DevOps Lead
Location: Limerick
Job Type: Full-Time
Experience: 8+ Years
Eligibility: EU Nationals Preferred
Role
Overview
We are
looking for a talented and driven DevOps Lead to own the engineering practices,
toolchain, and delivery infrastructure underpinning our Manufacturing Execution
System (MES) programme. This role is central to enabling fast, reliable, and
compliant delivery of MES capabilities — bridging development, operations, and
quality in a regulated manufacturing environment. Candidates with direct
experience deploying, configuring, or maintaining off-the-shelf MES platforms
such as Syncade are strongly preferred.
Key
Responsibilities
• Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines to support
reliable and repeatable MES deployments across development, test, and
production environments.
• Own the DevOps toolchain — source control, build automation,
release management, environment provisioning, monitoring, and observability.
• Define and enforce branching strategies, code review processes,
and release management standards appropriate to a regulated manufacturing
environment.
• Work closely with MES vendors, system integrators, and internal
teams to understand platform architecture and translate this into maintainable
infrastructure-as-code and deployment automation.
• Lead environment management for MES platforms including Syncade,
ensuring environments are correctly configured, version-controlled, and fit for
purpose across all lifecycle stages.
• Implement and maintain monitoring, alerting, and logging solutions
to provide operational visibility of MES platform health and performance.
• Drive shift-left quality practices — working with the testing team
to embed automated testing into pipelines and ensuring quality gates are
robust.
• Support computer system validation (CSV) activities, maintaining
audit trails, deployment records, and change control documentation in
compliance with GxP requirements.
• Manage infrastructure provisioning supporting MES workloads,
ensuring security, resilience, and scalability.
• Identify and resolve bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline,
continuously improving deployment frequency, lead time, and recovery metrics
(DORA).
• Act as a technical authority and escalation point for
infrastructure and deployment issues across the MES programme.
• Contribute to disaster recovery and business continuity planning
for MES platforms.
Essential
Requirements
• Proven experience in a DevOps Lead or Senior DevOps Engineer role
on complex enterprise software programmes.
• Strong hands-on experience with CI/CD tooling — Azure DevOps,
Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or equivalent.
• Solid understanding of infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible,
or similar) and configuration management practices.
• Experience managing environments for large-scale enterprise
applications, including environment promotion strategies and configuration
management.
• Proficiency in scripting languages (PowerShell, Bash, Python, or
similar) for automation and tooling.
• Strong understanding of software delivery lifecycle, release
management, and change control in enterprise settings.
• Experience working in regulated industries (pharmaceutical, life
sciences, food & beverage, or similar) with awareness of compliance and
validation requirements.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and
resolve complex infrastructure and deployment issues under pressure.
Desirable
Requirements
• Direct experience deploying, maintaining, or supporting
off-the-shelf MES platforms — ideally Syncade (Emerson) — including patch
management, configuration, and upgrade activities.
• Familiarity with GxP computer system validation (CSV), GAMP 5
lifecycle, and associated documentation requirements (IQ, OQ, PQ).
• Knowledge of containerisation technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
and their applicability within regulated manufacturing environments.
• Understanding of MES integration patterns — ERP (SAP), LIMS,
historian, and shop-floor device connectivity.
• Experience with security hardening, vulnerability management, and
operational security in manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with OT/IT convergence and the specific constraints of
deploying technology close to manufacturing operations.
Personal
Attributes
• Technically hands-on and solutions-oriented, with a drive to build
things that are simple, reliable, and maintainable.
• Strong communicator — able to translate complex infrastructure
topics for non-technical stakeholders including QA and operations.
• Collaborative team player who can work effectively with vendors,
system integrators, and cross-functional internal teams.
• Comfortable operating with a degree of ambiguity in a programme
environment, shaping approach as understanding develops.
• Committed to continuous improvement — staying current with DevOps
practices and identifying opportunities to improve delivery performance.