DevOps Engineer

Excellent opportunity for a DevOps Engineer to join our Cloud Platform Team here at Admiral Group Plc.

Platform Engineering

Our goal in Platform Engineering, as part of the wider Platform Services area, is to provide a Platform product to the IT Tribes that enables them to develop, test, deliver and run their applications. We are guided by our users in how to develop the platform, but we will always focus on:

• Providing secure and scalable platforms from Development/QA through to Production
• Providing infrastructure for platform services like logging, monitoring, and alerting
• Supporting the essential tools that enable the development process
• Continuing to enhance our on-premises services while we build out the future platforms in the cloud

It is an exciting time for Platform Engineering as Admiral is making a big investment in technology, moving most of our systems to the cloud. We will be at the heart of that transformation, building the services that will support our systems for many more years, and we are looking for people to join us in meeting this challenge. It is a fantastic opportunity so if you are interested in throwing yourself into cloud computing and have a passion for technology then we would love to hear from you.

Treating our platform as a product is key to how we work, and we are organising ourselves around that concept, using an agile approach working with our users to set the platform direction and squads made up of a Squad Lead, Devops Engineers and Senior Devops Engineers to deliver it.

Devops Engineer

As a Devops Engineer you will help guide the technical direction for Platform Engineering.  You are actively encouraged and expected to contribute to all aspects of the platform product to meet the needs of our users, evaluating feasibility, exploring requirements and solution development. You will ensure the achievement of the Objectives and Key Results as agreed with the Squad Lead, and Senior Service Owner.

Whilst providing quality software solutions for our business and evaluating requirements, proposing, and developing solutions as part of an Agile delivery Squad, you will also take responsibility for estimating, planning, and managing your own tasks and reporting on progress.

Relationship Management will play an important part as you will be collaborating closely with other members of the squad and the domain teams in Platform Technology to help deliver on our users’ requirements and evolve the platform product.

We expect you to become an expert within Platform Engineering, helping set the direction for at least one key area of the team’s work. It is important that we develop the skills of all our engineers so this role will expect you to provide guidance, coaching and mentoring to all members within the Platform Engineering group.

Main Duties

• Develop end to end solutions using best practice engineering methodology while adhering to the relevant Admiral IT Architecture and CISO controls and standards
• Identify and implement suitable detailed development activities for each sprint set of epics/ stories in accordance with best practice
• Be an SME in one or more core platform technologies; propose and develop new technologies and solutions
• Take ownership for the delivery of specific stories or epics, including co-ordinating the work of others
• Work directly with the Product Owner to clarify and further define the details of how a story should be implemented or suggest alternative solutions
• Provide mentoring, coaching and guidance to other engineers in the squad
• Research and evaluate software products; create PoCs as necessary to demonstrate new ideas and technologies
• Diagnose and resolve problems with the platforms supported by Platform Engineering
• Identify and drive improvements in how the squad works
• Listen to teams across IT to understand how we can help improve the platform, share best practice to help development teams improve how they work
• Be an active participant in squad-level ceremonies

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• A problem-solving mindset
• A passion to improve how we develop and run our applications
• The ability to prioritise and manage multiple workflows simultaneously
• Experience is needed in Kubernetes (AKS), Ansible, Terraform, Docker, Linux Sys Admin (RHEL, Ubuntu, Alpine), Azure Networking, Azure Application Gateway, Azure DevOps, CI/CD and Jenkins
• Microsoft Azure Platform as a Service (PaaS) products such as Azure SQL, App Services, Logic Apps, Functions and other Serverless services
• Knowledge of PowerShell, Git, ARM templates and deployment automation
• Experience in working as part of a team and building strong working relationships
• The ability to drill into the detail as well as see the bigger picture
• An exponent of Infrastructure as Code
• In-depth understanding of cloud-based architectures, preferably Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform
• An understanding of agile practices and agile ways of working.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Experience of design and implementation of infrastructure, applications, and cloud solutions
• Experience with datacentre migration, cloud migration, integration, and consolidation efforts
• An understanding of Information Security and how to ensure platforms are safe and secure
• Understanding of Microsoft Identity and Access Management
• Microsoft Azure Operational and Monitoring tools, including Azure Monitor, App Insights and Log Analytics
• Experience operating within Financial Services
• Experience of containerising Java applications

Interview Process

There will be a two-stage process for this role. There will  be an on-line assessment as the first stage then an interview via MS teams.These will take place throughout January.

Our Commitment to You

At Admiral, we are committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace. Admiral is proud to be an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other legally protected status.

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment.

Salary, Benefits and Work-Life Balance

We do not have a set salary for this position, as it will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience. We are happy to see CVs from all candidates who meet the requirements and will be happy to discuss the remuneration package.

At Admiral, we are proud to be a diverse business where we put our people and customers first. We have great benefits to ensure employees have a great work-life balance; it's one of the reasons we’re consistently voted one of the Sunday Times Best Big Companies to Work For in the UK. We want you to have an element of freedom to define a working lifestyle that supports this, so accommodate flexible hours wherever possible.

All colleagues will receive 33 days holiday (including banks holidays) when they join us, and this will increase with length of service, up to a maximum of 38 days (including banks holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to five days of annual leave in addition to your allocation.

You can also view some of our other key benefits here.