Principal Cloud Platform Engineer
- Own the architecture and technical direction of a large-scale AWS environment.
- Design, build and maintain infrastructure using AWS and Terraform.
- Mentor engineers and influence architectural decisions while remaining hands-on.
Principal Cloud Platform Engineer
Sydney | Flexible Hybrid | Permanent
- Own the architecture and technical direction of a large-scale AWS environment
- Hands-on Principal Engineer role focused on AWS, Terraform and automation
- Modernise cloud infrastructure and work with emerging AI technologies
About the role
We're looking for a Principal Cloud Platform Engineer to take technical ownership of a complex AWS environment within a growing, technology-driven organisation.
This is a hands-on individual contributor role, not a traditional people management position. You'll be responsible for designing, building and improving cloud infrastructure while setting engineering standards and mentoring a small DevOps team.
The business is investing heavily in cloud modernisation, automation and AI, giving you the opportunity to influence how the platform evolves.
What you'll do
- Own the architecture, engineering standards and technical direction of the AWS platform.
- Design, build and maintain infrastructure using AWS and Terraform.
- Modernise existing infrastructure, including migration from legacy Elastic Beanstalk environments.
- Work extensively with ECS on EC2/Fargate, alongside Lambda, API Gateway and other AWS services.
- Build and improve CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions.
- Develop automation using Python and Bash, reducing manual processes and improving reliability.
- Improve monitoring, observability, performance and cloud cost optimisation.
- Work closely with Cyber Security teams to maintain security and compliance standards.
- Explore opportunities to introduce AI-driven automation into platform operations.
- Mentor engineers and influence architectural decisions while remaining hands-on.
What you'll bring
- 8+ years' experience across Cloud, Infrastructure, DevOps or Platform Engineering.
- Deep hands-on AWS experience, particularly ECS, EC2, Fargate, Lambda, IAM and networking.
- Advanced Terraform / Infrastructure as Code experience.
- Strong GitHub Actions, CI/CD and GitOps experience.
- Experience with Python and Bash scripting.
- Strong understanding of cloud security, reliability, monitoring and cost optimisation.
- Experience working in a regulated environment, ideally with ISO 27001, PCI DSS, APRA CPS 234 or Essential Eight.
- Strong architecture and technical design experience.
- The confidence to make technical recommendations, influence stakeholders and mentor other engineers.
Please note: This environment uses AWS ECS rather than Kubernetes, so strong ECS experience is particularly valuable.
Why join?
This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of a cloud platform and influence how it's designed, automated and secured.
You'll join a growing organisation investing significantly in technology, with the autonomy to make architectural decisions, introduce engineering improvements and work with emerging AI capabilities.
It's an ideal opportunity for a senior engineer looking to step into a Principal-level position while remaining deeply technical.
If you have any questions about this role or others we have available, you can email Hayley directly via ***************************.
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We partner with clients who embrace diversity and seek candidates across all backgrounds, abilities, genders, sexualities, cultures and faiths.
Reference number: *******
Profession:Cloud, DevOps & AutomationCloud, DevOps & Automation
Company: TheDriveGroup
Date posted: 14th Oct, 2026
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