At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage and improve infrastructure across Linux and Microsoft environments while solving technical challenges.
- Company: Join a forward-thinking tech company in Blackburn with a collaborative spirit.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Dynamic role with excellent career advancement potential and a supportive team environment.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by enhancing critical infrastructure and automating processes.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in DevOps or Systems Engineering with strong Linux and Microsoft skills.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 65000 £ per year.
- Senior Dev Ops & Systems Engineer
- 1 or 2 days a week expected at Head Office in Blackburn
- Salary: £60k-£65k Summary of Position The Senior Dev Ops & Systems Engineer will be responsible for the administration, reliability, security and continuous improvement of the TW Group infrastructure estate across both Linux and Microsoft environments.
This is a hands-on senior role for an experienced infrastructure engineer who is comfortable taking ownership of technical problems, investigating unfamiliar systems and delivering practical solutions with minimal supervision.
The successful candidate will work closely with the Software Development Team, IT Operations and selected third-party technology partners to support business-critical infrastructure, development environments, databases, container platforms and deployment pipelines.
The role will be expected to take ownership of day-to-day infrastructure operations while also improving automation, monitoring, resilience, documentation and disaster recovery capability across the wider IT estate.
Key Responsibilities
- Administration, maintenance and improvement of Linux and Microsoft server environments.
- Provisioning and configuration of new virtual machines, servers, services and supporting infrastructure.
- Deployment and configuration of applications and infrastructure components.
- Monitoring the health, performance, availability and security of production and internal systems.
- Investigating and resolving infrastructure incidents, performance issues and system failures.
- Designing and implementing appropriate monitoring, alerting and logging for new and existing systems.
- Managing and improving configuration automation using Ansible.
- Supporting and administering containerised environments using Docker, CRI-O and Kubernetes.
- Managing Kubernetes clusters, workloads, services and associated infrastructure.
- Administration and operational support of My SQL, Galera Cluster and Microsoft SQL Server environments.
- 1 Building, maintaining and improving CI/CD pipelines.
- Supporting software deployment and release processes in collaboration with the Development Team.
- Maintaining system patching, upgrades, security configuration and vulnerability remediation.
- Managing backup, recovery and disaster recovery processes.
- Improving infrastructure resilience and reducing key-person dependencies through documentation and cross-training.
- Reviewing existing infrastructure and recommending improvements where systems can be made more reliable, secure, maintainable or efficient.
- Supporting infrastructure-related security incidents and remediation activities.
- Maintaining clear technical documentation covering systems, infrastructure, recovery procedures and operational processes.
- Working with third-party infrastructure and technology partners where specialist support is required.
- Supporting the broader IT function where infrastructure, systems or operational responsibilities overlap.
Experience
- 5+ years of professional experience in Dev Ops, Systems Administration, Infrastructure Engineering, Platform Engineering or a similar role.
- Significant hands-on experience operating production-grade infrastructure.
- Strong Linux administration experience.
- Practical experience across both Linux and Microsoft server estates.
- Proven experience managing infrastructure supporting business-critical applications.
- Experience taking ownership of complex technical problems with limited supervision.
- Proven ability to investigate unfamiliar systems and determine appropriate solutions.
- Experience improving infrastructure reliability, automation, security or operational efficiency.
- Previous experience operating in a senior or highly autonomous engineering role Skills and Experience - Core Linux & Systems Administration
- Strong professional experience administering Linux server environments in production.
- Strong understanding of Linux system administration, including: users and permissions system services package management networking storage and filesystems scheduled tasks logging performance management troubleshooting.
- Experience provisioning and configuring servers and virtual machines from initial deployment through to production readiness.
- Strong understanding of production infrastructure reliability, availability and operational support.
- Experience with system patching, upgrades and lifecycle management.
- Experience diagnosing complex infrastructure issues independently. Monitoring, Reliability & Security
- Strong experience with system, application and security monitoring.
- Experience designing and implementing monitoring and alerting for new infrastructure and applications.
- Ability to identify meaningful service health indicators and create appropriate alerts.
- Strong understanding of: infrastructure security access control patch management vulnerability remediation system hardening logging auditing certificate management
- Experience responding to production incidents and security-related infrastructure issues.
- Strong understanding of backup, recovery and disaster recovery principles.
