Job Description

Applications 3rd Line Team Lead
Reference number: JR248759
Location: Hybrid working - home and our office near London Bridge
Working pattern: Full Time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of roles: 1
Grade: IT5
Salary: 61,100 - 64,900 per annum
We are looking for a Applications 3rd Line Team Lead to join our team.
Role summary
As the Applications 3rd Line Team Lead, you will be a pivotal leader and hands-on technical expert, ensuring the high availability, performance, and security of Kaplan Professional UK's critical web application and database estate across multi cloud environments. You will lead, mentor, and empower a team of 3rd Line Application Engineers, driving operational excellence, continuous improvement, and effective incident, problem, and change management in line with ITIL standards. This role requires a strong commitment to compliance (SOX, ISO27001, GDPR, PCI) and proactive engagement with both IT and business stakeholders.
A detailed job description can be viewed . If the link does not work for you, please copy and paste the following URL into your web browser:
What you'll bring to the role
You are highly motivated and tenacious individual with a passion for technology and a commitment to service excellence. You combine strong problem-solving and critical decision-making abilities with a desire to lead, mentor, and build a dedicated team.
Skills & Experience:
Extensive technical expertise in 3rd line application support, with a comprehensive understanding of web and business applications.
Proficiency is essential in:
Operating Systems: Windows, Linux (desirable)
Web Technologies: IIS, Apache, HTML/HTTPS, JSON, XML.
Monitoring Tools: Datadog, CloudWatch, SQL, Sentry, Idera, Uptrends, or comparable solutions.
Demonstratable experience in database administration, including backup, restore, replication, maintenance, and Always On.
Strong SQL skills including TSQL, querying, DML, DDL, indexes, and performance tuning (MS, SQL preferred).
Experience in automation tools such as Terraform, Octopus Deploy, Azure Pipelines, or equivalent.
Familiarity with source control repositories like Azure DevOps, Git, or similar.
Vendor certification and/or verifiable experience in supporting and maintaining cloud services (AWS: EC2, S3, VPC, NLB/ALB, API Gateway, SQS, SES) & (Azure: Virtual machines, storage, AI Services, DevOps, Power BI - desirable).
ITIL certification or a thorough understanding and practical experience of ITIL methodologies (Incident, Problem, Change Management).
Exceptional problem-solving capabilities and the aptitude to a make critical decisions under pressure.
Strong desire to disseminate knowledge and experience through mentoring and developing technical teams.
Excellent communication stakeholder management skills, with ability to interact effectively across diverse business units.
A commitment to ongoing professional development and maintaining current knowledge of industry trends and best practices.
Personal Attributes:
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Professional and constructive approach.
Customer-focused and service driven.
Highly self-motivated and directed.
Keen attention to detail, with the ability to present information clearly.
Strong analytical skills.
Good negotiation skills.
Ability to prioritise and execute tasks effectively in high-pressure situations.
What we do
Kaplan Professional is a leading provider of apprenticeships, accountancy / tax / finance & banking courses, and professional assessments. For almost 80 years, we've helped shape the development and careers of finance professionals.
We are part of the Kaplan group, one of the world's largest and most diverse education and assessment providers. We operate in over 30 countries and maintain relationships and partnerships with more than 1,000 school districts, colleges and universities, professional bodies and over 10,000 businesses. Our vast breadth and scope in terms of both capabilities and assets sets us apart.
What we believe in
Our goal is for Kaplan to be a great place to work where everybody can succeed, so we truly live and breathe our values: act with integrity, grow knowledge, empower & support, create opportunity, drive results together.
Kaplan is a global organisation whose mission is rooted in providing equal access to education and opportunities for advancement to people of all backgrounds. We believe diversity, equity and inclusion - of culture, experiences, perspectives - are paramount to creating success and opportunity in an ever-changing world. As an educator, partner and employer, Kaplan is committed to promoting an equitable world in which diverse talent can develop, advance and thrive.
To view our candidate privacy notice click .
Our Values
We live, breathe and celebrate our values - they drive what we believe in, how we behave and guide us in creating a culture of success.

• Act with integrity

• Empower and support

• Create opportunity

• Grow knowledge

• Drive results together

What we offer
As well as a competitive salary, transparent pay structures, hybrid/home working where possible, and paths for career progression, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• 28 days annual leave + option to purchase more

• Season ticket loan and cycle to work scheme

• Big discounts on Kaplan courses for you and your family

• Private medical, income protection, and life insurance

• 24/7 confidential helpline providing counselling and other support services

• Company pension contributions

• Maternity, Adoption, Shared Parental and Paternity/Partner pay which is well above statutory levels

How to apply
To apply for this role please submit a CV along with a Cover Letter detailing how you meet the requirements of the role no later than 11pm on Monday 11th August 2025. Note, we recommend that you apply at the earliest as we reserve the right to close the role before the closing date if we have gathered a suitable shortlist.
Additional Application Information
Recruitment checks are undertaken in accordance with our background checking policy. Successful applicants will be required to undertake a Basic Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Our Suitability of Ex-offenders Policy is available on the careers page of our website .
Application Support
If you require support completing your application or wish to talk to someone about the role before applying please email the Recruitment Team .
Disability Confident Scheme
As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to interviewing applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the role as per the job description and any screening or testing stages. Details of how to request your application be considered under the Disability Confident scheme will be shared with all applicants upon submission of an application.
Furthermore, all applicants invited to attend interview will be given information on how to request reasonable adjustments to attend.