Lead, DevSecOps Engineering Team (Platforms & Engineering)

Job Description

At abrdn we empower our clients to plan, save and invest for their futures. Through the expertise, insight, and innovation of our team, we aim to help clients create more ways for money to make an impact. We set our sights on giving them more confidence to achieve their goals and more clarity about what they need next. We focus on delivering outcomes that are more than just financial – by investing sustainably to build a better world.

About the department

Within our technology function, we have moved through a period of large-scale transformation. As we settle into a period of more iterative change, we are transitioning our operating model to a Product Model. As part of this change, we are creating a Platforms & Engineering team within Enterprise Services. This team will be responsible for our Snowflake data platform, our API and Integration Team, our DevSecOps team, and our Enterprise Automation Team. This role leads the DevSecOps Engineering Team.

About the role

The DevSecOps Engineering team plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between development, operations, and security. You will ensure that security principles are embedded in every phase of the software development lifecycle, including writing secure code, automating security checks, and continuously monitoring the health and security of applications in production. As the lead of the team, your role is crucial in designing and implementing systems that are resilient to cyber threats, compliant with financial regulations, and capable of rapid, safe deployment.

Your robust understanding of both security and software engineering enables you to advocate for security best practices while facilitating a smooth and efficient development process. You will oversee the development and maintenance of tools and infrastructure supporting automated testing, deployment, and scaling of applications. Additionally, you will play a crucial role in incident response, swiftly addressing any security breaches or vulnerabilities that arise.

Key priorities for the role include:

• Lead and develop the DevOps team, facilitating effective communication and collaboration amongst team members and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Oversee performance management, capacity planning, and workload distribution to ensure optimal utilisation of technical resources.

• Partner with cross-functional teams including development, operations, quality assurance, and security to streamline processes, establish technical standards, and resolve complex production issues. Facilitate monitoring and management of application performance and service quality across the organisation.

• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipeline templates, automation solutions, and DevSecOps practices to improve developer productivity, agility, and code quality. Support product squads in implementing and maintaining builds, automated testing, and troubleshooting efforts.

• Lead the implementation of DevOps strategies to streamline the software development lifecycle, identifying and resolving pain points and productivity barriers. Ensure systems meet business and customer needs for reliability and availability whilst aligning with organisational goals.

• Prepare and present design and implementation documentation to multiple stakeholders, effectively communicating the benefits of DevOps concepts and practices. Promote innovation and continuous improvement by staying informed of emerging technologies and industry trends, and demonstrating their value to the organisation.

About the candidate requirements

To be successful as the Lead DevSecOps Engineer, you will need the following skills and experience;

• Extensive experience with Azure DevOps as a CI/CD platform.

• Experience with Chef for deploying, configuring, and managing servers and infrastructure.

• Practical understanding of testing automation in a CI context.

• Familiarity with cloud architectures as a deployment target.

• Experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

• Experience working within cross-functional teams and promoting a culture of collaboration.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.  We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance.  We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.