This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a DevOps Tech Lead based in Netherlands.
In this role, you will lead a team of DevOps and infrastructure engineers responsible for building and operating the core platform behind a large-scale online learning environment. You will drive a major infrastructure modernization initiative, supporting the transition from legacy on-premise systems to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Kubernetes. Your focus will be on improving scalability, security, reliability, and business continuity while simplifying the technology stack and reducing operational complexity. Working closely with engineering managers and product development leaders, you will shape platform priorities and deliver self-service capabilities that empower development teams. Combining hands-on technical leadership with team mentorship, you will establish engineering standards and promote best practices across infrastructure and delivery processes. This is an opportunity to influence the technical direction of a growing platform while building a high-performing engineering team.
- Lead the design, development, and operation of critical infrastructure components supporting engineering teams, including Kubernetes clusters, CI/CD pipelines, databases, edge infrastructure, and observability systems.
- Drive the migration of on-premise workloads to Google Cloud Platform, particularly Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), ensuring scalable, secure, and reliable cloud infrastructure.
- Lead infrastructure modernization initiatives by consolidating legacy systems, simplifying the technology stack, and reducing operational overhead.
- Design and maintain cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), applying best practices across GCP services, networking, identity and access management, encryption, and secrets management.
- Develop and optimize CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows using tools such as FluxCD or ArgoCD to improve deployment efficiency, consistency, and reliability.
- Strengthen infrastructure security, business continuity, disaster recovery, and operational resilience across the platform.
- Develop internal developer platform capabilities and self-service infrastructure tooling that enable engineering teams to work more independently and efficiently.
- Collaborate with Engineering Managers and product development leadership to understand internal customer needs, define platform requirements, and prioritize infrastructure initiatives.
- Establish and maintain high engineering standards across the team, leading by example in code quality, infrastructure design, automation, documentation, and operational best practices.
- Manage, mentor, and support a team of engineers through regular coaching, technical guidance, and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
- Set clear team objectives using SMART goals, organize technical training sessions, conduct performance reviews, and provide continuous individual feedback.
- Work closely with team members on technical implementation while encouraging professional development, accountability, and collaborative problem-solving.
- Lead incident response activities, coordinate resolution efforts, and facilitate postmortems to identify root causes and prevent recurring issues.
- Continuously evaluate infrastructure performance and operational practices, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, scalability, and developer experience.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- At least 7 years of professional experience in DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or Infrastructure Engineering.
- Minimum 2 years of experience in a mentoring or leadership capacity, including at least 1 year formally leading a team or serving as a technical lead.
- At least 3 years of hands-on experience operating Kubernetes workloads in production environments, preferably using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
- At least 3 years of experience working with a major cloud provider and Infrastructure as Code technologies.
- Senior-level expertise in Google Cloud Platform (GCP), particularly IAM, networking, Key Management Service (KMS), GKE, Cloud SQL, and Secret Manager.
- At least 3 years of experience operating at Senior, Staff, or Principal Engineer level, demonstrating strong technical ownership and architectural decision-making.
- Proven experience designing, implementing, and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and modern software delivery workflows.
- Practical experience with GitOps methodologies and tools such as FluxCD or ArgoCD.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate directly with engineering teams and management stakeholders to understand requirements, define priorities, and deliver platform solutions.
- Experience leading incident response processes, including coordinating technical investigations, conducting postmortems, and implementing preventive measures.
- Strong leadership, mentoring, and communication skills, with the ability to provide constructive feedback, develop team capabilities, and establish clear performance expectations.
- Excellent problem-solving and organizational skills, combined with a proactive and hands-on approach to technical leadership.
- Experience leading teams through large-scale architectural transformations or infrastructure migrations is a strong advantage.
- Previous experience supporting high-traffic consumer platforms is desirable.
- Familiarity with infrastructure and technology requirements in regulated environments is a plus.
- Experience operating self-hosted observability stacks, including Prometheus, Thanos, Loki, Grafana, Tempo, and OpenTelemetry, is beneficial.
- Knowledge of internal developer platforms and self-service infrastructure tooling is an advantage.
- Experience supporting .NET/C# application deployments is considered a plus.
- Familiarity with database technologies such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, and RabbitMQ is desirable.
- Experience with Istio or other service mesh technologies would be an additional advantage.
Benefits:
- Flexible working arrangements: Choose between remote, office-based, or flexible working formats, depending on project and location requirements.
- Competitive compensation: Attractive salary and comprehensive compensation package.
- Personalized career development: Growth opportunities tailored to your professional ambitions and technical expertise.
- Professional learning resources: Access to mentorship programs, technical talks, structured training, and internal development initiatives.
- Technical communities: Participation in active engineering communities that encourage collaboration and regular knowledge sharing.
- Education support: Education reimbursement to support continuous learning and professional certifications.
- Employee recognition: Memorable anniversary gifts and recognition of important career milestones.
- Team-building activities: Corporate events and team gatherings that encourage collaboration and connection.
- Additional benefits: Other location-specific perks and benefits depending on the employment arrangement.
- Technical ownership: Opportunity to influence infrastructure architecture, modernization strategies, and engineering standards.
- Leadership opportunities: Direct responsibility for mentoring and developing an engineering team while shaping the future of the platform.
