Sr. DevOps Engineer

Sr. DevOps Engineer

Job type: Full Time · Department: Technology and Development · Work type: On-Site · USD 120,000-135,000 / year

Irvine, California, United States

Senior DevOps Engineer

At EKN Engineering, we solve challenging problems with innovative engineering and configurable software solutions. We use an engineering-first approach, combined with data-driven strategies, to improve overall compliance, risk management, and design accuracy tailored to the specific needs of each client.

With decades of experience in engineering, our team of over 170 professionals in Irvine, California is dedicated to building a safer and more efficient tomorrow through engineering and technological innovation.

Role Overview

As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you'll join EKN's software development team — responsible for architecting, implementing, testing, deploying, and supporting SaaS solutions that align with customer and product requirements — to design and maintain scalable cloud infrastructure and implement best practices for CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), logging, monitoring, and automation. Bringing strong technical expertise and a product mindset, you'll take a hands‑on approach to driving engineering best practices and staying current on emerging technologies, platforms, and applications to help keep our business secure and efficient.

Key Responsibilities

• Influence the development and architecture of EKN's DevOps platform, providing technical leadership and guidance to development teams

• Assess and identify risks that may affect the team's larger goals

• Document best practices and strategies for application deployment and infrastructure maintenance

• Partner with software development teams and leaders to identify and implement optimal cloud-based solutions for the company

• Drive implementation of functionally appropriate and technically sound solutions that meet all quality and security standards

• Identify and resolve technical problems using strong analytical and problem‑solving skills

• Participate in all aspects of the software development lifecycle for cloud-based solutions, including planning, defining requirements, developing, and testing

• Evaluate new technologies, tools, and platforms to manage, control cost, and secure the cloud platform

• Contribute to collective team goals by providing regular feedback and driving continuous improvement

• Respond quickly to production outages, performance drops, and pipeline failures

• Participate in after-hours on‑call rotation to triage and fix system alerts

• Execute planned off-hours maintenance, database migrations, and critical security patching

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

• 5+ years of hands‑on DevOps or Site Reliability Engineering experience, primarily supporting production workloads in AWS

• Strong experience designing, deploying, and managing cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or AWS CloudFormation

• Solid working knowledge of core AWS services (e.g., EC2, EKS, S3, RDS, SQS, SNS, Lambda) and how they are securely operated at scale

• Proven experience with containers, containter orchestration, and deployment technologies, such as Docker, Kubernetes and ArgoCD

• Experience building, operating, and improving CI/CD pipelines using platforms such as GitHub Actions or equivalent

• Working knowledge of Git-based workflows and version control best practices

• Strong understanding of cloud networking fundamentals, security best practices, and identity and access management (IAM)

• Ability to identify, troubleshoot, and resolve complex infrastructure, deployment, and reliability issues

• Practical scripting and automation experience (e.g., shell scripting) to support infrastructure and operational workflows

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across engineering teams

Preferred Skills

• Prior experience as a software engineer or cloud‑native application developer, enabling strong collaboration with product and development teams

• Hands‑on experience building or supporting modern applications using languages such as TypeScript or Python

• Experience designing and operating monitoring, logging, and observability solutions (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, Sentry) to improve system reliability and visibility

• Working knowledge of database technologies, performance tuning, backups, and operational best practices

• Experience implementing advanced GitOps, DevSecOps, or platform engineering practices

• Familiarity with cost optimization strategies, cloud governance, and operational maturity at scale

• Experience mentoring engineers or influencing DevOps standards and best practices across teams

• Experience with AI Safety Guardrails and Secure Agent Sandboxing

• Experience with AI-Driven Observability and Telemetry

Why Join Us

At EKN Engineering, you’ll be part of a company that values innovation and accountability and supports our employees' professional growth and personal development. Here, you’ll work with teams that push the boundaries of engineering to create solutions that enhance our communities and the environment by making utilities safer.

Benefits & Perks

• 100% Company-Paid Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance – Comprehensive coverage to support your health and well-being.

• 401(k) with Company Match – We invest in your future with a dollar-for-dollar match on contributions.

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – Set aside pre-tax dollars for qualified healthcare and dependent care expenses.

• Exclusive Employee Discounts – Access our BenefitsHub for savings on travel, rental cars, hotels, theme parks, and more.

• Monthly Catered Lunches & Daily Office Snacks – Enjoy a well‑stocked kitchen and regular team meals to keep you fueled throughout the day.

• Employee Engagement & Wellness – We value connection and balance. Our team enjoys a variety of events and activities throughout the year, including hiking outings, summer BBQs, sports games, holiday celebrations, and dedicated team-building days.

• JOYA Health Membership – Access to over $1,000 in annual skin health and wellness benefits, including complimentary facials or peels, aesthetic service credits, priority skin cancer screenings, teledermatology services, and discounts on skincare products.

• Wellness Perks & Support Programs – Access a variety of wellness resources including discounted gym memberships through One Pass, mental health and self‑care tools via AbleTo and Calm, and monthly rewards for healthy activities through Rally.