At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design and operation of secure Azure platforms for mission-focused services.
- Company: Join Metrea, a cutting-edge tech company supporting national security.
- Benefits: Enjoy private medical insurance, gym memberships, and 30 days annual leave.
- Other info: Hybrid work environment with opportunities for personal development and career growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in defence tech while working with innovative cloud solutions.
- Qualifications: Experience in Azure, DevOps, and infrastructure engineering is essential.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
Company Overview
Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats.
Our operating model is built around three interlocking pillars. The Support Groups provide a global shared-service – spanning people, finance, platform, operations, legal, and engagement. This frees up our Core Groups, who develop and own mission capabilities end-to-end, to focus entirely on delivery. The Market Groups apply a regional lens, ensuring that our agile and adaptable capabilities remain aligned to the wicked problems that matter most to our partners across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.
At the heart of our model is a simple but powerful idea: be a true partner with skin in the game. Our partners need effects, not just equipment. By owning the full stack – from the lab to the field – we are able to drive a continuous cycle of innovation that keeps our partners ahead. It's a fast-moving, intellectually demanding environment where talented people are given real responsibility, work on problems that matter, and contribute to an enterprise that is growing quickly and deliberately.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Group Overview
This role sits within Platform Group area of Metrea. The Platform Group provides the Information Technology and Information Systems ecosystem that Metrea is utilising for the day-to-day operations, communication, collaboration and information sharing across its Platform business block.
Position Summary
In this role, you will lead the design and operation of secure, reliable Azure platforms that enable Metrea's UK teams to build, deploy, and support mission-focused services with confidence. You will shape how we use Azure, Azure DevOps, GitHub, automation, and DevSecOps practices to improve delivery speed, platform resilience, and developer experience.
You will be successful if you can combine hands-on engineering depth with technical leadership: solving complex platform challenges, mentoring others, and making pragmatic decisions for sensitive defence environments.
What You'll Do
- Assist with the design, implementation, and operation of secure, scalable Azure platform services for UK programmes and internal teams.
- Own Azure DevOps or GitHub-based CI/CD standards, pipelines, release controls, and deployment automation across platform and application workloads.
- Architect and manage Azure infrastructure using infrastructure as code, including networking, identity, compute, storage, container platforms, monitoring, and governance.
- Build and optimise containerised workloads using Docker and Azure Kubernetes Service, with resilient and repeatable deployment patterns.
- Define observability standards using Azure-native and third-party tooling for monitoring, logging, alerting, diagnostics, and service health reporting.
- Implement DevSecOps practices, including shift-left security, policy as code, secrets management, vulnerability management, and secure software supply chain controls.
- Troubleshoot complex infrastructure, networking, identity, security, pipeline, and production issues to maintain reliable business-critical services.
- Advise software, platform, and support teams on effective Azure architecture, automation, CI/CD, and operational practices.
- Drive cost-aware platform decisions using data, service metrics, capacity trends, and clear value measures.
- Mentor engineers, champion platform engineering best practices, and help build a collaborative, high-performing DevSecOps culture.
What You Bring
- Proven experience in a senior platform, cloud, DevOps, or infrastructure engineering role supporting business-critical services.
- Strong hands-on experience designing, deploying, and operating Microsoft Azure environments, including networking, identity, compute, storage, monitoring, and governance.
- Deep experience with Azure DevOps or GitHub for source control, pull requests, CI/CD pipelines, release management, deployment automation, and environment controls.
- Proven experience delivering infrastructure as code using Bicep, Terraform, ARM templates, or similar technologies.
- Strong understanding of Docker, Kubernetes, and Azure Kubernetes Service, including scalable, resilient, and automated deployment patterns.
- Experience implementing DevSecOps practices, including secure configuration, least privilege access, secrets management, vulnerability awareness, and shift-left security.
- Strong troubleshooting capability across cloud infrastructure, networking, identity, observability, pipeline, and application deployment issues.
- Ability to mentor engineers, influence technical direction, and collaborate effectively with software, platform, security, and support teams.
Additional Eligibility Qualifications
The successful candidate must be able to qualify for UK Security Clearance.
Benefits
- Private Medical Insurance
- Subsided gym membership / plans through Wellhub
- Electric Car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Salary sacrificed pension scheme
- Free lunch on office days
- Enhanced Parental Leave
- 30 days annual PTO plus b/h
- Bonus Scheme
- Personal development opportunities
Work Authorization / Security Clearance
The employee will have the legal right to work in the United Kingdom and will be able to produce right to work documentation.
AAP/EEO Statement
Metrea Management Limited (MAM) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or other characteristics protected by law.
Position Type and Expected Hours of Work
This is a full-time non-exempt position with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may change in accordance with department and business needs. Exempt Employees must have the ability to be on-call and available, as business needs require. Non-Exempt employees may be required to work over 40 hours per week with approval from the department manager.
Work Environment
This job operates in a hybrid work setting, with 3 days in the office. The office is located at The Aircraft Factory, 100 Cambridge Grove, London, W6 0LE.
Travel
Some travel may be required to European/US destinations.
Senior DevOps Engineer employer: Metrea
Metrea is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic work culture in the heart of London, offering its Aviation Operations Liaison Specialists the opportunity to engage with diverse international partners. With a strong emphasis on professional development and collaboration, employees benefit from a supportive environment that encourages growth and innovation, making it a rewarding place to build a meaningful career in the air transport sector.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior DevOps Engineer
✨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 Metrea 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
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Metrea.
✨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 Metrea.
✨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 Metrea 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 Engineer
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 Metrea.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Metrea 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 Metrea
✨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 Metrea 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.