incident they stabilized and what changed permanently

o How they used AI-enabled engineering to increase delivery speed while preserving control quality

Remote working with one of the global leaders in e-learning 

Opportunity to fully own the platform automation function & team as the business embarks on an exciting journey after being recently acquired 

Work autonomously, supporting a CIO that you can learn from while adding great value