Senior DevOps Engineer
Cambridge, MA
Contract or Contract to hire

This is a contract to hire position with a Higher Education Institute.
 
Highlights:
 
*B.S, Degree plus 10 years of work experience (or 14 years’ experience)
*Strong Python or Ruby scripting abilities
*Working knowledge of virtualization (public and private clouds); such as VMware vSphere, VMware Cloud on AWS, AWS and Azure
*Software development and release engineering experience a plus.
*Prior experience with frameworks (i.e., Django, NodeJS and Flask) a plus.
*Prior experience with software defined networking technologies a plus.
*Knowledge of containers and container orchestration a plus; Docker and Kubernetes preferred.
*Relevant industry accredited certification preferred.
 
We are looking for an experienced DevOps engineer to automate, optimize, and modernize aspects of our hybrid cloud platform.

We are engaged in a number of exciting projects, including multi-cloud management of over 3,000 VMs, full lifecycle management of Linux through Puppet and REST APIs, the Software-Defined Data Center (storage, compute, and networking), modernization of our Linux stacks, backup service modernization, and container management.  Our technology stack includes Puppet, Python, Git, Django/Flash apps, Cloud APIs, vSphere, VMware Cloud on AWS, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Cisco UCS, and VMware NSXt.

The ideal candidate for this position is a self-starter, has a love of infrastructure and automation, and enjoys collaborative work on leading edge technologies.  There are two tracks for this position: Linux site reliability engineering or DevOps automation.  Familiarity with our entire technology stack is not necessary

Essential Functions:

• Work Planning & Requirements:
  • Work within and between operational teams to identify and implement process improvements for the benefit of customer facing services.
  • Evaluate requirements for projects to determine the impact to the infrastructure such as equipment redundancy and capacity requirements.
  • Create and share development estimates and operational requirements to enable accurate planning with realistic timelines.
• Design:
  • Create technical design specifications.
  • Work closely with architects to assure all systems are in line with IS&T’s long-term strategy.
• Development:
  • Follow technical design specifications to develop/build, test, debug, plan and execute IT systems.
  • Install and configure cloud infrastructure and software components.
  • Coordinate development activities with other groups.
  • Lead or provide technical direction for planning, designing, and executing tests.
• Integration:
  • Integrate with and augment OS, infrastructure and software-defined network and security platforms.
• Change Management:
  • Review production and test change requests with appropriate IT groups and resolve discrepancies and dependencies.
• Responsible for the full-cycle test development, execution and automation of OS, DSM and Virtualization applications.
• Administration:
  • Plan and perform routine maintenance tasks for infrastructure systems.
  • Administer applications and systems.
• Cloud:
  • Implement and control the flow of data to and from the Cloud.
  • Design and automate templates for cloud infrastructure use cases.
  • May conduct traffic and capacity analysis.
• Production Support:
  • Maintain and enhance internal tooling and enhance full lifecycle of infrastructure.
  • Participate in on-call rotation.
  • Research, analyze and recommend solutions for problems and/or create temporary fixes until permanent solutions can be implemented.
  • Review checklists, scrips and updates as needed.
• Performance Management:
  • Analyze performance and control reports to understand the infrastructure’s strengths and weaknesses to uncover opportunities for improvements.
• Vendor Management:
  • Work with vendors to resolve problems and develop solutions.
  • Evaluate vendor solutions to ensure compliance with requirements and cost-effectiveness.
  • Perform vendor reviews periodically.
• Customer Satisfaction:
  • Provide high level of customer satisfaction in promptly responding to requests, resolving problems and managing changes.
• Business Continuity:
  • Participate in the development of contingency plans including reliable backup and restoration procedures.
  • Assist in the development of disaster recovery plans with service providers.
• Policies, Processes and Standards:
  • May assist in defining DevOps policies, processes and standards.
  • Adhere to standards and procedures; ensuring compliance.
• Document/User Guides:
  • Document functions and changes to new or modified modules, test activities/results and other areas.
  • Prepare informative documents relating to usage and specific system standards.
  • Prepare instructional materials to assist employees in using and understanding the email system.
• Technology Evaluation and Research:
  • Evaluate new application packages and tools and perform research on best practices.
  • Provide recommendations for the solutions.
• Coaching and Mentoring:
  • Provide technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to team members.
  • Provide advice, encouragement and constructive feedback.
  • Develop reports and presentations for senior management as needed.
• Additional responsibilities as requested and/or required.

Required Qualifications & Technical Skills:

• Bachelors Degree and minimum 10 years of relevant experience. Without a Bachelors Degree, minimum of 14 years of relevant experience required.
• Possess strong scripting abilities, Python or Ruby preferred.
• Working knowledge of virtualization (public and private clouds); such as VMware vSphere, VMware Cloud on AWS, AWS and Azure.
• Strong communication (oral and written) and presentation skills to effectively collaborate with all levels in ways that support problem solving and planning.
• Demonstrated ability to work with cross-functional teams in pursuit of common goals.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret complex problems or processes, identify and understand requirements, and develop alternate solutions.
• Experience designing, developing, testing, and deploying applications/systems using proven or emerging technologies in a variety of technologies and environments.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.

 
Desired Qualifications & Technical Skills:

• Software development and release engineering experience a plus.
• Prior experience with frameworks (i.e., Django, NodeJS and Flask) a plus.
• Prior experience with software defined networking technologies a plus.
• Knowledge of containers and container orchestration a plus; Docker and Kubernetes preferred.
• Relevant industry accredited certification preferred.