Lead Cloud Engineer

Working at CreateFuture CreateFuture is an AI-native consulting partner where people do work that matters and are supported to do it well. We work alongside organisations such as PayPal, adidas, NatWest, FanDuel and Money Saving Expert, building digital products and services that make a difference while always putting people first. We’re a team of creators. We write code, shape delivery, build go-to-market strategies, develop AI solutions and create the practices that support our people. We work side by side with our clients, challenging what’s not working and helping them to build the future. Our commitment to craft, quality, and culture has helped us scale to over 600 people in just a few years. Our UK Benefits • 35 days leave (including bank holidays). • Private medical insurance. • Enhanced parental and adoption leave. • Financial coaching + 5% pension match. • 40 hours of paid learning and development. View our full list of UK benefits. CreateFuture is a Great Place to Work-Certified™ company and has won Best Workplaces UK multiple years in a row. Join us on our journey. Let’s create tomorrow, together, today. About the role and team: At CreateFuture, our Lead Engineer - Cloud plays a pivotal role in supporting the success of our Cloud engineers, our clients, and internal projects. Working closely with clients, you are responsible for the successful delivery of client and internal projects by building professional relationships with key client stakeholders, challenging where appropriate. Use your technical expertise to provide best practice advice and processes within your project team and the wider capability. As our client demands expand from traditional cloud migrations to AI enablement and platform engineering, you will lead the charge in building autonomous platforms, managing AI lifecycles, and enforcing strict cost governance across cloud estates. You are seen as a leader internally and externally, through your technical expertise, guidance, and professionalism, both on and off a client. Alongside delivering for your customers, you will also support and mentor a team of cloud engineers to encourage their growth. You will be setting the technical direction of the team alongside Cloud Leads and Senior Engineers. Key responsibilities: • An 8-week discovery will define the migration approach, common tooling, deployment standards and tribe-by-tribe responsibilities. • The technical work includes converting existing YAML deployment configuration into AWS CDK-based infrastructure as code, building CI/CD pipelines, Dockerising applications, and deploying them with Kubernetes and Helm. • Delivery will vary by tribe: some teams may migrate independently using central standards and tools, while others may need more direct assistance. • Createfuture is supplying a small central team initially—lead cloud engineer and principal software engineer—then adding two cloud engineers and a senior software engineer after discovery. Consultancy & Advisory • Growth Mindset: Apply a growth mindset to identify new revenue opportunities on client accounts, working alongside the commercial team to successfully land additional work. • Pre-Sales Contribution: Lead and contribute to pre-sales activities, RFPs, and BIDs, accounting for up to 5% to 10% of the role. Engage with the commercial team to drive high-value Cloud and Data advisory roles. • Ambassadorial Presence: Act as an ambassador for CreateFuture in the public space, attending events, speaking, blogging, or leveraging social media to support the growth of the Cloud capability. • Hands-on: you are an experienced engineer and can be active with the cloud platform tools, software development and writing efficient code for clients. Technical Leadership & Platform Supp