Senior Infrastructure Engineer (Linux & Cloud Automation) - #2090592

Senior Infrastructure Engineer Linux & Cloud Automation Manchester (Hybrid) | Permanent

About the Company

Our client is a fast-growing UK managed services provider with major public sector contracts recently won and more expected. They are now building the engineering teams to deliver them.

About the Role

A Senior Infrastructure Engineer position for a Linux specialist who is equally comfortable in Azure and confident building the automation that makes large-scale managed infrastructure repeatable and reliable.

You're joining a brand-new five-person team delivering managed infrastructure services across a government estate from August 2025. The Linux footprint covers approximately 200 VMs across Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Oracle Linux. This role carries full ownership of Linux patching, backup management, and cloud automation for that estate.

Linux depth is currently limited within the managed services team, which is precisely why this hire is critical. You'll be the subject matter expert, the escalation point for T1 engineers, and the person who builds the Ansible playbooks, Bicep templates, and Azure DevOps pipelines that underpin reliable delivery. The environment is government: highly process-driven and ITIL-aligned. You'll need patience for structured change management and a mindset that sees process as a feature, not a frustration.

What You'll Be Doing

• Owning the Linux patching lifecycle via Ansible, including pre/post-patch validation and compliance reporting (>95% SLA)
• Managing Azure Update Manager policies for Linux VMs, including maintenance windows and failure remediation
• Managing Azure Backup for Linux workloads, including restore testing and scripted validation (>98% success target)
• Developing and maintaining Bicep and ARM templates for repeatable Azure deployments
• Building and managing Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure provisioning and configuration
• Managing Azure Key Vault, including secret management and certificate rotation
• Attending and presenting at the weekly Change Advisory Board when changes are in scope
• Acting as the T1 escalation point for Linux and cloud automation issues
• 1-in-5 weekly on-call rotation

What We're Looking For

• 5-7 years in enterprise infrastructure, ideally managed services or multi-customer environments
• Strong Linux administration across RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Oracle Linux
• Ansible ownership at build level, not just execution
• Azure proficiency: Linux VM lifecycle, Update Manager, Backup, NSGs, UDRs, Key Vault
• Infrastructure-as-Code experience: Bicep, ARM, or equivalent (Terraform transfers well)
• Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipeline management
• Bash scripting capability
• Process-driven mindset with patience for government-style change management
• Bonus: Docker/Kubernetes awareness, Python scripting, Azure Policy, Azure Monitor/Log Analytics

What's in it for You

• A competitive base salary plus on call allowance
• Competitive on-call package with weekly retainer and additional pay per call-out
• Post-probation certification support: AZ-104, AZ-400, RHCSA, Ansible
• Real influence: you're building something new, not inheriting someone else's legacy
• Genuine progression as the team and client base expand

A police screening check is required. Candidates must have been UK-resident for at least 3 years.