DevOps Engineer
First seen by Alion on Oct 14, 2026.
The Role
We’re looking for an experienced DevOps Engineer to join our Engineering & Data team in Lisbon, on a hybrid basis. You’ll design, automate and run the AWS and Azure infrastructure behind a varied mix of client platforms, from greenfield builds to established production systems. You’ll report to our Technical Manager and will work closely with our full stack software engineers, data and AI engineers, amongst other roles.
What you’ll actually be doing
Building and evolving AWS and Azure infrastructure, hands-on in the console and as code with Terraform, using AI assistants such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot to draft and iterate faster.
Designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps so our teams can ship safely and often.
Running containerised workloads with Docker and an orchestration platform such as ECS or Kubernetes.
Setting up monitoring, logging and alerting with CloudWatch and Azure Monitor, so we spot issues before our clients do.
Building security in from the start: IAM and least privilege, network segmentation, encryption, secrets management, patching and vulnerability scanning.
Making compliance part of the build, not an afterthought: consistent tagging, separation of production and non-production, and the right alarms and logging in place from day one, in line with ISO 27001, TISAX and Cyber Essentials.
Looking after reliability and data: backups, disaster recovery, scaling, database performance and blameless post-incident reviews.
Keeping an eye on cloud costs and suggesting practical ways to cut them.
Automating the repetitive stuff with Bash or Python across our Linux environments.
Writing clear documentation and runbooks, and explaining options and trade-offs to clients in plain language.
What we are looking for
The must-haves
Typically 5+ years of hands-on experience in a DevOps, Cloud, SRE or Platform Engineering role.
Production experience with AWS, in the console and in code: EC2, VPC, IAM, RDS, ElastiCache, S3, CloudFront and CloudWatch alarms.
Equally solid production experience with Azure and its core equivalents: Virtual Machines, networking, Entra ID, Azure SQL, Storage, Front Door and Azure Monitor.
Strong, real-world Terraform skills: you’ll be writing production infrastructure from day one.
Experience using AI coding assistants, such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot, to design and build Terraform.
Experience working in organisations certified to ISO 27001, TISAX or Cyber Essentials, and knowing what compliant infrastructure looks like without being told: tagging, environment separation, alerting and logging.
Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, and working with Git.
Good knowledge of Docker and container orchestration (ECS or Kubernetes).
Comfort with Linux administration and scripting (Bash or Python).
Database administration skills: SQL, performance tuning and partitioning strategies.
Strong cloud security skills: IAM and least privilege, network security, encryption and secrets management, backed by a security-first mindset.
Solid networking fundamentals (DNS, TLS, load balancing, routing).
A pragmatic, delivery-focused approach: you look for the right solution at the right cost, and give reliable estimates you deliver against.
Good written and spoken English: you’ll work every day with international clients and colleagues.
The ability to manage your own time, juggle a few priorities and know when to ask for help.
Nice to have
Deeper Kubernetes experience (EKS or AKS, Helm, ArgoCD/Flux).
AWS or Azure certifications, such as AWS Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS DevOps Engineer – Professional, Azure Administrator Associate or Azure DevOps Engineer Expert.
Experience with Google Cloud.
Experience supporting external audits, or working with other frameworks such as SOC 2 and GDPR.
A bit about us
We are The Virtual Forge: a data-driven software development, AI and cloud company with teams in the UK, Portugal and the US. We design and build data-rich, intelligent platforms for organisations around the world, from fast-growing scale-ups to household names with a global footprint.
Our approach is simple: our technical experts work side by side with our clients’ subject-matter experts, and together we build solutions that actually get used.
Life at The Virtual Forge
We call ourselves Team Purple, and we mean it. Wherever you sit — the US, the UK or Portugal — you’re part of one team, and you won’t be left to figure things out alone.
We’re pragmatic and we take ownership. We solve our clients’ problems with the right solution at the right cost, give reliable estimates and deliver against them. We value open, constructive communication: ideas and concerns are discussed with your line manager first, and we work through them together.
We invest in people who want to keep learning, with time, training budget and paid AWS certifications. And we protect work-life balance, because good work over years beats a burnt-out sprint every time.
What do you need to do
Send your CV in English
Gross Salary expectation and availability
Do you have concerns about facing discrimination based on factors such as age, gender, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity? Rest assured, at The Virtual Forge, we are committed to being an inclusive employer that values diversity in our workforce!
At The Virtual Forge, we have a dedicated recruitment team that works globally to fill all our recruitment needs. Therefore we don't need a response from recruitment companies. Thanks for understanding.