DevOps / Platform Engineer
First seen by Alion on Sep 23, 2026.
IT Jobs. Ifkafin Systems Jobs. DevOps / Platform Engineer owning on-premises Linux infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, containerized workloads and edge security end to end, requiring mid-level experience with Linux administration, Docker, Terraform and Cloudflare and the ability to debug JavaScript and Node.js, in a financial software environment, on-site role in Nairobi.
About the role
Ifkafin Systems is hiring a mid-level DevOps / Platform Engineer to own the infrastructure our product teams ship on.
Ifkafin builds secure software for the financial industry: web applications, iOS and Android apps, and workflow automation. We are a small, hands-on team in Nairobi. Our platform is on-premises. We run Linux servers in the office, self-host services on dedicated and VPS providers, and use Cloudflare as the edge in front of what we ship.
This role sits with engineering, not in a separate ticket queue. It replaces part of a senior DevOps function. You will design, implement, and operate the platform end to end: servers, networks, pipelines, environments, security, and store releases.
Success in this role looks like this: production stays up; builds move cleanly from QA to staging to production; servers are defined in code and can be rebuilt; Cloudflare, Linux, and containers are under control; incidents are visible and recoverable; developers can ship without waiting on heroics. Juniors will not be considered.
Location: on-site, Nairobi office. This is not a remote-first role.
Responsibilities
- Own on-premises Linux hosts in the Nairobi office used for production and CI, including patching, users, disks, services, and uptime.
- Run and maintain Proxmox, including guests, storage, snapshots, and hypervisor networking.
- Provision and operate self-hosted servers at dedicated and VPS providers similar to OVH, including OVHcloud, Hetzner, Scaleway, Contabo, and Leaseweb.
- Work with public cloud where the company uses it (GCP, Azure, AWS), with Cloudflare and self-hosting as the primary surfaces.
- Operate Cloudflare as the edge: DNS, SSL/TLS, proxies, WAF, tunnels, access, caching, and security features.
- Configure reverse proxies such as Nginx or Traefik and internal service routing.
- Design network access for the office and hosted servers, including firewalls, ports, VPNs, and least-privilege rules.
- Design, deploy, and maintain containerized workloads with Docker and Docker Compose, and use Kubernetes where it is the right fit.
- Debug issues across operating systems, containers, networks, and application layers.
- Manage infrastructure as code with Terraform or OpenTofu for hosts, DNS, Cloudflare, and networks.
- Make servers repeatable with Ansible, cloud-init, or an equivalent tool. Avoid one-off, unreproducible machines.
- Manage secrets, environment variables, and secure configuration in a controlled system.
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions or an equivalent system.
- Promote builds through development, QA, staging, and production with clear release gates.
- Support deployment of web applications and of mobile and desktop binaries for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.
- Improve developer tooling and automation so shipping is a standard path.
- Instrument uptime, metrics, logs, and resource usage across office, self-hosted, and edge environments, with alerts people can act on.
- Harden on-premises and hosted servers, manage TLS everywhere traffic moves, and control identity and access.
- Implement backups, restore tests, and recovery plans that have been rehearsed.
- Help run publishing pipelines for Google Play, the Apple App Store, and Windows.
Qualifications
Required
- Mid-level experience. Prior ownership of production systems, not only lab or tutorial work.
- Strong Linux administration, including on-premises or self-hosted servers.
- Strong experience with Docker and containerized workloads.
- Proven experience designing CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions or equivalent).
- Practical Cloudflare experience: DNS, TLS, proxy, and security features configured by you.
- Experience with Terraform or OpenTofu on real infrastructure.
- Experience making servers repeatable (Ansible, cloud-init, or equivalent).
- Experience setting up observability: logs, metrics, uptime checks, and alerts.
- Working knowledge of at least one public cloud (GCP, Azure, or AWS) and comfort with self-hosted or OVH-class providers.
- Security fundamentals: firewalls, TLS, secrets, backups that can be restored.
- Ability to read, debug, and ship application code, especially JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js.
- Ability to work on-site in Nairobi with physical servers.
Preferred
- Proxmox in production.
- Kubernetes operated in a live environment.
- Self-hosting on OVH, Hetzner, Scaleway, or similar.
- End-to-end Google Play, Apple App Store, or Windows publishing.
- Familiarity with modern frontend frameworks (Next, Vue, Nuxt, or similar).
- Experience in a small team or startup, including improving developer tooling.
This role is not a junior position, not a ticket-driven helpdesk, and not limited to a single tool or cloud provider.
How to apply
Send a CV and a short note on production systems you have owned: what broke, what you changed, and how it runs today. Name on-premises or self-hosted environments, not only managed cloud logos.
Ifkafin Systems · Nairobi · ifkafin.com