Principal DevOps Engineer

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 technology company in the payments and financial services space that is continuing to scale its engineering organisation following a number of strategic acquisitions.

As the company grows internationally, one of the key priorities is bringing multiple engineering environments and delivery pipelines into a more consistent and automated DevOps platform.

To support this, they are hiring a Principal DevOps Engineer who will play a key role in designing how software moves through the organisation - from development laptop all the way to production.

This is a senior technical individual contributor role focused on architecture and engineering depth.

The Opportunity

This role sits at the heart of the platform engineering function.

You will be responsible for designing and improving the systems that underpin software delivery across the organisation. The focus is not just on maintaining infrastructure, but on defining how engineering teams build, deploy and scale software.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Designing DevOps architecture end-to-end

• Defining CI/CD standards and delivery pipelines

• Improving infrastructure automation and platform reliability

• Supporting the unification of infrastructure across multiple engineering teams

• Working closely with developers to remove friction in the build and deployment process

This role requires someone who can think architecturally about software delivery, not just operate individual tools.

The Technical Environment

The infrastructure environment is deliberately pragmatic and engineering-led.

You will be working across:

• Hybrid infrastructure environments

• On-prem and data centre deployments

• Cloud platforms

• Infrastructure as Code-driven environments

• Configuration management systems

• Modern CI/CD pipelines

• Docker-based application environments

The organisation is currently going through a tooling evolution, including modernising CI/CD pipelines and moving towards more standardised source control and automation practices.

This is not a Kubernetes-heavy environment. The focus is on building simple, reliable and well-automated infrastructure.

What They're Looking For

The team strongly prefers engineers who started in software engineering and moved into DevOps or platform engineering, as the role focuses heavily on solving software delivery problems.

Key experience

• Strong DevOps / platform engineering experience

• Designing CI/CD pipelines and deployment workflows

• Infrastructure as Code and configuration automation

• Experience operating across hybrid infrastructure (cloud and on-prem)

• Ability to design the full lifecycle of software delivery

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

• Developer laptop

• Build and test pipelines

• Deployment infrastructure

• Production systems

• Scaling and reliability mechanisms

Nice to have

• Experience modernising or standardising DevOps environments

• Exposure to multiple infrastructure stacks or tooling ecosystems

• Strong automation mindset and platform engineering approach

Exact tool alignment is less important than solid architectural thinking and engineering fundamentals.

Why This Role

This role offers the chance to shape the DevOps platform within a large engineering organisation that is actively improving its tooling, automation and delivery practices.

If you enjoy solving complex engineering problems and building platforms that make developers faster and more productive, 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 j.tyrrell@mcsgroup.jobs

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.