DevOps Engineer

National Physical Laboratory; England; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research facility in the UK is seeking an experienced Senior Software Engineer to oversee software release management and develop automation scripts. This role focuses on maintaining the UK's National Time Scale and ensuring secure software delivery. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in DevOps solutions and leadership skills, with essential expertise in automation tools like Terraform and Docker. Join us to play a pivotal role in enhancing measurement accuracy in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Proven and recent experience in the delivery of DevOps solutions.
• Essential technical skills in automation and CI/CD practices.
• Professional software development experience.

Responsibilities

• Oversee software release management for multiple environments.
• Develop scripts to automate DevOps functions.
• Manage all content going live.

Skills

DevOps solutions delivery

Team leadership

Risk assessment and management

Security mindset

Clear communication

Automation with Packer, Terraform, Ansible

CI/CD practices

Unix system administration

Cloud platform administration

Docker and container orchestration

Python scripting

Shell scripting

Job description

Overview

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking an experienced and practicing Senior Software Engineer with proven expertise in DevOps automation and container orchestration.

You will be joining our team at an exciting time - we maintain the UK’s National Time Scale, UTC (NPL), and are currently developing a new resilient Time Scale facility that will underpin our Critical National Infrastructure. This will address the risks associated with our dependency on global navigation satellite systems (such as GPS) that are vulnerable to both natural and intentional interference.

You’ll work closely with the Product Manager(s) and Delivery Manager(s) to align product and business requirements, develop proposals, and balance tech debt to deliver product functionality.

Responsibilities

• Oversee software release management – automated deployment to multiple on-prem and cloud environments
• Develop scripts to automate DevOps functions
• Manage all content going live

Reporting and Role Context

Reporting to a Programme Manager, you\'ll play a pivotal role in the design of critical UK infrastructure that pushes the boundaries of measurement accuracy for the UK\'s new resilient Time Scale.

Skills, experience and qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will have the following skills, experience, and qualifications:

• Proven and recent experience in the delivery of DevOps solutions
• Team leadership
• Risk assessment and management
• Security mindset
• Clear communicator
• Essential technical skills: Automation – Packer, Terraform, Ansible, CI/CD practices, developing pipelines; Unix system administration; Cloud platform administration; Docker, container orchestration; Python and shell scripting; Professional software development experience

Desirable interests

It is also desirable if you have interest in Physics, measurements, and communications, for example:

• Time and frequency measurement and time scale steering
• Real-time monitoring and control of electronic hardware
• Satellite communication, optical fibre and GNSS-based systems

We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that nationality, residency and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. To work at NPL, you will need to obtain BPSS security clearance. However, to work in this role in the Time & Frequency department, you will need to have an SC clearance with no restrictions, or you must have the ability to obtain an SC clearance.

Please note: Applications will be reviewed, and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert therefore we may at any time bring the closing date forward. We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as practical