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Senior Cloud / DevOps Engineer — Enablis (Leeds, UK)
About Us
Enablis is an agile technology delivery consultancy headquartered in the UK, specializing in helping commercial clients accelerate their digital transformation roadmaps. We cut through industry jargon to deliver straight-forward, value-driven technical solutions.
By combining our deep technical engineering practices with our clients’ domain expertise, Enablis designs, builds, and manages resilient cloud platforms that drive measurable business impact.
Job Overview & Key Responsibilities
As a Senior Cloud / DevOps Engineer at Enablis in Leeds, you will serve as a technical lead within client-facing, cross-functional squads. You will bridge the gap between software development and core cloud infrastructure, taking ownership of cloud platforms from early design and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) provisioning through to automated CI/CD deployment and ongoing operational observability.
Key Responsibilities
- Cloud Platform Architecture: Design, provision, and maintain highly available, secure, and scalable cloud environments on major hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Write modular, maintainable IaC templates using Terraform to automate multi-environment infrastructure deployments.
- CI/CD Automation: Build and optimize automated deployment pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, or Jenkins.
- Container Orchestration: Deploy and manage microservices environments leveraging Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE) or Amazon ECS.
- Client Engagement & Mentorship: Collaborate directly with client stakeholders to translate business roadmaps into technical architectures while leveraging support from Enablis’ internal engineering practice communities.
Requirements & Desired Qualifications
- Hyperscaler Expertise: Advanced technical fluency in at least one primary cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
- IaC & Automation: Demonstrated experience authoring production-grade infrastructure using Terraform.
- Software Engineering Fundamentals: Proficiency in at least one mainstream programming or scripting language (e.g., Python, Go, or JavaScript/TypeScript).
- Containerization & CI/CD: Hands-on experience with container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes, ECS) and enterprise pipeline automation (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
- Networking & Security: Strong grasp of cloud networking (VPCs, firewalls, DNS, load balancing), distributed systems, and modern zero-trust security principles.
- Consulting & Communication: Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with comfort navigating complex client environments and agile frameworks.
Job Role Comparison Table
| Feature / Aspect | In-House DevOps Engineer | Senior Cloud/DevOps Consultant (Enablis) | Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) |
| Primary Focus | Internal product platform maintenance | Client roadmap acceleration & custom cloud builds | System availability, latency optimization & SLOs |
| Environment Variety | Single company tech stack | Diverse multi-cloud client environments (AWS/Azure/GCP) | Focused on core high-traffic production infrastructure |
| Stakeholder Dynamics | Internal software engineering teams | Direct client consultation & technical leadership | Internal product & incident management teams |
| Core Tooling | Stack-specific (e.g., AWS + Terraform) | Terraform, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, Python/Go | Prometheus, Grafana, Chaos Engineering, Python |
Key Benefits of This Role
- High-Impact Consultancy Exposure: Solve complex infrastructure challenges across diverse industries without getting bogged down in monolithic legacy tech stacks.
- Supportive Practice Communities: Access Enablis’ wider engineering communities for peer reviews, knowledge sharing, and architecture support.
- Modern Stack Autonomy: Hands-on leadership using industry-standard open-source tools (Terraform, Kubernetes, Go, Python).
- Work-Life Balance & Culture: Collaborative, jargon-free culture focused on pragmatic outcomes, flexibility, and equal opportunities.
How to Prepare a CV for This Position
- Highlight Consulting & Client Impact: Clearly detail instances where you communicated directly with business stakeholders to shape cloud delivery roadmaps.
- Put Technical Credentials Front and Center: Feature cloud certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate) prominently near the top.
- Quantify IaC & Automation Achievements: Highlight specific projects (e.g., “Automated multi-region Kubernetes cluster provisioning using Terraform and GitHub Actions, cutting release cycles by 60%”).
- Demonstrate Coding Capabilities: Mention specific backend languages (Python, Go, JavaScript) used for custom automation, CLI tools, or cloud functions.
Career Guide Tips for Growth
- Master Multi-Cloud Architecture Patterns: Gain exposure across both AWS and Azure to provide high-value architectural advice to enterprise clients.
- Deepen Cloud Security (DevSecOps): Integrate automated security scanning tools (e.g., tfsec, Checkov, Trivy) directly into CI/CD pipelines to enforce compliance by default.
- Develop Technical Leadership Skills: Practice translating complex distributed systems concepts into plain, business-focused terms for non-technical client executives.
How to Prepare for the Interview
- Brush Up on System Design: Practice designing resilient, fault-tolerant cloud architectures on a whiteboard, explaining trade-offs between cost, latency, and operational overhead.
- Be Ready for Live IaC / Code Discussions: Review Terraform module design, state file management, drift detection, and basic coding problem-solving in Python or Go.
- Prepare STAR Stories for Consulting Scenarios: Frame past experiences around how you resolved client ambiguity, managed shifting project requirements, or simplified overly complex technical systems.
Interview Questions & Guidance
1. “How do you structure Terraform code and manage state files securely across multi-environment, multi-region enterprise deployments?”
How to answer: Explain using remote state storage with state locking (e.g., AWS S3 + DynamoDB or Azure Blob), modularizing infrastructure code, using Terragrunt or workspaces for environment separation, and automating state checks within CI/CD pipelines.
2. “How would you approach migrating a client’s legacy monolithic application into a containerized, cloud-native Kubernetes environment?”
How to answer: Outline a phased strategy: analyzing application dependencies, containerizing components via Docker, establishing baseline Kubernetes manifests or Helm charts, setting up automated CI/CD pipelines, and executing a zero-downtime blue/green or canary deployment strategy.
3. “Can you describe a situation where a client’s technical requirements were ambiguous or conflicting? How did you align the team and deliver the solution?”
How to answer: Use the STAR method: describe how you conducted discovery workshops to clarify requirements, broke complex problems into simple architectural milestones, maintained open communication, and delivered a scalable solution that met core business goals.
Salary Insight
- Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
- Estimated UK Market Range: Senior Cloud / DevOps Engineers with consultancy experience and expertise in Terraform and Kubernetes in the Yorkshire region typically command base salaries between £65,000 – £85,000 per annum (plus bonus and benefits), depending on client portfolio responsibilities.
How to Apply
To apply for the Senior Cloud / DevOps Engineer role at Enablis:
- Submit your updated CV directly via the official Enablis career portal or professional UK recruitment channels.
- Leeds, United Kingdom.
- Enablis welcomes applications from all qualified individuals regardless of race, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or age.
Disclaimer
This job summary and interview guide has been independently structured for candidate recruitment support and preparation purposes. Enablis retains all primary rights to its official job postings, brand assets, and selection decisions. Applicants should confirm full position specifics and contract terms directly with official Enablis hiring representatives.