Platform Engineer
📍 Job Overview
- Job Title: Platform Engineer
- Company: NielsenIQ
- Location: Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Job Type: Full-time
- Category: DevOps Engineer
- Date Posted: 2025-06-13
- Experience Level: 5-10 years
- Remote Status: On-site/Hybrid (2 days per month at the office)
🚀 Role Summary
- Design and architect scalable, resilient platforms that empower other engineering teams to confidently deploy and run their services.
- Collaborate closely with Application Development and SRE teams to deliver effective solutions.
- Deepen your expertise in core platform technologies like Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, GitHub, Terraform, and various GitOps tools.
- Ensure seamless deployment and operation of platforms by working hand-in-hand with development teams.
- Proactively monitor, analyze, and optimize system performance and security.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role requires a strong background in platform engineering and a deep understanding of core platform technologies to drive effective collaboration and ensure optimal performance.
💻 Primary Responsibilities
- Design and architect scalable, resilient platforms that meet the needs of multiple engineering teams.
- Collaborate closely with Application Development and SRE teams to understand their requirements and deliver tailored solutions.
- Deepen your expertise in core platform technologies by staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices.
- Ensure seamless deployment and operation of platforms by working closely with development teams and providing them with the tools and support they need.
- Proactively monitor, analyze, and optimize system performance and security to ensure the platforms are running efficiently and securely.
- Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for all platforms and frameworks to facilitate onboarding and knowledge sharing.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role requires a balance of technical depth and breadth, as well as strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with multiple teams.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical work experience.
Experience:
- 5+ years of experience in software development or DevOps, with at least 2 years specifically in platform engineering.
Required Skills:
- Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, GitHub, Terraform, and GitOps tooling (e.g., Argo CD).
- Proven experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools like Datadog, Coralogix, or OpenTelemetry.
- Exposure to multiple cloud platforms (GCP, Azure, AWS).
- Proficiency in scripting languages like Go, Python, Bash, or JavaScript.
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, capable of clearly articulating complex technical concepts.
- A team-oriented mindset and the ability to work effectively both collaboratively and independently.
- Strong attention to detail and a proven ability to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment.
- Familiarity with testing frameworks.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience with CAST AI.
- Familiarity with additional cloud platforms or infrastructure as code (IaC) tools.
📝 Enhancement Note: While the required skills list is comprehensive, there is an opportunity to further differentiate yourself by demonstrating experience with additional cloud platforms or IaC tools.
📊 Web Portfolio & Project Requirements
- Platform Architecture: Showcase your ability to design and architect scalable, resilient platforms by providing examples of your past work or projects.
- Collaboration: Demonstrate your ability to work effectively with multiple teams by providing examples of successful collaborations or case studies.
- Documentation: Provide examples of comprehensive documentation you have created for platforms or frameworks to showcase your attention to detail and commitment to knowledge sharing.
- Performance Optimization: Highlight your experience with monitoring and optimizing system performance by providing examples of improvements you have made to platforms or services.
📝 Enhancement Note: While a traditional web portfolio may not be applicable for this role, demonstrating your technical skills and accomplishments through case studies, architecture diagrams, and documentation samples will be crucial for success.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range:
- Research shows that the average salary for a Platform Engineer in Madrid, Spain, with 5-10 years of experience is approximately €60,000 - €80,000 per year. However, this role is with NielsenIQ, a global leader in consumer intelligence, so the salary range could be higher.
Benefits:
- Flexible working environment: NielsenIQ offers a hybrid work arrangement, with 2 days per month required at the office in Madrid or Valladolid.
- Volunteer time off: NielsenIQ encourages employees to give back to their communities by providing paid time off for volunteer work.
- LinkedIn Learning: NielsenIQ provides access to LinkedIn Learning, allowing employees to develop new skills and advance their careers.
- Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP): NielsenIQ offers an EAP to support employees' mental health and well-being.
📝 Enhancement Note: While the provided salary range is based on market research, it is essential to verify the actual salary range with NielsenIQ during the application process.
🎯 Team & Company Context
🏢 Company Culture
- Industry: NielsenIQ is a global leader in consumer intelligence, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior to reveal new pathways for growth.
- Company Size: NielsenIQ has over 30,000 global employees, providing ample opportunities for collaboration and growth.
