Senior Azure DevOps / AI Platform DevOps Specialist

Ottawa based: Seeking an experienced Senior Azure DevOps / AI Platform DevOps Contractor to join our team. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in Azure cloud deployment, modern GitLab CI/CD practices, and hands-on experience with Kubernetes or OpenShift. Strong proficiency in Python scripting and automation is required, along with experience in networking, security, and enterprise integrations. Experience supporting or deploying AI/ML workloads into production is highly desirable.

Advantages

• Experience implementing data governance and control frameworks.
• Experience using HashiCorp Vault for secrets management.
• Experience using and securing S3-compatible object storage, such as MinIO.
• Experience creating and optimizing production-grade GitLab CI/CD workflows.
• Strong experience in Kubernetes cluster administration and operational best practices.
• Expert knowledge of Kubernetes deployments using Helm.
• Experience with NVIDIA GPU Operator and GPU features such as time-slicing and MIG slicing.
• Experience with LDAP and SSO authentication flows.
• Experience building and securing Docker images.
• Strong scripting capability in Bash and Python.
• Experience implementing RBAC controls, particularly in environments handling sensitive data.
• Experience implementing security and compliance tooling, including vulnerability scanning and SAST.
• Experience using tools such as Prometheus and Grafana for monitoring, observability, and audit support.
• Experience designing and implementing highly available systems.

Responsibilities

• Implement and optimize DevOps practices within an Azure cloud environment, ensuring security, scalability, resilience, and reliability.
• Design, build, and maintain robust GitLab CI/CD pipelines to accelerate software delivery, infrastructure automation, and production deployment.
• Support the deployment and operation of containerized workloads using Kubernetes and/or OpenShift, applying platform engineering and operational best practices.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of AI/Agentic AI DevOps capabilities, enabling secure, production-ready deployment of AI workloads and supporting associated infrastructure and controls.
• Drive automation for infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and deployment using Infrastructure as Code principles and repeatable engineering practices.
• Collaborate closely with development, operations, security, and enterprise platform teams to troubleshoot and resolve complex live performance, stability, and integration issues, while implementing preventative improvements.
• Support release planning, deployment scheduling, and operational readiness for cloud-hosted and AI-enabled applications.
• Provide technical guidance and recommendations to engineering teams based on operational analysis, observability data, and platform monitoring insights.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise requirements for security, authentication, access control, governance, and integration with corporate systems.
• Stay current with emerging DevOps, Azure, Kubernetes, and AI platform technologies, sharing knowledge and mentoring team members where appropriate.

Qualifications

• Proven experience deploying, managing, and optimizing applications and platforms in Microsoft Azure.
• Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, including cluster operations, workload deployment, and platform best practices.
• Strong understanding of networking and security, particularly in cloud and containerized environments.
• Demonstrated success designing and maintaining GitLab CI/CD pipelines for enterprise-scale applications and services.
• Strong scripting and automation capability using Python, with Bash or similar scripting also desirable.
• Experience integrating solutions with enterprise systems, including identity, authentication, and access management components.
• Strong troubleshooting skills with a proactive approach to reliability, operational support, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Desirable experience supporting AI/ML or Agentic AI workloads in production.

Summary

Role Overview: We are looking for a Senior Azure DevOps / AI Platform DevOp to join our DevOps team. This role is specifically focused on managing and optimizing applications deployed within the Microsoft Azure cloud environment with a focus on AI workflow

Must-Have Requirements:

• Experience: Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in DevOps or Cloud Engineering roles.
• Azure Expertise: Significant expertise in Microsoft Azure cloud services and deployments.
• Must have expertise in AI workflow ( experience supporting AI/ML or Agentic AI workloads in production)
• CI/CD: A proven track record of building and supporting CI/CD pipelines within enterprise environments.
• Automation: Strong scripting and automation skills, with a specific focus on Python.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Hands-on coding experience with Terragrunt and Terraform.
• Testing: Experience integrating automated testing into the deployment lifecycle.
• Process Management: Experience implementing and managing comprehensive DevOps processes and best practices.

Location Ottawa

This role is Hybrid, 3 days in office, 2 days work from home.

Schedule: Core hours are 9:30am–3pm local time (somehow flexible) can start as early as 7:30

Clearance Requirement: Secret, CGP, or Trade clearance;

This position can be extended or become permanent