Senior DevOps Engineer

Leonardo; Bristol; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous leave with flexi-days

Award-winning pension scheme

Free mental health support

Access to online courses

Tailored perks including health and lifestyle

Flexible hours with hybrid options

Job summary

A leading technology firm in the UK is looking for a Lead DevOps Engineer to shape the future of DevOps and solve complex engineering challenges. This role requires expertise in CI/CD, cloud environments, and strong communication skills. The ideal candidate will lead and mentor a team while ensuring robust and secure delivery of solutions. Benefits include competitive salary, generous leave, and access to mental health support.

Qualifications

• Recognised expertise as a technical authority in DevOps and automation.
• Ability to influence technical strategy and represent externally.
• Experience with influencing organisational DevOps standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead in solving customer problems in an agile manner.
• Act as technical authority for DevOps across programmes.
• Mentor engineers to raise capabilities in the DevOps community.

Skills

Expert knowledge of CI/CD pipelines

Strong expertise in containerisation and orchestration

Deep knowledge of cloud environments

Experience embedding cyber security controls

Proficiency in scripting and automation

Strong communication skills

Education

Recognised expert certifications (e.g. Kubernetes CKA/CKAD)

Tools

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Jenkins

Terraform

Ansible

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift/Tanzu

AWS

Azure

Job description

Lead DevOps Engineer

Leonardo, Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Permanent, Full-time, Onsite

Job Description

Do you want to shape the future of DevOps across the UK’s most critical missions? At Leonardo, our Lead DevOps Engineers (Technical Specialists) are recognised authorities in automation and secure software delivery. They set technical direction, act as subject matter experts across programmes, and ensure our DevOps solutions remain robust, secure, and innovative.

Your work at Leonardo UK will see you take the lead in solving customer problems in an agile, innovative and team‑centric manner. The role will involve working full time at the customer's site.

What you will do as a Lead DevOps Engineer

• Act as the technical authority for DevOps across programmes, shaping architectures and guiding technical delivery.
• Define and influence DevOps roadmaps, innovation, and future strategies for automation and secure delivery.
• Lead feasibility studies, technology assessments, and solution recommendations for complex engineering challenges.
• Provide advanced guidance in CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and container orchestration across environments.
• Mentor Principal, Senior, and Early‑career Engineers to raise capability across the DevOps community.
• Represent Leonardo at customer reviews, technical boards, and industry events, presenting and defending solutions.
• Contribute expert input to bids, proposals, and technical strategy.
• Champion secure‑by‑design principles, accreditation alignment, and engineering governance.

What you’ll bring

• Recognised expertise as a technical authority in DevOps and automation.
• Ability to influence technical strategy and represent Leonardo externally as a subject matter expert.
• Strong communication skills to engage with stakeholders from engineers to senior leaders.

Core areas (must have)

• Expert knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, automation, and orchestration (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Terraform, Ansible, Helm).
• Strong expertise in containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift/Tanzu).
• Deep knowledge of cloud environments (AWS, Azure) and hybrid deployments.
• Experience embedding cyber security controls and DevSecOps practices into pipelines and infrastructure.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation (Python, Bash, PowerShell).
• Familiarity with accreditation, assurance, and governance requirements in secure environments.

Desirable

• Recognised expert certifications (e.g. Kubernetes CKA/CKAD, AWS/Azure Architect, HashiCorp Terraform/ Vault).
• Experience influencing organisational DevOps standards and best practices.
• Contributions to research, publications, or professional forums in DevOps/automation.
• Knowledge of service mesh, GitOps, and policy‑as‑code approaches.
• Experience with monitoring/logging and observability platforms (ELK, Prometheus, Splunk).

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, including eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting.

Why join us

• Time to Recharge – Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi‑days each year.
• Secure your Future – Benefit from our award‑winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters – Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee‑led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance – All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning – Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend – Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks – Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working – Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part‑time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Primary Location

GB – Bristol – Coldharbour Lane

Contract Type

Permanent

Hybrid Working

Onsite

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