- Founded: NielsenIQ was founded in 1923, with a rich history in consumer research and data analytics.
- Team Structure: The Enterprise Platform Engineering team is responsible for ensuring that NielsenIQ's corporate technologies are best-in-class, supporting over 30,000 global employees.
- Development Methodology: NielsenIQ employs Agile methodologies, with a focus on collaboration, continuous improvement, and delivering value to the business.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's large global presence and focus on consumer intelligence provide a unique opportunity for Platform Engineers to work on complex, impactful projects and collaborate with diverse teams.
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
- Platform Engineer Career Level: This role is at the senior level, with a focus on designing, architecting, and maintaining core frameworks and platforms that power NielsenIQ's global operations.
- Reporting Structure: The Platform Engineer will report directly to the Senior Manager of Enterprise Platform Engineering.
- Technical Impact: The Platform Engineer will have a significant impact on NielsenIQ's global technology stack, working closely with Application Development and SRE teams to ensure seamless deployment and operation of platforms.
🌐 Work Environment
- Office Type: NielsenIQ offers a hybrid work arrangement, with 2 days per month required at the office in Madrid or Valladolid.
- Office Location(s): Madrid and Valladolid, Spain.
- Workspace Context: NielsenIQ's offices provide collaborative workspaces designed to foster innovation and teamwork. The Platform Engineer will have access to state-of-the-art technology and tools to support their work.
- Work Schedule: NielsenIQ offers a standard 40-hour workweek, with flexible working hours to accommodate individual needs and preferences.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's hybrid work arrangement and collaborative workspaces provide a flexible and supportive environment for Platform Engineers to thrive.
📄 Application & Technical Interview Process
- Interview Process:
- Technical Assessment: A hands-on technical assessment focused on platform engineering skills, such as designing and implementing a simple platform or infrastructure project.
- Architecture Review: A review of your platform architecture design and decision-making process, focusing on scalability, resilience, and performance.
- Behavioral Interview: A behavioral interview focused on your collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills.
- Final Review: A final review of your application materials and a discussion of your long-term career goals and fit within NielsenIQ.
- Portfolio Review Tips:
- Highlight your experience with core platform technologies like Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, GitHub, Terraform, and GitOps tooling.
- Showcase your ability to design and architect scalable, resilient platforms by providing examples of your past work or projects.
- Demonstrate your ability to work effectively with multiple teams by providing examples of successful collaborations or case studies.
- Highlight your experience with monitoring and optimizing system performance by providing examples of improvements you have made to platforms or services.
- Technical Challenge Preparation:
- Brush up on your knowledge of core platform technologies like Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, GitHub, Terraform, and GitOps tooling.
- Practice designing and implementing platform or infrastructure projects to demonstrate your technical skills and problem-solving abilities.
- Prepare for behavioral interview questions by reflecting on your past experiences and accomplishments, focusing on collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's interview process is designed to assess your technical skills and cultural fit, with a strong focus on platform engineering, collaboration, and problem-solving.
🛠 Technology Stack & Web Infrastructure
- Platform Technologies:
- Kubernetes: The primary container orchestration platform used at NielsenIQ.
- Helm: A package manager for Kubernetes that makes it easy to find, share, and use software built for Kubernetes.
- Kustomize: A customization tool for Kubernetes that enables customizing raw, native Kubernetes YAML files.
- GitHub: NielsenIQ's primary version control system and collaboration platform.
- Terraform: An infrastructure as code (IaC) tool used to provision and manage infrastructure across multiple cloud platforms.
- Argo CD: A continuous deployment tool for Kubernetes that enables automated, Git-based deployments.
- Datadog: NielsenIQ's primary monitoring and observability tool.
- OpenTelemetry: A collection of tools, APIs, and SDKs for instrumenting, generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data (metrics, distributed traces, etc.) to help analyze software's reliability and performance.
- CAST AI: A machine learning-driven cloud optimization platform that helps identify and fix inefficiencies in cloud infrastructure.
- Cloud Platforms: NielsenIQ uses multiple cloud platforms, including GCP, Azure, and AWS.
- Scripting Languages: NielsenIQ uses scripting languages like Go, Python, Bash, and JavaScript for automation, scripting, and tool development.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's technology stack is cutting-edge and diverse, providing Platform Engineers with ample opportunities to learn and grow.
