Job description
Waracle are looking for a Lead Devops Engineer for an exciting new role joining our world-class digital technology consultancy and home to a diverse, smart, curious and ambitious community of specialists in technology-driven transformation.
We work with ambitious clients to help them solve their biggest business and customer challenges. We help our clients to innovate and create intelligent digital products and services. We thrive on complex challenges and deliver business-critical IT transformation projects, moving seamlessly from strategy, design and delivery to operations.
This is a Hybrid role working from our Glasgow, Dundee or London office 2 days a week
As a Lead DevOps Engineer, you’ll serve as an empathetic leader, strategic advisor, and technical authority across our engineering squads. Bringing a broad, generalist mindset across platform engineering and modern infrastructure, you will lead the integration of AI-driven delivery practices, intelligent automation, and Generative AI tooling into everyday workflows. You will define project-level technical architecture, mentor and lift up growing engineers, and nurture a collaborative, psychologically safe environment where everyone feels empowered to innovate. Balancing short-term delivery with long-term maintainability, you will play a key role in de-escalating conflicts, aligning client stakeholders, and driving high-impact technical strategy aligned with human-centric business goals.
Key aspects of the role include
- Technical Strategy & AI Integration: Defining technical architecture across squads, anticipating system scaling risks, and driving the adoption of modern AI tooling, MLOps, and intelligent automation within cloud environments.
- Broad Generalist Leadership: Leveraging your breadth of engineering knowledge to bridge gaps between software delivery, platform operations, and data infrastructure, making complex trade-offs clear and explicit for clients.
- People & Culture: Creating an inclusive, psychologically safe team environment, regularly coaching team members with constructive feedback, and balancing delivery pace with overall team wellbeing.
- Standards & Compliance: Guiding teams on performance strategies, proactive optimisation, and security standards (such as OWASP, GDPR, SOC2), ensuring responsible AI practices, clean architecture, and secure code execution.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Facilitating workshops to discover requirements, managing project scope and expectations, and translating client priorities into actionable technical strategy.
- Innovation & Influence: Evaluating emerging AI tools and technical approaches through tech spikes, shaping go-to-market strategies for new offerings, driving delivery tooling improvements, and representing Waracle at external tech events.
Research shows that underrepresented groups tend to only apply for roles that they believe they meet 100% of the criteria for. At Waracle, we want to buck that trend! We hire for passion, potential and mindset as much as credentials. If you think you'd be incredible in the role, then apply - even if you don't think you tick every box.What you'll bring
- A versatile, generalist engineering background with broad knowledge across cloud platforms, CI/CD, containerisation, and infrastructure-as-code.
- Practical exposure to or enthusiasm for integrating Generative AI, AI-assisted development tools, or modern MLOps pipelines into delivery streams.
- Proven experience guiding technical direction and architecture for cloud and platform solutions.
- A passion for mentorship, coaching, and creating supportive pathways for engineers at all career stages.
- Commitment to fostering inclusive, collaborative team dynamics that prioritise wellbeing alongside quality outcomes.
- Strong understanding of security, accessibility, and compliance standards (OWASP, GDPR, SOC2) in modern cloud architectures.
- Excellent communication skills with an aptitude for breaking down complex technical concepts for diverse stakeholders.
- Familiarity with tracking key engineering metrics (such as DORA) to guide continuous, data-informed improvement.
Recruitment process
What to expect from our hiring process
- 1. First Hello: An informal chat with your dedicated Talent Attraction Partner to talk about Waracle, what you want out of your next move, salary, benefits, and office hybrid working model.
- 2. Talking Impact: A collaborative deep dive into how you solve problems, work with others, and raise the bar, guided by our core values and competency framework.
- 3. Craft Showcase: A chance to demonstrate your real-world expertise. Depending on the role, this will be a practical presentation.
Your Talent Attraction Partner will be in your corner through every step right up to your Welcome Ritual on day one
Our Benefits
We believe in supporting our team, inside and outside of work. Here's a glimpse of what you can expect:
You'll receive 27 days of annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays, totalling 35 days of holiday to unwind and pursue your passions.
Plan for retirement with our company-matched 5% pension contribution. For added peace of mind, we also offer a Death in Service benefit, providing 2 x your annual salary for your loved ones.
Our Medicash Health Cash Plans help cover everyday healthcare costs, complemented by an Employee Assistance Programme for confidential support, and Group Sickness Cover for peace of mind.
We champion hybrid working, providing a home office setup budget to ensure you're comfortable and productive wherever you are.
Invest in yourself with access to Udemy Business and a dedicated learning and development budget for continuous growth.
Make the most of our Cycle to Work Scheme, and enjoy exclusive gym and retail discounts.
Our enhanced parental leave policies include support for fertility journeys, recognising diverse family needs.
We foster a vibrant culture with regular fun meet-ups and lunch on us in the office once a month. You'll also have the opportunity to make a local impact through Spirit of Waracle, our initiative for getting involved in charitable causes locally, building strong team bonds and giving back.
Our values
To make the world a better place through impactful software
We take pride in delivering high quality work and seeing the impact it has. We are curious, proactive, and always learning; continuously improving ourselves and our skills. We strive for excellence in everything we do. We see every opportunity as a chance to raise the bar - for Waracle, our clients, and for our own professional growth.
We succeed together: whether we’re leading, supporting or learning. We lead with empathy, working as a unified team to understand and appreciate other people’s perspectives and experiences. This commitment to one another empowers everyone to do their best work and reach their full potential. We build trust, celebrate every contribution, and create a space where everyone has the opportunity to shine.
We have big goals, but we don’t try to do everything. We know there are a limited number of hours in a day, so we make every one of them count. We accomplish this by regularly pausing to assess the potential impact of our work, prioritising what matters most and then acting with purpose.
We are transparent in how we think and act. We seek and share context, give and accept feedback, and communicate openly. We take full ownership of what we deliver as individuals and as a team, and hold ourselves accountable. This openness and accountability gives us the clarity and purpose to deliver at our best.
We love what we do and find the fun in each day, celebrating our shared successes and the satisfaction of doing hard work well. We’re in this together, creating space for connection, laughter, and fun. When we look after our clients and each other, and do work we’re proud of, we go home happy.
Frequently-asked questions
Here are some of the things that people tend to ask about working at Waracle.
Absolutely! At Waracle, we welcome both permanent and contract applicants. Each job posting indicates if it's open to contract applications. We offer a diverse range of projects, both within and outside IR35 regulations, catering to various preferences and expertise levels.
We work on a Hybrid working model and offer flexible working hours. We're spread across 4 vibrant UK offices, but our teamwork isn't confined to those spaces, it's all about collaboration! While using the office is encouraged for our teams to work together, each of us has a home office setup, relishing the freedom of hybrid workstyles. As of now, remote work outside the UK isn't part of our standard practice.
We always want to hear from talented people, join our talent pool 👇 and we'll contact you when a new opportunity becomes available.
Equal Opportunities
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, gender, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.
We are not accepting applications from recruitment agencies.
