Senior DevOps Engineer

Oxford Ionics; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering quantum computing company in Oxford is seeking a motivated Senior DevOps Engineer. You will manage CI/CD pipelines, enhance development workflows, and oversee monitoring infrastructure within the team. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of DevOps experience, solid Linux expertise, and strong programming skills in Python. This role comes with a competitive salary, hybrid working, and various benefits, offering a chance to significantly impact the future of quantum technology.

Benefits

Competitive salary with IonQ stock options

Annual performance bonus

Generous annual leave

Flexible hybrid working

Private medical and dental insurance

Qualifications

• 5+ years of DevOps experience, with solid expertise in administering and maintaining Linux-based systems.
• Strong programming and scripting ability, ideally Python and shell scripting.
• Proven experience with configuration management / infrastructure-as-code tools (Ansible preferred).
• Familiarity with Git workflows and containerisation tools.

Responsibilities

• Manage and improve our development infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines.
• Design and implement deployment procedures for on-site and off-site systems.
• Maintain and extend our monitoring infrastructure, ensuring system health.
• Collaborate with software, IT, and science teams to enhance development workflows.

Skills

DevOps experience

Linux administration

Python programming

Shell scripting

Configuration management tools

Monitoring systems

Tools

Ansible

GitHub Actions

Docker

Grafana

InfluxDB

Job description

Quantum is now, and it's built here.

Oxford Ionics, now part of IonQ, is pioneering the next generation of quantum computing. Using our world-leading trapped-ion technology, we’re building the most powerful, accurate and reliable quantum systems to tackle problems that today’s supercomputers cannot solve.

Joining Oxford Ionics means becoming part of a global IonQ team that is transforming the future of quantum technology – faster, at scale, and with real world impact.

What to expect:

We’re looking for a skilled and motivated Senior DevOps Engineer who thrives on initiative and enjoys working in a fast-growing team of expert engineers and scientists.

This is an opportunity to shape the future of our development and deployment infrastructure as we scale our cutting-edge quantum systems. Your work will span:

• Managing and improving our development infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines
• Designing and implementing deployment procedures for both on-site and off-site quantum systems
• Maintaining and extending our monitoring infrastructure, covering the health of our systems, services, and key operational parameters of our quantum computers

You’ll be the first dedicated DevOps engineer at Oxford Ionics, taking ownership of responsibilities previously shared across the software engineering and IT teams. It’s a chance to make a significant impact on how we build, deliver, and scale our technology.

What you’ll be responsible for:

As our first dedicated DevOps Engineer, you’ll collaborate closely with our software, IT, and science teams to enhance our development workflows, improving quality, security and efficiency across the board. This includes managing our build toolchain, automating testing and continuously refining our development infrastructure.

You’ll take ownership of our internal systems, such as the local Python package index and GitHub Actions Runners and play a key role in maintaining and improving our monitoring infrastructure. This involves tracking server and service health, monitoring software performance and overseeing operational parameters of our quantum computing systems.

Our Technology Stack:

• Languages: Rust and Python
• Version Control & CI/CD: Git with GitHub Actions (running on local custom runners for hardware-based testing)
• Automation: Ansible for deployment and maintenance
• Monitoring: InfluxDB and Grafana, self-hosted on our on-premises servers
• Infrastructure: PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, and Mosquitto across various components
• Environment: Microsoft-based IT infrastructure, with servers/VMs on Ubuntu Linux. Developers work across native Windows, WSL, and Linux.

You’ll bring technical depth, problem solving ability, and the autonomy to take ownership of critical systems.

You’ll need:

• 5+ years of DevOps experience, with solid expertise in administering and maintaining Linux-based systems
• Strong programming and scripting ability, ideally Python and shell scripting
• Proven experience with configuration management / infrastructure-as-code tools (Ansible preferred)
• Familiarity with Git workflows, containerisation tools (Docker or Podman), and monitoring systems such as Grafana or InfluxDB

A sound understanding of security principles and best practices is essential. You should be proactive, detail-oriented and comfortable working with a high degree of independence. Strong communication skills are key, as you’ll often bridge the gap between engineering and infrastructure. Prior experience in quantum computing isn’t required.

Be part of a team that’s shaping the future of quantum. We offer more than just a role, you’ll join a world class community of scientists, engineers and innovators working to unlock the full potential of quantum computing.

We offer a range of benefits, including opportunities to further your career alongside industry leaders, a competitive salary with IonQ stock options, an annual performance bonus, generous annual leave, flexible hybrid working, private medical and dental insurance for you and your family, and much more.

Join us and be part of the future of quantum computing.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.