Job Specifications
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).