Job Title: Lead DevOps Engineer (SC Cleared or SC Eligible)
Location: Hybrid (2-3 days/week in office) – Yorkshire/Leeds
Contract Type: 6-Month Contract
Day Rate: Inside IR35 - Competitive
Clearance Requirement: Must be SC Cleared or eligible for SC Clearance
Our client, a leading global organisation, is partnering with a prestigious end client with offices in Leeds and Yorkshire. We are excited to offer a fantastic opportunity for a talented Lead DevOps Engineer to join a dynamic and agile development team on an initial 6 months contract, with the potential for extension.
If you are interested and have the relevant skills and experience, please apply promptly to discuss further.
About the Role:
We are seeking a Lead DevOps Engineer to join a dynamic technology environment on a high-impact government-facing programme. You will be instrumental in delivering secure, scalable, and high-performance cloud solutions, driving cloud transformation through DevOps best practices, security automation, and cost optimisation strategies.
Key Responsibilities:
* Design and manage secure, scalable, and resilient AWS-based infrastructure.
* Implement robust DevOps practices using tools such as Terraform, Jenkins, Ansible, and GitLab CI/CD.
* Lead the design of cloud-native solutions, incorporating containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes/EKS) and serverless architectures.
* Establish and enforce cloud security standards and governance frameworks.
* Automate infrastructure provisioning, configuration, monitoring, and compliance.
* Collaborate with solution architects, developers, and security teams to align technical solutions with business goals.
* Monitor system performance and troubleshoot complex infrastructure issues.
* Guide and mentor junior DevOps engineers across distributed teams.
* Maintain detailed documentation for infrastructure and DevOps practices.
Required Skills and Experience:
* Strong hands-on experience with AWS Cloud and related security services (IAM, GuardDuty, CloudTrail, KMS, etc.).
* Proven background in Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, CloudFormation, or Ansible.
* Solid understanding of container security and orchestration (EKS, ECS, Kubernetes).
* CI/CD pipeline implementation and security automation (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc.).
* Experience implementing network and application layer security (WAF, mTLS, SSL, VPC design, etc.).
* Knowledge of DevSecOps best practices and compliance standards (e.g., ISO 27001, GDPR, NIST).
* Proficiency in monitoring tools and centralized logging (ELK, Prometheus, Grafana, AWS CloudWatch).
* Strong scripting skills (e.g., Python, Bash) for automation and tool integration.
* Demonstrated ability to lead DevOps teams and define scalable best practices.
* Eligibility for SC Clearance (must have resided in the UK for the past 5 years continuously).
Desirable Skills:
* AWS Certifications (e.g., Security Specialty, Solutions Architect, DevOps Pro).
* FinOps expertise and cloud cost optimization (AWS Trusted Advisor, Cost Explorer).
* Familiarity with tools like Helm, Kustomize, or Macie for advanced security/automation.
* Experience with secure serverless architecture (Lambda, API Gateway, SNS/SQS).