Site Reliability / Gitops Engineer - job 1 of 2

As a Site Reliability / GitOps Engineer at Canonical, your key responsibilities will include developing and maintaining infrastructure as code practices to enhance automation in our Information Systems team. You'll be focusing on automating software operations across private and public clouds, maintaining Canonical's core services, and collaborating with other engineering teams to improve service architecture. You'll also have the opportunity to troubleshoot issues, implement alerting mechanisms, and contribute to the development of new features aimed at enhancing system resilience and scalability.

To qualify for the Site Reliability / GitOps Engineer position at Canonical, candidates should have a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related engineering field and possess deep experience in defining operations in code. Practical knowledge of Linux networking, hands-on experience with enterprise Linux servers, and familiarity with cloud computing concepts are essential. Proficiency in Python software development and a strong understanding of CI/CD practices are highly valued.

Canonical is committed to supporting the growth of its Site Reliability / GitOps Engineers by providing uninterrupted development time for larger projects and automation tasks. You will have opportunities to mentor and share best practices within your team, collaborate with globally distributed peers, and participate in design sessions, ensuring that you continuously develop your skills and stay updated on emerging technologies in the industry.

In the Site Reliability / GitOps Engineer role at Canonical, you'll use a variety of tools and technologies, including open-source infrastructure as code software, CI/CD pipelines, and observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, and Elasticsearch. Your work will revolve around automating software operations and improving cloud and container portfolios, so familiarity with cloud computing platforms and Linux systems will be crucial.

The culture at Canonical is one of collaboration and support. As a Site Reliability / GitOps Engineer, you'll be part of a global team of professionals who work together to provide exceptional services to Canonical and its customers. The company values distributed collaboration, allowing team members to meet only a few times per year to ensure alignment while fostering a remote work environment that promotes flexibility and innovation.

In your response, highlight specific IaC tools and practices you've used, such as Terraform or Ansible. Discuss how you implement version control, peer reviews, and CI/CD processes to ensure smooth deployments. Provide examples of how those practices improved your workflow and operational efficiency.

Describe automation projects you've implemented, detailing the tools you used like Jenkins or GitLab CI. Discuss the direct benefits observed, such as reduced downtime or faster deployment times, and how automation improved overall reliability and performance of systems.

Discuss your systematic approach to troubleshooting, breaking down how you identify, isolate, and resolve problems. Mention tools like monitoring software, logging frameworks, and data analysis techniques you prefer. Emphasize your problem-solving skills and any relevant scenarios where your approach led to successful resolutions.

Give a specific example of a project where you worked with developers, detailing your contributions in terms of architectural design and scaling considerations. Highlight how your collaboration led to enhanced service functionality or improved performance.

Discuss your hands-on experience with different CI/CD tools and methodologies. Share examples of specific pipelines you've built or maintained, the benefits they brought to your projects, and how they facilitated faster and more reliable deployments.

Share your strategies for ongoing learning, such as following key industry blogs, attending webinars, or participating in online courses. Mention any certifications you hold, and emphasize the value you place on continuous improvement.

Mention the various monitoring tools you've used, such as Prometheus, Grafana, or ELK Stack. Discuss how you've implemented them to maintain system vigilance, improve response times to incidents, and ensure operational excellence.

Talk about the cloud platforms you've worked with, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. Describe your deployment strategy and any specific challenges you faced, along with how you overcame them.

Emphasize the importance of community feedback by providing examples where feedback has shaped your contributions to open-source projects. Highlight how you integrate that feedback into your operational strategies and improvements.

This is your chance to express genuine excitement about joining Canonical, discussing its commitment to open source and innovation. Highlight how your values align with Canonical's mission, and express your eagerness to contribute to its success.