DevOps Engineer Superstar

THE NO-NONSENSE SUMMARY: This position is intended for talented devops engineers who like to have a direct impact on real-world business solutions. Reporting to the CTO, you will enjoy this position if you like working in small teams and to get continuous feedback as you implement solutions to real-world problems. Be sure to read to the end of the description to be sure you don’t miss an important detail.

ROLE’S MISSION

Streamline our software development lifecycle through automation of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure management, and ensuring system reliability, scalability, and security. You will collaborate with development  teams to drive efficient, secure, and fast deployments while maintaining operational stability.

DESIRED OUTCOMES (max 3):

• Streamline build, testing, and deployment workflows to ensure faster, more reliable releases with minimal manual intervention, enhancing collaboration between development and operations.
• Manage cloud and on-premise environments (Linux servers, Kubernetes, Docker) using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to ensure scalability, reliability, security, and compliance.
• Implement monitoring, logging, and security automation for real-time performance tracking, quick incident response, and enhanced system reliability and data protection.

CANDIDATE COMPETENCIES | Candidate is able to (max 5):

• Design and implement Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines using tools like GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and Octopus Deploy.
• Automate infrastructure and deployment processes by scripting in languages such as Bash and PowerShell, optimizing workflows and reducing manual tasks.
• Configure and manage NGINX and Apache web servers on Linux, ensuring optimal performance, security, and scalability.
• Deploy and manage containerized applications at scale using Kubernetes, enabling automated scaling, load balancing, and failover.
• Containerize applications with Docker, ensuring consistent deployment across various environments.

THE ROLE
Yes, you read that right – we’re looking for a SUPERSTAR. If the title sounds unconventional, it’s because CAPLINQ is too. We’re looking for that special someone who has not one, but two complementary skills – the amazing ability to improve the developer experience by improving the CI/CD pipeline, all while making sure our servers and infrastructure is running securely and reliably.

CAPLINQ is a small, fast-growing company and we’re looking for talented, team-playing individuals to join our team. We’re a different kind of company looking to find special people, so we also write our job vacancies in a way to attract similar like-minded people. We’ve been successful in Europe for 20 years, the USA for 4 years and have only recently expanded our operations to the Philippines and Malaysia.

In the description below, we try to give you an idea of exactly the kind of people we are looking for by listing the desired outcomes of the position and the desired competencies of the ideal candidate. If you find yourself nodding along with this description and see yourself as a perfect fit for this position, then I encourage you to read on. If on the other hand, you’re already exhausted reading this, I recommend you take a nap and check out another job post.

So, what will you be doing?
You will be working with the development team to optimize the developer experience, build CI/CD pipelines, improve setting up developer workstations, but also managing and running our Linux servers keeping them securely up and running with minimal downtime.

1. Streamline build, testing, and deployment workflows to ensure faster, more reliable releases with minimal manual intervention, enhancing collaboration between development and operations. (33% of your time)

In this role you will be tasked by making sure our CI/CD pipeline is running fast and reliable. Making sure that developers are getting the best setup possible to smoothly work on improving our software.

Examples of activities:

• Setting up the infrastructure for integration tests with anonymized data.
• Making sure the builds are highly optimized in terms of speed and reliability.
• Deploying environments for every pull request to his own environment to be tested in isolation.
• Collaborate with the developers to identify and solve bottlenecks with regards to setting up local developer workstations.

2. Manage cloud and on-premise environments (Linux servers, Kubernetes, Docker) using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to ensure scalability, reliability, security, and compliance.  (33% of your time)

It’s your responsibility to make sure our servers are up and running and advise the CTO on the future direction of setting up our global infrastructure. Making sure the costs are within budget.

Examples of activities:

• Migrate our current Linux server running on CentOs and Apache to a cloud service or on-premise server that’s using NGINX and Ubuntu. 
• Separate our dev, staging and production environments. Making sure every environment is set up in isolation. Kubernetes, Docker or any other better solution that you can have experience with.
• Making sure our servers, docker images, backups are all up-to-date to keep up with security related fixes, while making sure production has zero to none downtime.

3. Implement monitoring, logging, and security automation for real-time performance tracking, quick incident response, and enhanced system reliability and data protection. (33% of your time)

Implement the right tools to monitor performance, up-time, memory, track errors and make sure downtime is limited and we can easily fallback to keep our systems up-and running while digging into root cause to prevent future issues.

Examples of activities:

• Setting up Grafana dashboards to easily monitor the status of the system.
• Proactively checking the system for errors and providing feedback to developers for solving recurring issues.
• Making sure backups are made (and can be restored) on a daily/hourly basis to reduce data loss in case of a disaster.
• Documenting all systems, procedures so in case of an emergency we can quickly act and resolve issues without relying on a single point of contact.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

What mindset do you require?
Skills can be learned. Mindsets, though they can be learned too, are more often a part of who you are. We value the mindset at least if not more than either experience or hard skills.

1. Curiosity – We want a person who is curious, and rarely satisfied with the first answer. If you find something that doesn’t agree with what you already think, then we want someone who wants to know why. 
2. Attention to Detail – We want a person who is organized, manages their time well and has good observation skills. Hint! Don’t forget to read the last paragraph 😉
3. Continuous Improvement – People and processes can always get better. We’re looking for someone who questions every process to see if there’s no room for improvement.
4. Courage – Bosses make mistakes and colleagues aren’t always fair. That’s life. We’re looking for someone who may be afraid to confront these issues, but does it anyway.

What skills do you NOT need?
Before we list the skills you do need, it is important that you know what skills or experience we do NOT require:

• Product knowledge: You do not need to know anything about any of the products CAPLINQ sells, nor any of the services we provide. All will be taught on the job.

What skills do you require?

This is not an entry level position. We are looking for candidates with a couple of years experience in the field of devops. Candidates will be required to:

• Be pragmatic, analytical, results-focused. This is the basic requirement for the position.
• Be a positive team player. A positive attitude and energy feed the team and we can always use more.
• Pay attention to detail. The very last paragraph of this job vacancy has very important information. Be sure you read it twice before applying.
• Extensive knowledge of Linux, setting up web servers and  security best practices.
• Experience with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines preferable, Azure Pipelines and/or GitHub Actions
• Knowledge of Docker containers, Kubernetes or similar technologies

Skills not required, but that get bonus points (any of them count):

The job does not require these skills, but they are welcome extras, be sure to mention them.

• Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or other cloud providers: We aren’t necessarily looking for a migration to the cloud, but your knowledge would be useful discussing our future infrastructure.
• .NET Framework: Our API is built on the latest .NET Core framework. It would help the team if the devops engineer has knowledge already so optimizing the developer experience is familiar.

There is no need to send your CV unless it looks awesome and you want to impress us with how it looks.  Otherwise, we will use your LinkedIn profile (better make sure it is complete!).  

Instead, candidates wishing to apply are requested to send an email to hr@caplinq.com that includes:

• A link to your LinkedIn profile (not a CV)
• A one-page, personal motivation letter (why does this job sound like it’s perfect for you and you for it?)

Let me repeat that last part in a different way… We are looking for people who stand out from the crowd with a well-written, enthusiastic one-page letter telling us why this position speaks to you and what you could bring to the team. 

If all you do is send a CV (we told you not to), and no cover letter your application will be discarded without even being read.