DevOps Lead @ Limerick, Ireland - 24 Months with Ext - Onsite

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.
• 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.
• 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.