DevOps Lead

Airbox Systems Limited; Wantage; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic tech start-up in the UK is seeking a Lead DevOps Engineer to bridge high-level strategy and execution. In this role, you will lead a high-performing engineering team, mentor junior engineers, manage deployments using CI/CD pipelines, and oversee the architecture of a multi-platform cloud environment. The ideal candidate will have strong experience with tools like AWS and Jenkins, excellent problem-solving skills, and a commitment to empowering teams. Flexible working options are available.

Benefits

26 days holiday plus public holidays

Private medical cover

Up to 6% pension matching

Electric Car Scheme

Up to 20 Nomad Working Days

Qualifications

• Experience managing cross-functional engineering teams to deliver cloud-native solutions.
• Proficient with Linux environments including Ubuntu and CentOS.
• Strong organizational and attention to detail skills.

Responsibilities

• Bridge the gap between high-level strategy and execution.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing engineering team.
• Manage the deployment of new software versions using CI/CD pipelines.

Skills

Leadership in engineering

CI/CD tools expertise

Problem-solving capabilities

Strong communication skills

Experience in containerisation

Tools

Jenkins

Docker

Terraform

AWS

Git & GitHub

Job description

Why Airbox? You're more likely to love your work when that work has a purpose, when it's meaningful and when it's protecting lives. And, at Airbox Systems, it will. Here's why.

We are driven by passion and great people who share our enthusiasm for trying to make the world a better place. Our friendly team includes individuals with backgrounds in military, aviation, and law enforcement. Their experience brings first‑hand insight into frontline operations in the air and on the ground to enable cutting‑edge concepts for improving the service that we deliver.

At Airbox, our values can be described as behavioral guidance. They are the principles and beliefs that provide a cohesive vision and define who we are as a business. In doing so, they define our organisation internally, and externally with our stakeholders and customers. In essence, they are our “true north” that helps us navigate our organisation through prosperous times as well as uncertain periods. Our company beliefs and values are embodied in our culture. While we celebrate the diversity of the people we work with, there are certain values and attributes all of us share – whatever your background, these are the qualities we are looking for in the people we hire: Commitment, Positive Realism, Ethics, Accountability, Humanity, Quality, and Delight.

What this role is about:

As the Lead DevOps Engineer, you will bridge the gap between high‑level strategy and day‑to‑day execution. You will set the standard for engineering excellence at Airbox, mentor junior/mid‑level engineers while taking ownership of our most complex architectural challenges. You are the guardian of our CI/CD philosophy and the primary architect of our multi‑platform cloud environment.

What you’ll do:

• Team Mentorship & Technical Advocacy: Lead and mentor a high‑performing engineering team by fostering a culture of continuous learning, psychological safety, and accountability. Define technical roadmaps, bridge the gap between development and operations, and advocate for DevSecOps best practices across the entire organization.
• Strategic Vision & Operational Excellence: Direct the evolution of scalable, secure cloud infrastructure while managing resource allocation and project timelines. Serve as a key stakeholder in architectural decisions, ensuring that automation, reliability, and cost‑efficiency align with broader business objectives.
• Service Management: Maintain and enhance the operational stability and efficiency of our live services.
• Deployment: Manage the deployment of new software versions, updates, and fixes using CI/CD pipelines to ensure automated and reliable rollouts.
• Infrastructure Management: Conduct infrastructure vulnerability scans, handle patching, and optimise and secure our environments across various platforms.
• Monitoring & Troubleshooting: Develop tools and procedures for system monitoring and maintenance. Perform root cause analysis for service incidents to prevent them from happening again.
• Cost Management: Monitor and optimise resource usage to maintain budget efficiency without sacrificing system performance.
• Policy Development: Assist in developing and refining security policies and best practices to safeguard all technical operations.

About You:

• Proven Engineering Leader: Experienced DevOps Lead with a track record of managing cross‑functional teams to deliver scalable, cloud‑native solutions. Specialise in fostering collaborative environments through mentorship and high‑level strategic planning, ensuring technical debt is minimised while accelerating deployment velocity and system reliability.
• Proficient with Linux environments: Ubuntu, CentOS and Windows Server.
• Strong experience with CI/CD tools: e.g. Jenkins, Github Actions.
• Experience with containerisation technologies: Docker, Kubernetes.
• Strong experience with cloud platforms: particularly AWS.
• Proficient in version control systems: especially Git & GitHub.
• Experience in deploying mobile applications: to Apple and Google app stores.
• Strong problem‑solving capabilities.
• Excellent organisational skills: with keen attention to detail.
• Effective communication skills: capable of articulating complex solutions to a diverse audience.
• Experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools: e.g., Terraform.

What we offer:

• The chance to work with a passionate team that’s working together everyday towards our shared big ambitious goal.
• A dynamic, flexible and fun scale‑up work environment with a highly talented team.
• 26 days holiday per year, plus public holidays.
• Private medical cover with Bupa for all our colleagues.
• Pension scheme, offering up to 6% matching contribution.
• Up to 20 Nomad Working Days per annum.
• Electric Car Scheme.

Flexible & Hybrid Working:

We said you'll get freedom to work in a way that is best for you, and that extends to being in the office – or not. Work better from home? No worries. Prefer the office? Come on down. We have 2 mandatory Townhall days; Spring and Autumn, where the whole business gets together. When you visit the office you won’t just find rows and rows of desks. No, you’ll find our colleagues meeting on the walking pads, having planning sessions over a game of tennis table or grabbing a bean bag in our ‘Quality’ collaborative space – that’s right we live our values so much, we named our meeting spaces after them.

You can also shape work around your life at Airbox Systems; most colleagues work our core hours of 9 am‑5 pm with others flexibly between 7 am‑7 pm. Whether you're fitting in a spin class or the school run, you'll have the flexibility for whatever matters most. All we ask in return is that you produce great work, but when you’re working with passionate people, that part comes naturally.

Connect with us:

Interested in the role, or Airbox in general, but you don’t meet 100% of the requirements? We’d love to hear from you! We encourage you to connect with us here; we’d be excited to see if your unique skill set and experience could be a match for future roles.