DevOps Lead

Onsite Role Virtual Interviews Position: DevOps Lead Location: Limerick, Ireland Duration: 24 Months with EXT Role Overview: We are looking for a talented and driven DevOps Lead to define and own our DevOps strategy — the engineering practices, toolchain, and delivery infrastructure that determine how software is built, tested, and released across the organisation. A key initial focus for this role is our Manufacturing Execution System (MES) programme, where you will bridge development, operations, and quality in a regulated manufacturing environment, but the role's remit extends beyond any single platform. We are looking for someone with a strong software engineering background who understands the full development lifecycle — from design and coding through testing, release, and operations — and who can translate that understanding into a DevOps strategy and CI/CD approach that integrates smoothly with how our development teams actually build software. Prior exposure to MES platforms such as Syncade is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Key Responsibilities: Develop, own, and continuously evolve our DevOps strategy — defining the target toolchain, automation approach, and ways of working that align development and operations across the organisation, with the MES programme as an initial priority area.Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines that reflect a solid understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring builds, tests, and deployments integrate smoothly with how engineering teams design, code, and release software — including for MES deployments across development, test, and production environments.Own the DevOps toolchain — source control, build automation, release management, environment provisioning, monitoring, and observability.Define and enforce branching strategies, code review processes, and release management standards appropriate to a regulated manufacturing environment.Work closely with vendors, system integrators, and internal teams to understand platform architecture and translate this into maintainable infrastructure-as-code and deployment automation.Lead environment management across the software estate — including MES ensuring environments are correctly configured, version-controlled, and fit for purpose across all lifecycle stages.Implement and maintain monitoring, alerting, and logging solutions to provide operational visibility of MES platform health and performance.Drive shift-left quality practices — working with the testing team to embed automated testing into pipelines and ensuring quality gates are robust.Support computer system validation (CSV) activities, maintaining audit trails, deployment records, and change control documentation in compliance with GxP requirements.Manage infrastructure provisioning supporting workloads, ensuring security, resilience, and scalability.Identify and resolve bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline, continuously improving deployment frequency, lead time, and recovery metrics (DORA).Act as a technical authority and escalation point for infrastructure and deployment issues across the MES programme. Essential Requirements: Software development background — hands-on experience as a software engineer or developer, with a solid grasp of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), coding practices, and application architecture, and the ability to use that experience to shape how DevOps and CI/CD integrate with development teams' ways of working.Proven experience in a DevOps Lead or Senior DevOps Engineer role on complex enterprise software programmes.Strong hands-on experience with CI/CD tooling — Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or equivalent.Solid understanding of infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible) and configuration management practices.Experience managing environments for large-scale enterprise applications, including environment promotion strategies and configuration management.Proficiency in scripting languages (PowerShell, Bash, Python, or similar) for automation and tooling.Demonstrated experience defining or evolving a DevOps strategy or roadmap — toolchain selection, automation approach, and ways of working — grounded in a strong understanding of the software delivery lifecycle, release management, and change control in enterprise settings.Experience working in regulated industries (pharmaceutical, life sciences, or similar) with awareness of compliance and validation requirements.Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and resolve complex infrastructure and deployment issues under pressure. Desirable Requirements: Direct experience deploying, maintaining, or supporting off-the-shelf MES platforms— including configuration, and upgrade activities.Familiarity with GxP computer system validation (CSV), GAMP 5 lifecycle, and associated documentation requirements (IQ, OQ, PQ).Knowledge of containerisation technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and their applicability within regulated manufacturing environments.Understanding of MES integration patterns — ERP (SAP), LIMS, historian, and shop-floor device connectivity.Experience with security hardening, vulnerability management, and operational security in manufacturing environments.