TechOps Architect, Octopus Energy Group
Octopus Energy UK
More information about location
Entech company
Open for applications
Entech company
1001+ employees
Open for applications
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
Octopus Energy's mission is to speed the transition to a sustainable, low carbon future through renewable energy and technology whilst putting customers at the heart of everything they do.
Role
Who you are
- 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 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
- 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
- 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
Desirable
- 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
What the job involves
- 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!
- 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
- 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
Application process
- 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
Our take
According to Octopus, the energy industry in the UK is ruled by a handful of complacent companies peddling fossil fuels, pricing trickery, and poor customer service. Aiming to disrupt the status quo with sustainable energy, Octopus entered the market in 2016 and they now supply energy to millions of homes in a number of countries. Octopus has made a name for itself in energy circles largely because of its “Kraken” technology platform, which it claims is able to reroute energy from renewable sources around a network far more efficiently than competitors.
Octopus Energy further differentiates itself through its aspiration to make everything as easy as possible for consumers, from the simplicity of their bills and the fact that customers are not locked into a contract so they can leave at any time to offering customer service over email and social media at times that suit customers. They aim to make the eco‐friendly choice the easy choice, so all of their tariffs use 100% green electricity, while not being more expensive than their competitors' non-green tariffs.
They are continually creating innovative new products. For example, Octopus Tracker where prices changes daily to guarantee you get the market rate; Agile where the price changes every half hour to enable you to benefit from cheap electricity when the sun shines, the wind blows, and the networks are under-utilised. One of the current challenges they face is that their products are more complex than their competitors, given they use 1000x more data than traditional energy companies. They're exploring ways to explain to customers exactly how their products work.
Kirsty
Company Specialist
Insights
Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
46% female employees
44% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Employee endorsements
Challenging work
"The work that I am doing is often quite difficult. I am constantly challenged and problem solving, which I find rewarding as it means I am always..."
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Dec 2023
$800m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Jul 2022
$225m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Total funding: $2.5bn
Company benefits
- Your development is important - we support and help with development including internal and external courses, learning, study support etc, all bespoke to you
- Flexi working environment
- Equity Options Scheme - you own your own part of the business, share options in the whole Octopus Energy Group so we all work together towards success
- Unlimited paid time off policy
- Work from home opportunities
- Equity Option Scheme - Everyone owns part of what we’re building with shares
- Tech - We want to get the best out of our people and get that everyone is slightly different. Have a certain tech requirement? We’ll do our best to get it
- Money Coach - You may want to think about financial planning. The company has an arrangement with Octopus Money Coach. They offer the opportunity to talk with a professional coach
- Wellbeing - Need some calm in your life? We have 'Octopus Headspace Licences' available. Twice a week we have 45 Minute live yoga class open to all Octopus staff!
- Parents - get access to tax free childcare and maternity and paternity pay. We’re always looking for new ways to support parents, during lockdown we created OctoKids TV to help keep your kids occupied and entertained (https://octopus.energy/blog/octopuskids/) 🇬🇧
- Office culture - Our offices are stocked with fruit, breakfast, great coffee, and soft drinks (and ice lollies if you're lucky)! Weekly on a Friday we all get together (this happens virtually too) for company updates and drinks - we call it Family Dinner. We won best company to work for in 2019 and our CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people. Check out what our people say at Glassdoor! 🇬🇧
- Car Salary Sacrifice - Browse the wide selection of electric vehicles and get a sample quote under our workplace salary sacrifice scheme. If approved, the monthly leasing costs are taken directly from your gross salary each month meaning you're saving on paying some tax 🇬🇧
Company values
- Autonomy
- Empathy
- Innovation
- Impact
Company HQ
Fitzrovia, London, UK
Articles
Founders
Greg Jackson
(CEO)Previously Adviser at Ashcombe Advisers for 9 years and Non-Executive Director at Zopa for 7 years.
James Eddison
(CTO)Previously CEO at Claripoint for 7 years and CTO at Tangent Labs also for 7 years.
Stuart Jackson
(CFO)Previously Director of "Foundation" Business Unit at Barclaycard for 2 years and Chief of Staff, Secured Lending SBU at Barclays also for 2 years.
People progressing
Joined as Marketing Assistant, being promoted to Marketing Executive after 6 months and again to Junior Product and Marketing Manager after 7 months. After 8 months they became a full Product and Marketing Manager.
Joined as Senior Talent Partner, being promoted to Talent Manager after 1 year and again to Head of Talent Acquisition after 8 months.
Diversity & Inclusion at Octopus Energy Group
- Unconscious Bias workshops for interviewers and hiring managers
- Octopus Energy Equality Foundation
- Partnership with the Saracens High School - inspiring future generations - https://www.saracens.com/powering-futures-together-saracens-high-school-octopus-energy/
- Octopus Energy Internships - https://octopus.energy/blog/ada-lovelace-tech-internship/
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