DevOps Engineer

We're looking for a DevOps Engineer to join our team in the Bristol Design & Product Development (D&PD) office, part of the Ensera Group.

Ensera has facilities in Europe, the USA, and Asia, as well as Design & Development hubs in Bristol, UK (where you'll be based), and New Jersey and Colorado in the USA.

In this role, you'll report directly to and work alongside the Head of IT, taking ownership of the development infrastructure, tooling, environments, and automation that enable our software and engineering teams to deliver effectively.

You'll work closely with software, embedded, electronics, and wider engineering teams to ensure our development environments are secure, reliable, scalable, and efficient. A key part of the role will be improving our CI/CD capability, development workflows, infrastructure, automation, and deployment practices, while administering the core platforms that underpin the software development lifecycle.

This is a hands‑on role where you'll have the opportunity to identify improvements, introduce automation, and help shape how DevOps practices develop across Ensera Design. You'll also contribute to wider infrastructure, cybersecurity, and group technology projects where required.

Occasional travel to other Ensera locations, including Ireland, Poland, and the USA, may be required, and some projects could involve evening or weekend work.

About you

You're a technically capable and proactive DevOps Engineer who enjoys working at the intersection of software development, infrastructure, automation, and security.

You'll be comfortable taking ownership of development platforms and environments, working directly with engineering teams to understand their requirements and implementing solutions that make development faster, more reliable, repeatable, and secure.

You're interested in more than simply keeping systems running. You look for opportunities to automate manual processes, improve CI/CD pipelines, standardise development environments, and create better tooling and workflows for engineers.

You're methodical and comfortable troubleshooting complex issues across Linux, development tooling, networks, servers, and software environments. You can communicate clearly with technical and non-technical colleagues and are confident documenting systems and explaining technical decisions during project reviews or audits.

Working within medical device development also means you'll understand the importance of security, traceability, documentation, reliability, and controlled change.

Essential skills and experience

• Experience in one or more of the following: DevOps, Platform Engineering, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a similar technical role within a software or engineering environment
• Strong working knowledge of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
• Experience administering development platforms such as JIRA, Git, Bitbucket, Confluence, or CI/CD systems
• Experience building, maintaining, or improving CI/CD pipelines
• Good knowledge of Git and version control workflows
• Familiarity with Linux environments and command-line administration
• Experience with scripting and automation
• Experience administering or supporting development infrastructure, servers, and associated services
• Understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, and networking fundamentals
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills across development environments, software, infrastructure, and connectivity
• Experience working collaboratively with software and engineering teams to improve development workflows
• Ability to take ownership of technical platforms and drive continuous improvement
• Strong communication and documentation skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly

Beneficial skills and experience

• Atlassian suite - Bitbucket, JIRA and Confluence
• Embedded development environments or tools such as IAR Embedded Workbench or Altium Designer
• Advanced Git administration and branching strategies
• Scripting and automation using Bash, Python, PowerShell, or similar
• Infrastructure as Code and configuration management
• Containerisation technologies such as Docker
• Cloud platforms and services
• Build automation and artifact management
• Monitoring, logging, and observability
• Supporting audits or working within regulated or safety‑critical environments
• Familiarity with security standards and frameworks such as ISO 27001, IEC 81001, or Cyber Essentials
• Experience improving or redesigning development environments, infrastructure, or toolchains
• Experience introducing DevOps practices into an established engineering environment

Key responsibilities

DevOps & CI/CD

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines supporting software and engineering teams
• Identify manual development and deployment activities that can be automated
• Improve build, test, integration, and deployment workflows
• Work with developers to create repeatable and reliable development processes
• Support continuous integration practices and improve development feedback loops
• Monitor pipeline performance and proactively resolve issues

Development Tool Administration

• Own and administer core development platforms and engineering toolsets
• Manage access, permissions, integrations, and configurations
• Ensure availability, performance, reliability, and security of development tools
• Drive platform improvements, upgrades, integrations, and automation
• Work with engineering teams to ensure tooling remains aligned with evolving development requirements

Development Environments & Infrastructure

• Maintain and improve Linux-based development and build environments
• Support infrastructure underpinning software development and engineering activities
• Standardise development environments to improve consistency and repeatability
• Automate environment configuration and routine administrative activities where possible
• Troubleshoot complex issues across infrastructure, development tooling, networks, and software environments
• Work closely with developers to continuously improve the developer experience

