Lead DevOps Engineer (with App Dev)

Profile:

Lead-level DevOps technologist with Application development chops (C and React evergreen native dev in AWS - in addition to the tech stack criteria below), also. So, basically a developer who loves ops. Must have experience build/deploy/troubleshoot web technology – dealt with all layers. Web pack is essential – Installed Electron windows; dealt with security problems.

About the Team:

The Digital Assessment team is committed to making higher education accessible to every student through innovative technology, building cutting edge applications to deliver a suite of assessments. We are a team of 20, including 15 engineers building web and native platforms, self-organized into three main areas, core web application, native technology, and infrastructure engineering. We are constantly seeking out, experimenting, and harnessing new technologies to build easy-to-use user interfaces, with a singular mission to deliver secure and comprehensive assessments to students across the planet. We regularly collaborate, keeping it light, while pitching and sharing our ideas to help define the future of our applications. We work closely with product owners, architects, user experience, testing centers, students, and external partners to serve our mission.

About the Opportunity:

This is a hands-on leadership role reporting to the Senior Engineering Director and embedded within the engineering team. The successful candidate will combine deep technical expertise with mentorship and cross-functional collaboration to strengthen platform stability, security, and delivery confidence. We are seeking a Lead DevOps Engineer to strengthen and mature our cross-platform build and DevOps capabilities within an enterprise engineering environment. This role will lead platform engineering efforts across Windows, Chromebook, and desktop build systems, improve CI/CD reliability, and establish standardized DevOps practices across the team. The ideal candidate combines deep hands-on expertise with mentorship and process leadership to elevate build quality, deployment confidence, and technical cohesion.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead Windows, Mac and Chromebook platform build engineering, ensuring reliable, scalable, repeatable builds
• Assess and improve web module bundler configurations, build tooling, and monorepo (NX) workflows
• Evaluate and optimize (or replace) Electron-based desktop build architecture
• Own and enhance CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, AWS CodeBuild, and related tooling.
• Design and implement Infrastructure as Code solutions (CloudFormation, CDK)
• Improve dependency management, vulnerability remediation strategies, and release governance
• Establish and document standardized Git branching strategies and DevOps best practices
• Troubleshoot build, deployment, and infrastructure issues in real time as an escalation point
• Partner closely with developers, QA, and business stakeholders to improve delivery cohesion
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers in DevOps principles, build engineering, and automation practices
• Drive measurable improvements in build time, build reliability, and deployment confidence

Required Qualifications:

• Strong customer focus, ownership, urgency, and drive
• Solid experience with web technologies, JavaScript/HTML/CSS
• Experience supporting desktop and web application build pipelines
• Independent, proactive, and able to deliver high-quality code
• Ability to mentor and influence engineers without formal authority
• Strong documentation habits and process standardization experience
• 5 years of experience in DevOps, build engineering, or platform engineering
• Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation, Terraform, or CDK)
• Experience improving dependency management and vulnerability remediation processes
• Strong cross-functional communication with business, development, and QA stakeholders
• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, AWS CodeBuild, etc.)
• Strong web component bundler expertise, including assessing, refactoring, and explaining configuration changes
• Strong hands-on experience with Windows build environments and Windows OS-level considerations
• Strong AWS experience (Cloud*, Code*, Dynamo, EC2, ECR, ECS, IAM, Lambda, Route53, S3, VPC, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with cloud cost optimization initiatives
• Experience building applications with C
• Experience working with Electron in desktop applications
• Experience working in large monorepo environments (e.g., NX)
• Experience formalizing Git branching and release strategies across teams
• Experience evaluating or migrating away from Electron-based architectures
• Enterprise-scale DevOps experience in regulated or structured environments
• Experience with technical support using tools such as Pager Duty to identify and resolve issues