Principal DevOps Engineer (Azure)

Overview

This senior hands-on position focuses on leading and shaping cloud infrastructure engineering with Microsoft Azure. The role requires collaboration across development, infrastructure, and security teams while providing technical mentorship and influencing best practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, deploy, and maintain scalable Azure infrastructure using Terraform and Infrastructure as Code methodologies.
• Manage Kubernetes production environments on AKS, including upgrades, security, and network optimization.
• Develop and enhance GitOps and CI/CD workflows with tools such as GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and ArgoCD.
• Create reusable Terraform modules, deployment templates, and automation for uniformity across cloud environments.
• Design and configure Azure networking components, including VNets, hub-and-spoke models, DNS, NSGs, and firewall solutions.
• Implement comprehensive cloud security measures covering identity, access controls, container security, and infrastructure safeguards.
• Maintain Helm charts and standardized deployment processes for application teams to streamline releases.
• Introduce and improve platform monitoring, logging, tracing, and observability capabilities.
• Automate routine tasks using scripting languages such as Python and Bash.
• Participate in architectural decisions and contribute to platform roadmaps.
• Enhance developer tooling, documentation, and self-service options to improve overall experience.
• Serve as a senior technical escalation point and mentor less experienced engineers.
• Support platform evolution including container orchestration enhancements, autoscaling, progressive delivery, and security improvements.

Qualifications and Experience

• Proven commercial experience with Microsoft Azure and its ecosystem.
• Extensive use of Terraform and IaC in cloud environments.
• Strong Kubernetes expertise in production, particularly with AKS.
• Solid understanding of Azure networking and cloud architectural patterns.
• Experience designing, building, and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Practical knowledge of GitOps concepts and platforms like ArgoCD.
• Proficiency with Docker and managing containerized applications.
• Hands-on experience with Helm for Kubernetes deployments.
• Understanding of cloud security standards, IAM, RBAC, and secure CI/CD workflows.
• Strong Linux administration and troubleshooting abilities.
• Competence in scripting, especially Python and Bash.
• Ability to create technical architecture documentation and uphold engineering standards.
• Effective communication of technical topics to various audience types.
• Experience mentoring or guiding engineering teams.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with service mesh technologies like Istio or Cilium.
• Familiarity with Argo Rollouts for progressive delivery strategies.
• Knowledge of autoscaling solutions such as KEDA or Karpenter.
• Security tooling experience with Falco or Kyverno.
• Programming experience in Go.
• Exposure to Azure Front Door and Azure Firewall.
• Understanding of Azure Entra ID and Privileged Identity Management (PIM).
• Familiarity with observability tools including Grafana, Loki, and OpenTelemetry.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-heavy industries.