Sr Devops Engineer

SFE; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

SFE is seeking a DevOps Release Engineer for a 11-month contract in Chicago, IL (Hybrid: onsite Tue–Thu).

Key duties include automating deployments, maintaining runbooks, and improving release processes across cloud-native environments using Azure, AKS, Kubernetes, and Terraform.

Qualifications

• Experience with CI/CD pipeline development and maintenance.
• Hands-on work with Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions.
• Proficiency in YAML-based pipelines and Git version control.
• Experience with Terraform for infrastructure as code.
• Strong Kubernetes and container tooling experience (AKS, Docker, Helm, kubectl).
• Linux administration, scripting (Bash/PowerShell/Python) handy.

Responsibilities

• Improve deployment reliability through automation and best practices.
• Maintain deployment docs, runbooks, and rollback strategies.
• Monitor release performance and streamline workflows.
• Support incident response and root cause analysis for releases.
• Collaborate with teams across CI/CD, cloud, and platform engineering.
• Contribute to release automation and deployment orchestration.

Skills

CI/CD pipelines

Azure DevOps

GitHub Actions

YAML pipelines

Terraform

Kubernetes

Docker

Linux administration

Bash

PowerShell

Python

kubectl

Helm

Tools

AKS

Helm

kubectl

Job description

DevOps Release Engineer (DevOps / Release Engineering)

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid - Tuesday through Thursday onsite)
Duration: 11-Month Contract with Potential Extension

Releases

• Improve deployment reliability through automation, process optimization, and operational best practices
• Maintain deployment documentation, runbooks, release procedures, and rollback strategies
• Monitor release performance and proactively identify opportunities to streamline deployment workflows
• Support incident response and root cause analysis related to release and deployment activities

Required Technical Experience
Cloud & Container Technologies

• Microsoft Azure
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Helm
• kubectl

DevOps & Automation

• CI/CD pipeline development and support
• Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions
• YAML pipeline creation and maintenance
• Git version control
• Release automation and deployment orchestration

Infrastructure as Code

• Terraform (strongly preferred)
• Experience managing infrastructure through code and version-controlled deployments

Troubleshooting & Operations

• Hands-on experience diagnosing failed deployments and pipeline issues
• Experience supporting production environments
• Root cause analysis and issue remediation
• Monitoring and operational support for cloud-native applications

Additional Technical Skills

• Azure networking and connectivity concepts
• DNS, TLS/SSL certificates, ingress, load balancing
• Azure Key Vault and secrets management
• Linux administration
• REST APIs and microservices architecture
• Scripting experience with Bash, PowerShell, or Python

What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

• Strong DevOps mindset with a passion for operational excellence
• Ability to independently own and improve release processes
• Comfortable working in complex enterprise environments with significant scale
• Proactive problem solver who identifies bottlenecks and drives improvements
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across technical teams
• Experience supporting high-volume deployment environments and CI/CD ecosystems

Preferred Qualifications

• Azure, Kubernetes, or Azure DevOps certifications
• Experience supporting large-scale microservices environments
• Background in release engineering, platform engineering, site reliability engineering (SRE), or DevOps engineering
• Familiarity with Agile delivery environments, SAFe, or Release Train concepts (helpful but not required)
• Experience within financial services or other regulated industries

Interview Process

• Round 1: Initial screening with the hiring team
• Round 2: Technical interview focused on release engineering, deployment troubleshooting, Azure, Kubernetes, and CI/CD practices

Important: Candidates should be prepared for a hands-on technical discussion. The team may review actual deployment pipelines, release scenarios, or failed builds and ask candidates to diagnose issues, explain root causes, and walk through their approach to resolution.