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Director Observability Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

Director, IT Infrastructure Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity ... reliability, automation, observability, and continuous improvement) and ensuring CI ...

KLDiscovery

Director, Software Engineering

Mclean, VA · On-site

$190K - $225K/yr

The Director, Software Engineering owns delivery for that organization. Leading managers and a team ... Fluency in modern delivery practice: agile at scale, CI/CD, automated testing, and observability

KLDiscovery

Director, Software Engineering

Mclean, VA · On-site

$190K - $225K/yr

The Director, Software Engineering owns delivery for that organization. Leading managers and a team ... Fluency in modern delivery practice: agile at scale, CI/CD, automated testing, and observability

BAE Systems

Dir I- Data Eng

Falls Church, VA · On-site

$153K - $260K/yr

Direct platform architecture across batch, micro-batch, and streaming data flows. * Ensure robust ... Oversee reliability engineering, monitoring, observability, incident response, and change ...

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Director Observability information

What is the difference between Director Observability vs Site Reliability Engineer?

AspectDirector ObservabilitySite Reliability Engineer
Primary FocusOversees observability strategies, tools, and teams to ensure system visibility and performanceBuilds and maintains reliable systems, automates deployment, and manages incident response
CredentialsTypically requires advanced knowledge of monitoring, cloud platforms, and leadership experienceOften has software engineering background, with skills in scripting, automation, and systems engineering
Work EnvironmentLeads teams in tech companies, focusing on monitoring and analytics toolsWorks closely with development and operations teams to ensure system reliability

While both roles focus on system performance and reliability, the Director Observability primarily manages observability strategies and teams, whereas the Site Reliability Engineer is hands-on, building and maintaining reliable systems. The roles complement each other in ensuring optimal system performance and uptime.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a director of observability, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director of Observability, you need deep expertise in monitoring, logging, and distributed systems, typically backed by a degree in computer science or a related field and extensive experience in IT or DevOps leadership roles. Proficiency with observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, Splunk, and APM solutions, along with knowledge of cloud platforms and relevant certifications, is essential. Strong leadership, strategic thinking, and communication skills help drive cross-functional initiatives and foster a culture of reliability. These skills and qualities are crucial for ensuring system health, rapid incident response, and alignment between technical teams and organizational objectives.

How does a director of observability typically collaborate with engineering and operations teams to drive organizational goals?

A Director of Observability works closely with engineering and operations teams to ensure that systems are monitored effectively and issues are identified and resolved quickly. This collaboration often involves developing unified monitoring strategies, aligning observability tools and processes, and facilitating incident response post-mortems. The Director also leads cross-functional meetings to establish best practices, set key performance indicators (KPIs), and ensure observability is integrated into the software development lifecycle. By acting as a bridge between technical teams, they help foster a culture of transparency, reliability, and continuous improvement.

What does a director of observability do?

A Director of Observability leads the strategy and implementation of monitoring, logging, and tracing systems to ensure the health and performance of technical infrastructure. They work with engineering and operations teams to develop best practices, select appropriate tools, and set standards for observability across the organization. Their goal is to provide visibility into system behavior, quickly identify and resolve incidents, and support continuous improvement in system reliability and performance.
What are the most commonly searched types of Observability jobs in Virginia? The most popular types of Observability jobs in Virginia are:
What are popular job titles related to Director Observability jobs in Virginia? For Director Observability jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Director Observability jobs in Virginia look for? The top searched job categories for Director Observability jobs in Virginia are:
What cities in Virginia are hiring for Director Observability jobs? Cities in Virginia with the most Director Observability job openings:
Director Observability jobs near you

SME - Observability, ELK Stack & Dynatrace

ASCENDING LLC

Fairfax, VA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted yesterday

Job description

Senior Observability Engineer (SME)
Long-term contract - 2+ years 100% remote in the continental US
Job Description:
Our client's Enterprise Observability team is looking for a senior-level ELK Stack Subject Matter Expert (SME). The team is responsible for enterprise infrastructure, application, and network observability, with a primary focus on log management and metrics. The selected candidate will be joining a team of skilled engineers with a broad background in enterprise observability.
Your Impact:
As an ELK Stack Engineer, this role is focused on maintaining the reliability, scalability, and availability of our enterprise Elastic Stack solution. This platform is used for log management, metrics, and observability. The role heavily utilizes automation with tools like Terraform and Ansible and requires the candidate to maintain performance KPIs and define SLOs for the platform.
Responsibilities:
  • Maintain and deploy monitoring and alerting systems within the Dynatrace or ELK Stack.
  • Design, configure, and maintain our large-scale log aggregation solution using Elasticsearch and Logstash.
  • Set up and manage data ingestion pipelines and transformations using tools like Filebeat, Logstash, and/or Fluentd/Fluentbit.
  • Embrace the mindset of "automate any task" to improve efficiency.
  • Build and maintain robust monitoring systems using Elasticsearch, Kibana, and Beats to proactively detect potential issues and trigger timely alerts.
  • Maintain associated documentation as it applies to our audit and certification requirements.
  • Participate in troubleshooting, capacity planning, and performance analysis activities related to the ELK Stack.
  • Research new observability requirements and, in many cases, write code to implement them.
  • Possess strong expertise in setting up monitoring policies, rules, and templates, and writing scripts to accomplish observability requirements.
What you need to succeed:
  • BS/MS in CS/Engineering or equivalent, OR 5+ years of experience.
  • 4+ years of experience working directly with the Dynatrace or ELK Stack as either an Admin, SME, or Architect.
  • Hands-on experience with designing data pipelines using Logstash, and/or Fluentd/Fluentbit.
  • Expert-level knowledge of the ELK Stack (on-prem and cloud), including best practices related to performance, security, and component setup (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Beats).
  • Fluent in writing scripts in languages like Python and (Bash or PowerShell) to automate tasks.
  • Experience in Terraform and Ansible, including syntax, best practices, and managing complex configurations to build and manage infrastructure and applications.
  • Very good working knowledge of Linux OS.
  • Highly self-motivated and directed.
  • Good analytical and problem-solving/troubleshooting abilities.

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