Senior/Tech Lead Backend Engineer (Managed Kubernetes)
Possible
Sponsorship likelihood
This employer issued few or no visas recently
Not disclosed
Salary
Not disclosed by employer
£54,700
Going rate
Skilled Worker going rate
This role likely qualifies for a Skilled Worker visa
SOC 2134 (80% match) is an eligible occupation, with a going rate of £54,700, and NEBIUS UK LTD is a licensed sponsor. That is our reading of the rules. Whether they issue a Certificate of Sponsorship is still their call.
This could also be SOC 2132 (IT managers, Role includes managing 4-8 engineers and technical vision, fitting IT manager). We read the code off the advert, so it is our best guess, not the employer's.
New graduate or PhD holder? Pick one of the lower rates.
What each route needs for this job
| Occupation code | New entrant 70% of going rate | STEM PhD 80% of going rate | Relevant PhD 90% of going rate | Standard rate 100% of going rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2134 Programmers and software development professionals Most likely code | £38,300 | £43,700 | £49,200 | £54,700 |
2132 IT managers Also possible | £38,500 | £44,000 | £49,500 | £55,000 |
We use the lowest threshold across the plausible codes. Likelihood is Possible at most when the pay clears only a lower rate, or only under a less likely code. How the Home Office picks the code
About the role
About Nebius:
Nebius is leading a new era in cloud infrastructure for the global AI economy. We are building a full-stack AI cloud platform that supports developers and enterprises from data and model training through to production deployment, without the cost and complexity of building large in-house AI/ML infrastructure.
Built by engineers, for engineers. From large-scale GPU orchestration to inference optimization, we own the hard problems across compute, storage, networking and applied AI.
Listed on Nasdaq (NBIS) and headquartered in Amsterdam, we have a global footprint with R&D hubs across Europe, the UK, North America and Israel. Our team of 1,500+ includes hundreds of engineers with deep expertise across hardware, software and AI R&D.
Nebius Managed Kubernetes (mk8s) mission is to grow the Nebius cloud platform by providing a Kubernetes-native way to run AI systems with high efficiency and low operational overhead. With a single click, it provides a Kubernetes cluster on top of Nebius services for compute (VMs) and networking. In 2026, the service is scaling 10× and is expected to manage customer workloads across tens of thousands of GPU servers in more than 10 data centers.
You will lead the mk8s Core team, one of three mk8s teams. The Core team owns the API, the core of the service control plane, cluster autoscaling, platform integrations, and running k8s add-ons.
At Nebius, team leads are hands-on. We expect you to be a senior or staff engineer now (or earlier in your career). You will start as an individual contributor to gain context, then take on managerial responsibilities.
In this position, you will be responsible to:
- Lead by example. Set the quality bar by spending a significant portion of your time on IC work: writing and reviewing code, leading projects, and participating in on-call rotation, incident mitigation, and post-incident analysis.
Examples of outcomes you could drive as a Team Lead
- Optimize the service control plane to create and manage 20K GPU nodes in a single Kubernetes cluster, enabling a major contract for the company.
- Integrate cluster autoscaling approaches (e.g., Karpenter) to improve resource utilization and support seamless auto-upgrades.
- Provide a Kubernetes-native way to use local disks to reduce disk I/O bottlenecks for AI training and inference, improving efficiency.
- Deliver managed Layer 7 load balancers to reduce operational overhead for customers.
What you will bring to the table:
- 8+ years of professional software engineering or management experience
- Excellent knowledge of Golang, or you are ready to quickly switch to this programming language
- Expertise with
- Multi-month technical projects
- Tech leading engineers
- Owning multi-month technical projects.
It would be an added bonus if you had:
- Experience with Team management, Kubernetes administration, Developing Kubernetes controller.
#LI-ET3
Benefits & Perks:
- Competitive compensation
- Career growth and learning opportunities
- Flexibility and ownership
- Collaborative and innovative culture
- Opportunity to work on impactful AI projects
- International environment and talented teams
What's it like to work at Nebius:
Fast moving - Bold thinking - Constant growth - Meaningful impact - Trust and real ownership - Opportunity to shape the future of AI
Equal Opportunity Statement:
Nebius is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace and to providing equal employment opportunities in all aspects of employment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Applicants must be authorized to work in the country in which they apply and will be required to provide proof of employment eligibility as a condition of hire.
If you need accommodations during the application process, please let us know.
This description is the source posting as it read when we added it. We are not affiliated with NEBIUS UK LTD, so check their own site for the current details.
Where this offer sits in the market
Programmers and software development professionals (SOC 2134) · UK · ONS ASHE 2025 · basic pay · ~399k in sample- Middle half £42,536–76,752
- Median £56,784
- Going rate £54,700
- Threshold £41,700
- New entrant £38,300–49,200
Similar sponsored roles
See all UK visa jobsNo close matches live right now.
Browse more sponsored jobs at NEBIUS UK LTDAbout sponsorship for this role
Does this job guarantee visa sponsorship?
Not necessarily. NEBIUS UK LTD holds a sponsor licence, but sponsorship for a specific hire is always the employer's decision. Be upfront in your application that you'll require it.
What salary is needed for this role to be eligible?
The offer must clear both the general threshold and the SOC 2134 going rate of £54,700. New-entrant and shortage discounts can lower it.