AWS DevOps Engineer | Up to £550 per day Inside IR35 | Active SC Required

The Role

We are seeking an experienced AWS DevOps Engineer to join the HMPPS Data & Analytics Engineering team, supporting the critical transition and evolution of the HMPPS Data Hub. As the Data Hub transitions from a managed supplier to in-house ownership, it is becoming the central data platform supporting analytical, decision-making, and operational reporting across the service.

In this role, you will take ownership of the underlying cloud and ingestion infrastructure, ensuring the ongoing development, maintenance, reliability, and security of the platform. You will work within an AWS, Terraform, and Python/JVM environment, automating deployments using CircleCI and GitHub Actions. A key aspect of the engagement will involve knowledge sharing, producing technical documentation, and facilitating structured handovers to ensure a seamless transition of capability to permanent staff.

Skills and Experience Required

• AWS Cloud & Platform Engineering: Strong hands-on commercial experience managing, automating, and maintaining cloud infrastructure on AWS, with practical exposure to data and storage services including Amazon S3, AWS Glue, and Amazon Athena.

• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform): Proven track record designing and maintaining modular, reusable Terraform configurations, managing multi-environment state, and implementing automated infrastructure delivery.

• CI/CD & Deployment Automation: Extensive experience building, maintaining, and optimising deployment pipelines using both GitHub Actions and CircleCI to support automated testing, security scanning, and reliable releases.

• Automation & Scripting: Strong Scripting skills using Python (boto3) and Shell Scripting to automate operational tasks, deploy cloud resources, and support platform workflows.

• Security & Compliance: Experience working within secure development environments, enforcing IAM least privilege, managing KMS encryption, handling secrets safely, and supporting platform auditing.

• Knowledge Transfer & Upskilling: Proven ability to create clear technical documentation, architectural runbooks, and handover plans to upskill internal teams and transition platform ownership smoothly to permanent staff.

Technical Experience and Tooling

• Cloud & Infrastructure: In-depth knowledge of AWS core services (S3, IAM, KMS, CloudWatch), Terraform, and multi-account/multi-environment architectures.

• CI/CD Tooling: Comprehensive experience with GitHub Actions and CircleCI.

• Data & Analytics Tools: Working experience with Amazon Athena, AWS Glue Data Catalog/ETL, and modern data ingestion patterns.

• Software Foundations: Familiarity with Python application components, Docker/container workflows, and broad exposure to JVM-based environments (Java/Kotlin).

Specific Deliverables/Artifacts

• CI/CD Pipeline Automation: Production-grade GitHub Actions and CircleCI workflows automating testing, linting, security scans, and deployment across environments.

• IaC Platform Modules: Modular, reusable Terraform code supporting the platform transition, onboarding of new ingestion pipelines, and infrastructure reliability.

• Transition & Operational Runbooks: Comprehensive technical runbooks, architecture decision records (ADRs), and structured handover documentation facilitating transition to permanent civil service engineers.

Working Arrangements

Remote working, with occasional office days in London for team collaboration and key stakeholder meetings. Candidates must hold or be eligible and willing to undergo Security Clearance (SC).