Platform Engineer

About Smartbox:

We exist to be the go-to companion, empowering everyone to transform their free time into experiences. At Smartbox Group, we believe that real-life experiences help us thrive, connect, and become the best versions of ourselves.

With nearly 15,000 different products across leisure themes — Stays, Wellness, Adventure, Gastronomy — we allow people to enrich their lives with moments of sharing, emotions, and unforgettable memories.

Present in 11 countries, Smartbox Group employs over 700 people across Europe and works with more than 40,000 trusted partners, including hotels, restaurants, wellness centres, and outdoor activity providers.

Our Culture:

At Smartbox, we’re on a mission to unbox our world and unbox the potential of our People. We’re not just building a workplace — we’re cultivating a movement where bold ideas, authentic connections, and real-world experiences redefine what work can be.

We empower our people to take ownership, break boundaries, and dive headfirst into challenges that spark growth and impact. Together, we’re creating a culture of daring curiosity, relentless ambition, and transformative purpose — where every team member shapes their future and leaves a lasting mark on the world around us.

The Role:

We are looking for a Platform Engineer to join our Technical Operations team in Dublin, reporting to the Platform Engineering Manager.

Platform Engineers at Smartbox are responsible for keeping all user-facing and production systems running smoothly 24/7/365, constantly looking to improve workflows and processes to deliver best-in-class experiences to our customers and internal stakeholders.

In this role, you will participate in our on-call rotation, partner with development teams to improve their services and processes, and help maintain and advance our technology stack.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain cloud infrastructure in AWS using Terraform, including development of reusable modules.
• Operate and enhance production Kubernetes clusters using Helm, Karpenter, ArgoCD, and AWS EKS.
• Implement and maintain GitOps-driven CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure and application deployments.
• Improve platform reliability through proactive monitoring, alerting, and observability using Prometheus, Grafana, CheckMK, and internal tools.
• Automate operational processes using Bash, Python, Go, and Rust.
• Troubleshoot production incidents across infrastructure, networking, containers, and application layers.
• Support and optimise large-scale, database-driven systems (MySQL required; PostgreSQL a plus).
• Contribute to capacity planning, scaling strategies, and performance optimisation initiatives.
• Drive operational excellence improvements and incident reduction initiatives.
• Manage and optimise centralised logging using Elasticsearch, Filebeat, rsyslog, and Kibana.
• Maintain documentation and participate in a 24x7 on-call rotation.
• Collaborate with development teams on tools development, service improvements, and change management activities.

About You:

We’re looking for someone who not only has the right skills but also embodies our guiding principles:

• The Owner — You take accountability, act with integrity, and treat challenges as opportunities.
• The Ambitious Maverick — You bring bold ideas, challenge the status quo, and are unafraid to take smart risks.
• The Radical Optimist — You maintain a solutions-focused mindset, inspiring others with your positivity and resilience.
• The Connector — You build authentic relationships, foster collaboration, and create space for diverse voices to thrive.

Skills & Experience:

Essential:

• 3+ years of experience in technical support, systems administration, or platform/infrastructure engineering.
• Proficiency in LAMP/LNMP environments.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and Docker.
• Experience with modern CI/CD tooling (GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, or equivalent).
• Strong Linux systems knowledge and troubleshooting capability.
• Solid understanding of networking fundamentals (DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP, load balancing, TLS, caching).
• Experience with cloud automation on AWS and Terraform.
• Experience with Elasticsearch and log management.
• Scripting skills in Python, Bash, or similar languages.
• Experience administering MySQL databases.
• Excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills.

Desirable:

• Experience with configuration management tools such as Chef/Cinc.
• PostgreSQL database experience.
• Experience leveraging AI tools to improve code quality and establishing AI-related workflows.

What we offer:

🏡 Hybrid work: 2–3 remote days + 20 days abroad per year

✅ Essentials: health cover, pension, taxsaver benefit, extra leave

🎁 Flexible benefits: personalize with health, wellbeing & learning options

🌈 D&I commitment: parental leave, Inclusive Day, gender equity in rewards

L&D Support: Study Assistance and Study Leave

🎉 Unbox Your World: Take 1 day leave per year as short notice (YOLO!) + paid sabbatical after 5 years

🌍 Transparency: clear, fair salary bands and career levels