Software Development Lifecycle Support

• Support the full SDLC from requirements and development through to testing, verification, and deployment
• Improve workflows, traceability, and collaboration through tooling and automation
• Work with development teams to establish scalable DevOps practices
• Support version control strategies and repository management
• Identify opportunities to reduce development bottlenecks and improve engineering productivity

Cybersecurity, Compliance & Documentation

• Ensure development systems and environments are secure, patched, and aligned with internal security policies
• Implement appropriate access controls and secure configurations
• Identify, document, and remediate risks within development infrastructure and environments
• Maintain clear technical documentation covering platforms, environments, processes, and configurations
• Support audit requirements and provide technical evidence where required
• Contribute to security and compliance initiatives across the wider technology environment

Wider Technology & Infrastructure

• Partner with the Head of IT on wider infrastructure, security, and technology improvement projects
• Support the onboarding and offboarding of engineers from development platforms and environments
• Provide technical expertise on development tooling and infrastructure issues
• Where required, assist with complex infrastructure or technology issues affecting engineering delivery

The salary for this role is £45,000 to £50,000, commensurate with the experience of the successful candidate. During your application, we will ask you for your salary expectations. If you would like to discuss this in further detail, please reach out to us.

Why work with us?

We offer flexible hybrid working policies in terms of working hours from day one. We operate availability hours so people can start at 9:30am if needed, lunch can be taken between 12:00pm to 2:00pm, and we offer an early finish on Fridays if you have banked your contracted hours for the week.

Our full-time contract is 38 hours per week. Colleagues at Ensera Design work with a great deal of flexibility, which varies across our teams. An individual's working pattern is agreed with their respective line managers, taking into account the needs of the individual and the team. We anticipate this role to be office-based only to start, with flexibility once settled in to the role.

We recognise that we are only as good as our people, and we know how important it is to support our team.

Benefits

• Performance related company-wide bonus
• Flexible working approaches around availability hours
• Training and development opportunities, including dedicated learning days
• Private healthcare and Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity leave
• Matched contributory pension scheme
• Holiday allowance starting at 25 days, plus purchase scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme and transport discounts
• Regular team events and socials
• A collaborative, supportive working environment

About us

We are based in an iconic Grade II listed building in the heart of Bristol. Our vibrant workspace houses state-of-the‑art labs, a design studio, usability suites, and collaborative meeting spaces. Nestled in a lively neighbourhood with independent shops, we're just a short walk from Park Street, the Harbourside, and St. Nick's Markets.

We are proud of our values:

• Find a way: We work as one team, combining our knowledge and experience to unite around a shared goal. We trust each other and do what's needed to get things done and exceed expectations.
• Pull together: We believe anything is possible. When faced with challenges we take the initiative, using our creative spirit and determination to find bold solutions and delivery results that move us forward.
• Care: We act with integrity, take pride in our work, and support each other. We each play our part to make a positive impact for our customers, our colleagues, and our planet.

Our diverse, multidisciplinary team spans research, design, human factors, engineering, prototyping, manufacturing, and beyond. Together, we deliver cutting‑edge solutions for clients ranging from global leaders to innovative start‑ups, with a particular focus on medical devices, drug delivery, orthopaedics, and diagnostics.

Do we sound like a good match for you?

If you'd like to discuss the role or would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments you may need to make your application, we'd love to hear from you. If you think you might be the right person for us but want an informal chat first then get in touch via [email protected].

Please note we intend to shortlist applications as they come in and we reserve the right to close the vacancy earlier if we have a high level of applications. We look forward to hearing from you!

At Ensera Design we believe that designing for people means including all people, starting with the team behind the work. Our human‑centred design ethos is rooted in empathy, and our values - pull together, find a way, and care - guide us in building a team that reflects the diversity of the world we design for.

We know that different perspectives lead to better ideas, stronger collaboration, and more meaningful outcomes. If you meet the skills and experience for this role, we welcome your application - whatever your background, identity, or path into design. What matters to us is that you share our belief in purposeful, people‑first design.

Polite notice for agencies - We appreciate the interest from recruitment partners; however, we are managing this hiring process directly and ask that agencies do not contact us regarding this role. Unsolicited CVs will be considered as a gift to Ensera Design.