- Experience documenting and testing disaster recovery procedures. Automation & Configuration Management
- Strong working knowledge of Ansible. Experience using automation to manage: server configuration 3.
- Application deployment package installation security configuration environment setup recurring operational tasks
- Ability to design reusable, maintainable and well-documented automation.
- Strong understanding of infrastructure automation and configuration management principles.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code concepts. Containers & Kubernetes
- Strong experience with Docker and containerised workloads.
- Experience with CRI-O, containerd or comparable container runtimes.
- Practical experience administering Kubernetes clusters in production or business-critical environments.
- Strong understanding of: deployments pods services ingress persistent storage secrets configuration resource allocation cluster networking availability monitoring troubleshooting
- Ability to independently deploy, troubleshoot and maintain applications within Kubernetes.
- Experience supporting highly available containerised environments Database Administration My SQL / Galera
- Strong experience administering My SQL environments.
- Experience managing Galera Cluster or comparable highly available My SQL architectures.
- Good understanding of: replication backup and restore performance
- monitoring database troubleshooting permissions and access upgrades clustering high availability failover disaster recovery
- Ability to investigate and resolve database performance and availability issues Microsoft SQL Server
- Experience administering Microsoft SQL Server / MSSQL environments.
- Good understanding of: database backup and recovery
- permissions maintenance
- monitoring performance
- troubleshooting availability resilience Microsoft Systems Administration
- Strong experience administering Microsoft Windows Server environments.
- Experience installing, configuring and maintaining Windows-based servers and applications.
- Experience with system monitoring, patching, security and operational support.
- Strong understanding of Windows Server permissions, services and network configuration.
- Ability to troubleshoot Windows infrastructure and application issues independently.
- Experience supporting business-critical Microsoft workloads. CI/CD & Development Operations
- Strong experience with CI/CD pipelines.
- Experience designing, maintaining and troubleshooting automated deployment pipelines.
- Understanding of build, test and production deployment processes.
- Strong working knowledge of Git and modern source control workflows.
- Experience supporting software developers with infrastructure and deployment requirements.
- Ability to improve deployment reliability through automation and standardisation.
- Experience supporting multiple development, staging and production environments Infrastructure & Networking
- Strong understanding of: TCP/IP DNS HTTP / HTTPS firewalls VPNs load balancing reverse proxies TLS / SSL certificates
- Experience administering web servers such as Nginx and Apache.
- Understanding of highly available, multi-server environments.
- Ability to troubleshoot infrastructure issues across operating system, networking, database and application layers.
- Experience working alongside external infrastructure or managed service providers Working Style &
- Soft Skills
- Strong problem-solving and diagnostic capability.
- Comfortable being given an outcome or problem rather than a predefined technical solution.
- Able to independently investigate, evaluate options and implement appropriate solutions.
- Strong ownership mentality and willingness to take responsibility for systems through their full lifecycle.
- Proactive approach to identifying operational risks before they become incidents.
- Calm and methodical approach to production incidents and high-pressure situations.
- Strong attention to detail. Good communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to explain infrastructure risks and recommendations in practical business terms.
- Nice-to-Have
- Previous experience supporting SAP environments.
- Experience working with infrastructure hosting or supporting SAP application and database workloads.
- Experience with Terraform or similar Infrastructure as Code tooling.
- Experience with cloud infrastructure. Experience with centralised logging and observability platforms.
- Experience with vulnerability management and security tooling.
- Experience administering Redis or similar caching technologies.
- Experience with highly available ecommerce or customer-facing infrastructure.
- Experience supporting infrastructure across multiple physical locations or datacentres.
- Experience working in organisations subject to formal audit, governance or listed-company control requirements.
- Familiarity with broader Microsoft infrastructure and enterprise systems Is this role for you?? Click apply!
Senior DevOps & Systems Engineer in Bristol employer: Centric Talent
Join our team as a Multi-Drop Van Driver in Waltham Abbey, where we prioritise employee satisfaction and growth. Enjoy competitive pay, a performance bonus, and a supportive work culture that values work-life balance with guaranteed weekday hours. We offer opportunities for professional development and a friendly environment that makes every day rewarding.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior DevOps & Systems Engineer in Bristol
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Centric Talent or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
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✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Centric Talent.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Centric Talent that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior DevOps & Systems Engineer in Bristol
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Centric Talent.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Centric Talent and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Centric Talent
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Centric Talent uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
