Principal DevOps Engineer

MCS Group | Your Specialist Recruitment Consultancy; Northern Ireland; On-site; GBP 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Job summary

A global payments technology firm is seeking a Principal DevOps Engineer to lead the architecture and delivery of its DevOps platform. You will develop and enhance systems for automated software delivery and collaborate closely with engineering teams to remove bottlenecks in the process. The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and hybrid infrastructures. This role is pivotal in transforming how software is built and deployed within the organization, striving for consistent practices across varied environments.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in building and delivering software at scale.
• Ability to design the entire software delivery lifecycle.
• Experience simplifying or modernizing delivery pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Design and improve DevOps architecture end-to-end.
• Define and enhance CI/CD pipelines and delivery workflows.
• Drive infrastructure automation and platform reliability.

Skills

DevOps / platform engineering background

CI/CD pipelines design

Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)

Configuration management (Ansible)

Hybrid environments experience

Scripting (Python, Java, Go)

Job description

Principal DevOps Engineer - Platform Architecture & Software Delivery

Salary: Up to £120,000
Location: UK or Ireland preferred (remote)
Type: Permanent

We are working with a global payments technology company that is continuing to scale its engineering organisation following a number of strategic acquisitions.

As the business grows, a key priority is bringing multiple engineering environments into a more consistent, reliable and well‑automated DevOps platform.

To support this, they are hiring a Principal DevOps Engineer to take ownership of how software is delivered across the organisation – from developer laptop through to production.

This is a senior individual contributor role, focused on architecture, delivery systems, and engineering fundamentals.

The Opportunity

This role sits at the centre of the DevOps and platform function.

You will be responsible for designing and improving the systems that underpin software delivery, helping engineering teams build, deploy and scale software in a consistent and reliable way.

Key responsibilities

• Designing DevOps architecture end-to-end
• Defining and improving CI/CD pipelines and delivery workflows
• Driving infrastructure automation and platform reliability
• Supporting the unification of tooling and environments across teams
• Working closely with developers to remove friction from the delivery process

This role is about solving software delivery problems at scale, not just operating infrastructure.

The Environment

The engineering environment is pragmatic and real‑world, shaped by multiple systems and technologies brought together through acquisition.

You will be working across:

• Hybrid infrastructure (on‑prem and cloud)
• Data centre and legacy systems alongside modern platforms
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
• Configuration management (Ansible)
• CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions and related tooling)
• Docker‑based application environments

This is not a Kubernetes‑led environment.

The focus is on building simple, reliable, and well‑automated systems, rather than complex orchestration layers.

What They're Looking For

The team strongly prefers engineers who started in software engineering and have moved into DevOps or platform roles.

This is a role for someone who understands both:

• how software is built
• and how it is delivered at scale

Key experience

• Strong DevOps / platform engineering background
• Experience designing CI/CD pipelines and delivery workflows
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and configuration management (Ansible)
• Experience working across hybrid environments (on‑prem and cloud)
• Strong scripting or development experience (Python, Java, Go, etc.)
• Ability to design the full software delivery lifecycle

In practical terms, this means being able to define how code moves from:

• Developer laptop
• Build and test pipelines
• Deployment environments
• Production systems

Nice to Have

• Experience working in complex or multi‑system environments
• Exposure to integrating or standardising across different platforms
• Experience simplifying or modernising delivery pipelines
• Strong automation mindset

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to shape the DevOps platform within a growing global engineering organisation that is actively improving how software is built and delivered.

You will be solving real engineering challenges across hybrid systems, helping bring structure and consistency to complex environments.

If you enjoy working close to engineering teams, improving delivery workflows, and building platforms that make developers more effective, this is a strong opportunity.

How to Apply

To apply for this role, submit your CV via the application form provided. Alternatively, to speak in absolute confidence about this opportunity, please contact Jack Tyrrell via [e-mail].

Disclaimer

If you have a disability which means you require assistance at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us directly to discuss. We are committed to providing equality of opportunity to all.

Please note, we are receiving an exceptionally high number of applications at present and will be unable to shortlist candidates who are not meeting the specific requirements for this role. Due to the high volume of applications, we may be unable to provide individual feedback. We thank you in advance for your understanding.