DevOps Engineer, II

About the job About Our Client: Encoura operates as a premier data-driven technology and research partner within the higher education sector, providing institutional solutions to optimize enrollment management, student success, academic research, and alumni advancement across colleges and universities nationwide. Dedicated to bridging the gap between students and higher education opportunities, Encoura also manages Encourage®, one of the nation's largest college and career planning ecosystems utilized by millions of high school students, counselors, and educators. About the Opportunity: The DevOps Engineer, II will step into a core cloud infrastructure role within the Platform Engineering organization, taking primary operational ownership of scaling, securing, and maintaining multi-product Microsoft Azure environments. Designed for a site reliability or cloud engineering professional, this position drives Infrastructure as Code (IaC) automation, CI/CD pipeline optimization, cloud cost control, and enterprise system observability. Serving as a primary incident responder and bridge between software development, product, and cybersecurity teams, the DevOps Engineer safeguards high availability and performance across cloud platforms serving higher education institutions nationwide. Responsibilities: • Maintain high availability, fault tolerance, and system performance across production Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure and enterprise services • Act as the primary on-call engineer for critical production incidents, leading real-time triage, root-cause troubleshooting, and post-mortem analysis • Architect, optimize, and maintain automated CI/CD deployment pipelines (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) to streamline developer workflows • Provision and manage Azure infrastructure components utilizing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, Bicep, or ARM templates • Partner cross-functionally with Software Engineering, Product, and Security teams to facilitate cloud migrations, feature deployments, and compliance standards • Execute Azure FinOps strategies to monitor, forecast, and optimize cloud consumption costs without compromising operational scalability • Implement enterprise monitoring, log aggregation, alerting frameworks, zero-trust security practices, and system hardening protocols Requirements: • Possession of a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline (Master’s degree preferred, or equivalent practical experience) • Minimum of four (4) years of progressive professional experience in DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or Cloud Architecture specialized in Microsoft Azure • Proven expertise building, maintaining, and automating CI/CD pipelines within modern cloud ecosystems • Hands-on experience leading cloud infrastructure migrations and applying Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles to enterprise environments • Deep practical familiarity with core Azure platform services, including App Services/Web Apps, Azure Functions, Azure SQL, Blob Storage, Key Vault, and Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) • Strong scripting and automation capability (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python) paired with robust system security and hardening knowledge • Demonstrated experience operating within Agile/Scrum development environments with strong cross-functional collaboration skills • Working knowledge of Azure billing models, resource tagging, and cloud cost management strategies Pay Range and Compensation Package: • Target baseline compensation framework: Annual base salary structured between $116,000 and $128,800 USD per annum • Placement within this market-calibrated base tier is determined dynamically based upon a holistic evaluation of the candidate's specialized Azure architecture tenure, IaC proficiency, and technical certifications • Eligible for variable performance bonuses alongside total rewards benefits Benefits & Perks: • Comprehensive health insurance coverage for employees and dependents • Employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions • Generous paid time off (PTO) and company holiday schedule • Dedicated employee well-being initiatives and professional growth resources