Lead DevOps Engineer

Lead DevOps Engineer

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)
Employment Type: Full-Time

Overview

A financial services organization based in Chicago, is seeking a Lead DevOps Engineer to help build and scale a modern DevSecOps platform supporting enterprise software delivery.

This role will partner closely with engineering, infrastructure, and security teams to design and implement automated development pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and deployment frameworks. The Lead DevOps Engineer will play a key role in improving developer productivity, strengthening security controls, and enabling scalable application delivery across cloud environments.

This is a hands-on leadership role that requires strong expertise in cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, and DevSecOps practices.

Key Responsibilities DevSecOps Platform Engineering

• Design and implement enterprise-grade CI/CD pipelines supporting automated application deployments across cloud environments.

• Build reusable pipeline templates, infrastructure-as-code standards, and deployment frameworks to support engineering teams.

• Lead migration and modernization initiatives related to DevOps tooling and platform architecture.

Cloud Infrastructure & Automation

• Implement infrastructure automation using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or Chef.

• Deploy and manage containerized environments using Docker and Kubernetes.

• Support highly available application platforms across public or hybrid cloud environments.

Security & Compliance Integration

• Embed security practices directly into the software development lifecycle (DevSecOps).

• Implement automated security scanning including SAST, SCA, DAST, container scanning, and IaC security checks.

• Ensure infrastructure and deployment processes meet enterprise security, availability, and compliance standards.

DevOps Culture & Enablement

• Mentor engineers and promote DevOps best practices across engineering teams.

• Lead initiatives that improve developer workflows, platform adoption, and operational efficiency.

• Support the establishment of internal engineering standards and platform governance practices.

Observability & Performance Monitoring

• Implement monitoring and observability solutions using tools such as Datadog or other APM platforms.

• Develop dashboards and metrics to track DevOps platform performance, adoption, and operational health.

• Identify opportunities to improve reliability, scalability, and deployment efficiency.

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Work closely with development, architecture, infrastructure, and security teams to deliver reliable platforms and services.

• Participate in architecture discussions related to cloud platforms, deployment strategies, and platform reliability.

• Contribute to technical evaluations of new tools, technologies, and vendor solutions.

Qualifications Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience

Experience

• 7+ years of DevOps, cloud engineering, or platform engineering experience

• Experience working in Agile or Scrum software development environments

• Experience leading DevOps initiatives or mentoring engineering teams

DevOps & Cloud Technologies

• Experience with CI/CD tools such as Azure DevOps, Jenkins, TeamCity, Octopus, or Bamboo

• Strong experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)

• Experience building infrastructure-as-code solutions using Terraform

• Experience deploying and managing workloads in AWS and/or Azure environments

Programming & Automation

• Strong scripting and automation experience using Python or similar languages

• Experience with build automation tools and package management systems

• Familiarity with structured programming and software engineering principles

Security & Quality Tools

• Experience implementing static code analysis and security scanning tools

• Experience with code quality platforms such as SonarQube

• Experience implementing automated testing within CI/CD pipelines

Data & Monitoring Technologies

• Experience with application performance monitoring tools

• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, or graph databases

Additional Skills

• Strong communication and collaboration skills

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable solutions

• Experience designing scalable and secure DevOps architectures

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