DescriptionLocation: Hybrid in St Louis, MO ideal. Possible remote if not local to St Louis,
Job Type: 3-6 month contract-to-hire
Company: The name of our partner organization will be disclosed during the interview process. This is not a direct role with LaunchCode; it is a position through LaunchCode, working with one of our partner companies.
Disclaimer: We are unable to provide work sponsorship for this role. We are unable to consider candidates for this role who have a current or future work sponsorship need (this includes those holding extended OPT Visas).
Our company partner is building next-generation diagnostic software, and the DevOps team is at the heart of making it reliable, scalable, and secure. As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you will take ownership of our cloud-native infrastructure and delivery pipelines, enabling engineering teams to ship fast and safely. You'll work hands-on across the stack from infrastructure and Kubernetes to CI/CD and GitOps, while helping shape DevOps best practices as we scale. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a startup environment, enjoys solving complex problems, and wants to have a direct impact on product delivery and system reliability.
Responsibilities:- Design, build, and operate cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code to rapidly spin up and manage environments (dev, test, staging, production).
- Own and evolve our Kubernetes platform (AWS EKS) with a focus on reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency.
- Use Helm to package, version, and deploy Kubernetes applications consistently.
- Implement and manage Karpenter for dynamic cluster autoscaling and efficient node provisioning.
- Build and maintain Docker-based container images, optimizing for security, performance, and reproducibility.
- Manage container image storage and promotion using Amazon ECR.
- Drive GitOps workflows with FluxCD or equivalent to automate deployments and maintain environment parity.
- Define and enforce Git workflows and branching strategies that support fast iteration without sacrificing stability.
- Build and maintain GitLab CI/CD pipelines for continuous integration, testing, and delivery.
- Create automated deployment pipelines that support seamless promotion across environments.
- Partner closely with software engineers to remove friction from the development process and improve developer experience.
- Anticipate scaling and reliability needs by reviewing application architecture and usage patterns early.
- Troubleshoot infrastructure and application issues, jumping in where needed to unblock teams.
- Improve security, observability, monitoring, backups, and disaster recovery as the platform grows.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, laboratory, and IT teams to continuously improve systems and processes.
- Take ownership of complex problems, make pragmatic decisions, and help set the technical direction of DevOps.
- Exemplify expert knowledge of the subject matter.
- Provide coaching and/or mentoring to other engineers as the team scales.
- Other duties as assigned.
Requirements:- Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
- Possess 6+ years of DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering experience, ideally in fast-moving environments.
- Possess strong hands-on experience with AWS.
- Azure/GCP Cloud experience is a plus.
- Exemplify production experience running Kubernetes, preferably EKS.
- Possess practical hands-on experience with Helm, Karpenter or equivalent, and Kubernetes autoscaling strategies.
- Exemplify a strong background in Docker and containerization, including image creation and lifecycle management.
- Demonstrate experience with container registries such as Amazon ECR.
- Demonstrate hands-on experience implementing GitOps using FluxCD or similar tools.
- Possess a solid understanding of Git, branching strategies, and repository hygiene.
- Exemplify experience building and maintaining GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
- Demonstrate strong experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, AWS CDK or similar).
- Possess working knowledge of AWS account management, cloud security, IAM, and secure CI/CD practices.
- Possess strong networking fundamentals in cloud and hybrid environments.
- Exemplify the ability to communicate clearly, move quickly, and ability to make technical decisions with limited information.
- Possess a builder's mindset: proactive, collaborative, and comfortable wearing multiple hats.
- Demonstrate high integrity, accountability, and a desire to help shape both the technology and the team.
- Exemplify the ability to multitask and thrive in an agile, fast-paced, deadline-driven environment while remaining flexible, proactive, resourceful, and efficient.
- Possess proficient verbal and written communication skills while willing to share and receive information and ideas from all levels of the organization to achieve the desired results.
- Possess high ethics and conduct business in the most professional manner.
- Seek inclusiveness and collaboration but step up to responsibility, make tough decisions, and be accountable for those decisions.
- Act as a results-oriented team player with strong interpersonal and communication skills, capable of working collaboratively with colleagues.
Education, Certification/Licensure
- High School Diploma required.
- Bachelor's Degree preferred.
Physical Demands
- Employees may be required to lift routine office supplies and use standard office equipment.
- Must be able to sit and/or stand for long periods.
- Must possess the ability to perform repetitive motion.
Work Environment
- May have exposure to fumes and bio-hazardous material in the laboratory environment.
- May be required to handle blood-borne pathogens and general laboratory reagents.
Core Values
- Ability to embody the company's beliefs, philosophies, and principles:
- Integrity - act with honesty and transparency.
- Agility - embrace ideas with speed and flexibility.
- Passion - commit to excellence to transform GI health.
- Curiosity - take the initiative to ask questions and challenge the status quo.
- Diversity - act with positive intent through strong collaboration and teamwork.
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