DevOps Tech Lead

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a DevOps Tech Lead based in Netherlands. In this role, you will lead a team of DevOps and infrastructure engineers responsible for building and operating the core platform behind a large-scale online learning environment. You will drive a major infrastructure modernization initiative, supporting the transition from legacy on-premise systems to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Kubernetes. Your focus will be on improving scalability, security, reliability, and business continuity while simplifying the technology stack and reducing operational complexity. Working closely with engineering managers and product development leaders, you will shape platform priorities and deliver self-service capabilities that empower development teams. Combining hands-on technical leadership with team mentorship, you will establish engineering standards and promote best practices across infrastructure and delivery processes. This is an opportunity to influence the technical direction of a growing platform while building a high-performing engineering team. Accountabilities: - Lead the design, development, and operation of critical infrastructure components supporting engineering teams, including Kubernetes clusters, CI/CD pipelines, databases, edge infrastructure, and observability systems. - Drive the migration of on-premise workloads to Google Cloud Platform, particularly Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), ensuring scalable, secure, and reliable cloud infrastructure. - Lead infrastructure modernization initiatives by consolidating legacy systems, simplifying the technology stack, and reducing operational overhead. - Design and maintain cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), applying best practices across GCP services, networking, identity and access management, encryption, and secrets management. - Develop and optimize CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows using tools such as FluxCD or ArgoCD to improve deployment efficiency, consistency, and reliability.

- Strengthen infrastructure security, business continuity, disaster recovery, and operational resilience across the platform. - Develop internal developer platform capabilities and self-service infrastructure tooling that enable engineering teams to work more independently and efficiently. - Collaborate with Engineering Managers and product development leadership to understand internal customer needs, define platform requirements, and prioritize infrastructure initiatives. - Establish and maintain high engineering standards across the team, leading by example in code quality, infrastructure design, automation, documentation, and operational best practices. - Manage, mentor, and support a team of engineers through regular coaching, technical guidance, and knowledge-sharing initiatives. - Set clear team objectives using SMART goals, organize technical training sessions, conduct performance reviews, and provide continuous individual feedback. - Work closely with team members on technical implementation while encouraging professional development, accountability, and collaborative problem-solving. - Lead incident response activities, coordinate resolution efforts, and facilitate postmortems to identify root causes and prevent recurring issues. - Continuously evaluate infrastructure performance and operational practices, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, scalability, and developer experience. Requirements: - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience. - At least 7 years of professional experience in DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or Infrastructure Engineering. - Minimum 2 years of experience in a mentoring or leadership capacity, including at least 1 year formally leading a team or serving as a technical lead.