Lead DevOps Engineer

Northrop Grumman UK; Cheltenham; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible and hybrid working

Compressed fortnight with every other

Private healthcare

Pension and life assurance

Professional development

Mentoring opportunities

Job summary

Northrop Grumman UK is seeking a DevOps Engineer in Cheltenham as part of the National Security Solutions business. You will help deliver secure, resilient technology solutions that support critical UK programmes.

Working with Architects, Software Engineers, Testers and Infra specialists, you’ll build, automate, and optimise environments using modern DevSecOps practices, cloud tech, IaC and CI/CD tooling in cross-functional, agile teams.

Qualifications

• Experience designing, deploying and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong automation scripting abilities in common languages.
• Experience with Linux/Unix environments.
• Proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Familiarity with Agile workflows and issue tracking tools.
• Experience with monitoring/observability stacks.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain secure, resilient, mission-critical systems in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Automate deployment, configuration and operational activities using IaC and configuration management tools.
• Create, improve and maintain CI/CD pipelines that support reliable software delivery.
• Lead technical discussions and recommend DevOps tools and practices to solve project challenges.
• Support cloud migration initiatives and containerised/microservices architectures.
• Monitor, analyse and improve system performance, reliability and efficiency.

Skills

CI/CD pipelines

Automation scripting

Linux/Unix

Cloud platforms

Agile collaboration

Monitoring tools

Tools

Jenkins, Concourse, Maven, Bamboo

Scripting: Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet, Python

VMware, Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift

Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket

Elastic Stack, Grafana

Job description

UK CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION: Yes

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Location: Cheltenham

Clearance: Highest Level of Uk Governement Clearance

What’s your possible?

At Northrop Grumman UK, you are part of a team driving innovation where it matters most, solving tomorrow’s challenges and shaping the technology solutions of the future. We call it Defining Possible.

This mindset goes beyond our customer solutions. It underpins how we invest in our people, support career development, and create opportunities to make a meaningful impact for our customers, communities, and colleagues.

This is more than just a job. It's a mission.

As a DevOps Engineer within our National Security Solutions business, you will play a critical role in helping deliver secure, resilient, and innovative technology solutions that support some of the UK's most important programmes.

Working alongside Architects, Software Engineers, Testers and Infrastructure specialists, you'll help build, automate, and optimise mission-critical environments. You'll be part of agile, multidisciplinary teams delivering real-world outcomes, using modern DevSecOps practices, cloud technologies, Infrastructure as Code, and CI/CD tooling to solve complex technical challenges.

Whether you're improving platform reliability, enabling faster software delivery, or helping organisations become cloud ready, your work will directly contribute to the success of systems that matter.

"As a Lead DevOps Engineer I implement and improve end to end CI/CD pipelines to promote stable and efficient environments throughout the SDLC. Using multiple toolsets to automate repetitive processes, monitor and analyse system performance, and enable projects to focus on getting the best value from their tools. I document and share knowledge to help projects grow and learn from previous issues, mentoring junior colleagues to follow best practices."

Craig, Lead DevOps Engineer, National Security Solutions, Northrop

Grumman UK

Joining our Infrastructure Discipline offers the opportunity to work with industry-leading specialists across public cloud and on-premise environments, delivering innovative solutions to highly complex engineering challenges.

What You'll Do

• Design, build and maintain secure, resilient, mission-critical systems in collaboration with technical and business stakeholders.
• Automate deployment, configuration and operational activities using Infrastructure as Code and configuration management tools.
• Create, improve and maintain CI/CD pipelines that support reliable and high-quality software delivery.
• Lead technical discussions and recommend effective DevOps tools and practices to solve complex project challenges.
• Support cloud migration initiatives and the adoption of containerised and microservices-based architectures.
• Monitor, analyse and continuously improve system performance, reliability and operational efficiency.

What We're Looking For

• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using tools such as Jenkins, Concourse, Maven or Bamboo.
• Automation and scripting using Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet or Python.
• Managing virtualised and containerised environments including VMware, Docker, Kubernetes or OpenShift.
• Working with cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud.
• Using collaboration and delivery tools such as Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket within Agile environments.
• Monitoring and observability using tools such as Elastic Stack and Grafana.

Desirable Experience Includes

• Designing, deploying and administering Linux or Unix-based platforms.
• Implementing Infrastructure as Code and DevSecOps practices.
• Supporting cloud transformation and modernisation programmes.

If you don't meet every requirement but feel your skills and experience are relevant, we encourage you to apply. We value potential, curiosity and a willingness to learn just as much as technical expertise.

Security Clearance

Due to the nature of our work, you must be a UK national and able to gain and maintain UK Government security clearance in line with the job role and requirements.

Our recruitment team is on hand to answer any questions and will guide you through the process: [e-mail]

Benefits

• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
• Compressed fortnight option with every other Friday off (where project requirements allow)
• Private healthcare, dental cover, life assurance and pension
• Flexible benefits package including critical illness cover and health cash plan
• Holiday buy and sell scheme
• Annual performance incentive programme
• Professional development, training and certification support
• Career development programmes and mentoring opportunities

Why Join Us?

A Mission to Believe In

Every day, we contribute to building a more secure and connected world. You'll work on meaningful programmes that protect national interests while having opportunities to support STEM initiatives, community engagement and employee-led networks.

A Place to Belong and Thrive

Diversity of thought, background and experience strengthens our teams and our solutions. We foster an inclusive culture where everyone is respected, supported and empowered to succeed.

Your Career, Your Way

Discover your possible through varied projects, access to emerging technologies, professional development opportunities, and a network of experienced colleagues committed to helping you grow.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce, and encourages individuals from all backgrounds and all abilities to apply and consider becoming a part of our diverse and inclusive workforce.