👥 Team Culture & Values
- Platform Engineering Values:
- Innovation: NielsenIQ values innovation and encourages Platform Engineers to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in platform engineering.
- Collaboration: NielsenIQ fosters a culture of collaboration, with a strong emphasis on working effectively with multiple teams.
- Reliability: NielsenIQ prioritizes reliability and expects Platform Engineers to design and implement platforms that are scalable, resilient, and performant.
- Continuous Improvement: NielsenIQ is committed to continuous improvement and encourages Platform Engineers to proactively monitor, analyze, and optimize system performance and security.
- Collaboration Style:
- Cross-functional Integration: NielsenIQ encourages collaboration between Platform Engineers and other teams, such as Application Development and SRE teams.
- Code Review Culture: NielsenIQ fosters a culture of code review and peer programming to ensure high-quality, maintainable code.
- Knowledge Sharing: NielsenIQ encourages knowledge sharing and provides opportunities for Platform Engineers to learn from and teach their colleagues.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement provides a supportive and engaging environment for Platform Engineers to grow and succeed.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
- Technical Challenges:
- Scalability: Designing and implementing platforms that can scale to meet the demands of NielsenIQ's global operations.
- Resilience: Ensuring that platforms are resilient and can withstand failures and disruptions without impacting business operations.
- Performance Optimization: Proactively monitoring, analyzing, and optimizing system performance to ensure that platforms are running efficiently and effectively.
- Security: Implementing and maintaining security best practices to protect NielsenIQ's platforms and data from threats and vulnerabilities.
- Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Technical Skill Development: NielsenIQ provides opportunities for Platform Engineers to deepen their expertise in core platform technologies and emerging trends.
- Leadership Development: NielsenIQ offers opportunities for Platform Engineers to develop their leadership skills and take on more significant responsibilities within the team.
- Architecture Decision-Making: NielsenIQ encourages Platform Engineers to take an active role in architecture decision-making, providing opportunities to influence the direction of the team's work and contribute to the company's long-term success.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's technical challenges and learning opportunities provide a dynamic and engaging environment for Platform Engineers to grow and develop their skills.
💡 Interview Preparation
- Technical Questions:
- Platform Architecture: Prepare for questions about designing and architecting scalable, resilient platforms, focusing on your experience with core platform technologies and your approach to platform engineering.
- Collaboration: Prepare for questions about working effectively with multiple teams, focusing on your communication, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
- Performance Optimization: Prepare for questions about monitoring and optimizing system performance, focusing on your experience with tools like Datadog, Coralogix, or OpenTelemetry.
- Company & Culture Questions:
- NielsenIQ's Mission: Prepare for questions about NielsenIQ's mission and how your work as a Platform Engineer contributes to the company's goals.
- Platform Engineering Culture: Prepare for questions about NielsenIQ's platform engineering culture and how you would contribute to and support the team's success.
- Long-term Career Goals: Prepare for questions about your long-term career goals and how they align with NielsenIQ's opportunities for growth and development.
- Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Platform Architecture: Highlight your experience with core platform technologies and your ability to design and architect scalable, resilient platforms.
- Collaboration: Showcase your ability to work effectively with multiple teams by providing examples of successful collaborations or case studies.
- Performance Optimization: Highlight your experience with monitoring and optimizing system performance by providing examples of improvements you have made to platforms or services.
📝 Enhancement Note: NielsenIQ's interview preparation focuses on assessing your technical skills, cultural fit, and long-term career goals, providing a comprehensive evaluation of your qualifications for the Platform Engineer role.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this Platform Engineer position at NielsenIQ:
- Customize Your Portfolio: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your experience with core platform technologies and your ability to design and architect scalable, resilient platforms.
- Optimize Your Resume: Highlight your relevant experience and skills, focusing on platform engineering, collaboration, and problem-solving.
- Prepare for Technical Challenges: Brush up on your knowledge of core platform technologies and practice designing and implementing platform or infrastructure projects.
- Research NielsenIQ: Familiarize yourself with NielsenIQ's mission, values, and culture to demonstrate your fit and enthusiasm for the role.
⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and web development/server administration industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.
Application Requirements
5+ years of experience in software development or DevOps, with at least 2 years in platform engineering. Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, GitHub, Terraform, and GitOps tooling.