Lead Observability Engineer

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse. 

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences.  Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work. 

We are VML Enterprise Solutions - a group of talented engineers, tech experts, and creators who combine our passions and contribute to the IT world. You may know us better as Wunderman Thompson Technology – in 2024 we changed our name, but at the same time, we remained a great team of people who deliver our best. We design, build, manage and run complex technology platforms and help our clients to benefit from our work and creativity.   

The opportunity:

We're seeking an experienced Lead Observability Engineer to lead the discovery, implementation and optimisation of a clients Observability Strategy, with a primary focus on New Relic. This role will be consultative in nature; you will be instrumental in providing end-to-end visibility across their digital ecosystem and thus enabling data-driven decision-making. You will need to be able to work closely with the clients’ stakeholders and drive the various 3rd party developers to effect change against a road map you develop. In addition, this role will also be part inward facing and strategic and will help us further shape the future of observability at VML by industrialising existing processes and helping us scale.

What you’ll be doing:

• Leading the assessment, documentation, and design of their current New Relic implementation
• Providing a gap analysis and roadmap to improve the clients existing solution with our client score cards
• Being the observability champion in the client, driving positive change against our roadmap
• Create and maintain observability standards and best practices
• Design and implement monitoring solutions for complex distributed systems
• Build comprehensive dashboards and alerts for various stakeholder groups
• Conduct training sessions and create documentation for internal teams
• Establish complete visibility of digital operations
• Reduce incident response time
• Enable proactive problem identification
• Improve system reliability and performance
• Build internal capability within our teams

What we want from you:

• Deep expertise in New Relic platform configuration and optimisation
• Extensive understanding of observability principles (metrics, events, logs, traces)
• Experience with APM tools and distributed tracing (ideally including implementation)
• Understanding of cloud platforms and how they relate to observability
• Knowledge of modern web technologies
• Proficiency in log and metric aggregation and analysis
• Experience with infrastructure as code and automation
• Knowledge of common programming languages and debugging techniques
• Excellent stakeholder management abilities
• Strong presentation and communication skills
• Ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences
• Experience in training and mentoring teams
• Cross-cultural communication experience
• Problem-solving and analytical thinking

If you have some of this even better: 

• Experience working with global retail/e-commerce clients
• Understanding of e-commerce KPIs and business metrics
• Previous consulting experience preferred
• Ability to work across different time zones
• Experience in creating technical documentation
• Track record of successful observability implementations

This role requires a combination of technical expertise and business acumen, with the ability to drive adoption across a global organization while maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels.

What we can offer you:

Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are.

Our personality and behaviours: We believe that we are what we do, not just what we say. Our shared values and behaviours show how to bring the VML Enterprise Solution's culture to life through the actions we all take every day:

• Connect Meaningfully
• Inspire Creatively
• Include Purposefully
• Approach Positively

Our brilliant, talented people are what makes VML Enterprise Solutions what we are. That’s why we look for people who go beyond and always push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

Interested in this role? Get in touch with us: vmles.talent@vml.com

Find out more about our capabilities

Visit our VML careers page

If you need reasonable adjustments at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.

At VML, we are committed to fostering an all-inclusive work environment that is both rewarding and career-forward. Our Inclusion, Equity & Belonging initiatives, alongside the VML Foundation, reflect our dedication to giving back and making a positive impact in our communities and beyond. Our people are the heartbeat of our organization—creators, doers, innovators, makers, and thinkers—who drive not just marketing, but meaningful experiences that resonate in every action and interaction.

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

When you click "Submit Application", this will send any information you add below to VML. Before you do this, we think it's a good idea to read through our Recruitment Privacy Policy. This explains what we do with your personal data when you apply for a role with us, and, how you can update the information you have provided us with or how to remove it.

WPP (VML Enterprise Solutions) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. 

VML is a WPP Agency. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. 

When you click "Submit Application", this will send any information you add below to VML. Before you do this, we think it's a good idea to read through our Recruitment Privacy Policy. California residents should read our California Recruitment Privacy Notice. This explains what we do with your personal data when you apply for a role with us, and, how you can update the information you have provided us with or how to remove it.