DevOps Engineer

DevOps Engineer — Platform & Infrastructure **Contract to Hire** Chicago, IL (Hybrid) Work Authorization: Must be a US Citizen Position Overview We are seeking a hands-on DevOps Engineer to join a growing Platform & Infrastructure team supporting an AI-first transformation. This role will focus on implementing infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, cloud automation, and emerging AI-driven capabilities that enable engineering and development teams to deliver software safely, efficiently, and at scale. The ideal candidate is highly curious and enjoys exploring new technologies, identifying where AI can create meaningful value, prototyping solutions, and helping turn successful ideas into secure, governed, production-ready platform capabilities. You will work across Terraform, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Azure, and emerging agentic AI technologies, partnering with platform, security, and application teams to develop and implement scalable automation patterns. Key Responsibilities Build and maintain reusable Terraform modules using established infrastructure-as-code patterns to create modular, scalable, and easy-to-consume solutions.Develop and manage CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, including pipeline-as-code, automated testing, infrastructure state management, and approval and governance controls.Implement and support agentic AI automation, including agent workflows, tool integrations, and guardrails designed to make AI-driven automation secure and reliable in production environments.Improve logging, monitoring, and observability through automation and AI-driven tooling, using intelligent workflows to identify meaningful signals, automate issue triage, and improve incident response.Partner with engineering and business teams to identify opportunities for AI and automation adoption and develop self-service tools, starter kits, and onboarding resources that enable teams to leverage these technologies safely.Apply security and governance principles throughout the automation lifecycle, including managed identities, private endpoints, least-privilege access, secure credential management, and human-in-the-loop controls for sensitive operations.Collaborate with platform, application, and security teams to identify automation opportunities, prototype solutions, and productionize successful initiatives.Create and maintain documentation, operational procedures, runbooks, and reusable engineering patterns.Stay current with emerging developments in AI, agentic automation, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure, bringing practical and actionable ideas to the team. Required Qualifications 3+ years of experience building and operating cloud infrastructure, with strong hands-on Terraform experience, including the development of reusable modules.Proven experience designing and managing CI/CD pipelines, preferably using Azure DevOps Pipelines.Strong understanding of Git and modern software development workflows.Proficiency in at least one scripting or programming language, such as Python, PowerShell, or Bash.Working knowledge of Microsoft Azure IaaS/PaaS, cloud networking, identity management, Entra ID, managed identities, and secrets management using tools such as Azure Key Vault.Demonstrated interest or hands-on experience with agentic AI, LLM-based automation, or AI-powered developer and infrastructure tooling.A strong sense of curiosity and self-directed learning, with a demonstrated ability to explore new technologies, prototype solutions, and identify practical applications for emerging tools.Understanding of DevSecOps principles and secure-by-default delivery practices, including credential management, security scanning, and identifying insecure infrastructure or deployment patterns. Preferred Qualifications Experience supporting or enabling development teams through platform engineering, developer enablement, internal tooling, or self-service infrastructure.Familiarity with agentic AI frameworks, MCP, or similar agent-to-tool integration patterns.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.Relevant Microsoft Azure certifications, such as Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert.