Salesforce Platform Engineering / Senior Salesforce DevOps Engineer - Chicago, IL Onsite

Job Title: Salesforce Platform Engineering / Senior Salesforce DevOps Engineer

Location: Chicago, IL - Hybrid (Onsite -  Tuesday - Thursday - Remote on Friday)

About the Role:

• We are seeking an experienced Senior Salesforce DevOps Engineer to join a large-scale,
• enterprise Salesforce delivery organization operating with 10+ POD/Scrum teams.
• This role is critical to modernizing, stabilizing, and scaling our Salesforce DevOps practices on Azure DevOps.
• The ideal candidate will bring deep Salesforce CI/CD expertise, strong problem-solving skills, and a passion for engineering excellence.
• They will be responsible for diagnosing and resolving significant existing challenges in our release pipeline and driving long-term improvements across the DevOps lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Repository & Org Synchronization

• Establish and enforce a reliable, automated source of truth between Salesforce orgs and the Azure DevOps Git repository
• Design and implement processes to ensure Production org and Master branch are always in sync
• Eliminate code overwrite and rework caused by org/repo inconsistencies
• Architect org-from-repo deployment strategies to ensure environments are always created/refreshed from version-controlled source
• Pipeline Optimization & Performance
• Redesign and optimize CI/CD pipelines to significantly reduce overall execution time (current baseline: 20–30 minutes for single-component deployments)
• Implement shallow clones, artifact caching, and incremental checkout strategies to address large repository sizes (~4.5GB)
• Introduce dedicated build agents/runners to eliminate shared-agent contention
• Optimize dependency installation, SonarQube, and SNYK scan execution within pipelines
• Implement Git delta deployment strategies (branch-to-branch comparison) for efficient, component-level deployments
• Reduce Apex test class execution time (current baseline: ~6 hours) through parallel test execution, test selection optimization, and test impact analysis strategies
• Release Management & Multi-Train Support
• Design and manage DevOps processes supporting multiple release trains: Major Release (6- week), Short Sprint (2-week), Anytime/Micro, Hotfix, and Hypercare (1-week post-MR)
• Architect environment strategies to isolate different release streams — eliminating the risk of shared UAT environment conflicts across concurrent release tracks
• Establish clear environment promotion paths and minimize back-sync conflicts when syncing changes from Production
• Support increasing release frequency and volume with scalable, repeatable pipeline automation

Rollback, Hotfix & Revert Capabilities

• Design and implement automated rollback mechanisms within the pipeline to support last- minute release rollbacks
• Address Git cherry-pick limitations by establishing feature-branch and commit strategies that enable clean, isolated feature reverts
• Enable safe, low-risk hotfix and anytime deployment processes that do not disrupt ongoing releases
• Establish rollback runbooks and automated validation checks post-rollback Code Review & PR Automation
• Reduce manual bottlenecks in the pull request approval process through automation, tooling, and workflow improvements
• Implement automated PR checks (code quality gates, conflict detection, metadata validation) to reduce dependency on manual reviewer availability
• Integrate AI-assisted or rules-based code review tools to accelerate the review cycle
• Enforce branch policies and PR standards across all POD teams

Environment Management & Sandbox Governance

• Design a scalable sandbox/environment strategy that supports multiple release trains in isolation
• Automate QA and UAT sandbox refresh processes, including management of external system dependencies
• Enforce feature branch hygiene policies — including automated branch deletion post-merge to prevent conflicts and outdated code overwrites
• Document and enforce environment access controls and promotion gates Post-Deployment Validation & Feature Flags
• Automate post-deployment validation steps, including feature flag/dark-deploy state verification (hide/unhide functionality)
• Build automated verification pipelines to confirm flag states post-deployment, reducing manual intervention and human error
• Reduce deployment window durations through scripted, repeatable post-deployment steps Dependency Management
• Build tooling and processes to identify, document, and manage Salesforce component dependencies and inter-relationships across teams and releases
• Prevent deployment failures caused by missing or conflicting dependent components
• Integrate dependency mapping into pipeline gates and deployment planning

Simplification & Developer Experience

• Reduce developer time spent on code migration between repos and orgs (current baseline: 20–30% of developer time)
• Simplify the DevOps infrastructure, tooling, and processes to reduce the steep learning curve for new POD teams onboarding
• Create self-service pipeline templates and onboarding guides for new scrum teams
• Actively reduce complexity of DevOps infrastructure to streamline maintenance and updates

Training & Knowledge Enablement

• Bridge knowledge gaps across development teams in CI/CD tooling, conflict resolution, and DevOps best practices
• Develop and deliver training sessions, workshops, and documentation for Salesforce developers across POD teams
• Build a DevOps community of practice to share knowledge and standardize practices across the 10+ scrum teams

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Salesforce DevOps engineering, platform engineering, or release engineering
• Deep hands-on expertise with Azure DevOps (Pipelines, Repos, Boards, Artifacts)
• Strong experience with Salesforce DX (SFDX), Salesforce CLI, and metadata API-based deployments
• Proficiency in Git version control, branching strategies (GitFlow, trunk-based), and merge conflict resolution
• Experience with delta deployment tools (e.g., SFDX Git Delta, Copado, Gearset, or equivalent)
• Experience in establishing, building and maintaining DevOps process & Governance in a large enterprise Salesforce org (1000+ end users) delivery with 5+ POD/Scrum teams
• Hands-on experience with SonarQube and SNYK (or equivalent SAST/SCA tools) integration in CI/CD pipelines
• Experience managing Salesforce sandbox environments, refreshes, and org strategy design
• Strong scripting skills: Bash, Python, or PowerShell for pipeline automation
• Demonstrated experience supporting multi-team, multi-release-train delivery models
• Familiarity with feature flags / dark deployment patterns in Salesforce
• Strong understanding of Salesforce metadata types, component relationships, and dependency management

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Salesforce release management tools such as Copado, Gearset, AutoRABIT, or Flosum
• Familiarity with YAML-based pipeline authoring in Azure DevOps
• Experience with self-hosted Azure DevOps agents configuration and maintenance
• Knowledge of Apex test optimization, parallel test execution, and test impact analysis
• Salesforce certifications (e.g., Salesforce Administrator, Platform Developer I/II, DevOps Center)
• Experience with AI-assisted code review tools or GitHub Copilot integrations
• Familiarity with Salesforce Flow, OmniStudio, or industry cloud deployments

Key Challenges This Role Will Address

• This role has been specifically created to resolve critical pain points in our current DevOps Setup.
• The successful candidate will be expected to develop and execute a roadmap to address
• the following:
• Org/Repository synchronization gaps causing code overwrites and lack of a clear source of truth
• Developer productivity loss (20–30% of time on manual code migration)
• High pipeline complexity and steep learning curves for new teams
• Long pipeline execution times (~20–30 min per deployment in lower orgs)
• Slow, manual PR review and approval processes
• Difficulty executing hotfixes and anytime deployments
• Missing automated rollback mechanisms and unreliable cherry-pick revert strategies
• Shared UAT environment conflicts across multiple concurrent release trains
• Manual post-deployment validation steps for dark-deployed features
• Long Apex test suite execution times (~6 hours)
• Outdated/undeleted feature branches causing code conflicts
• Knowledge gaps and CI/CD literacy challenges across development teams
• QA/UAT sandbox refresh complexity with external system dependencies
• Component dependency identification and inter-relationship management

Success Metrics (First 12 Months)

• Success Metric Target
• Pipeline execution time reduction ≥ 50% reduction from current baseline
• Developer time on code migration Reduced to
• Org/repo synchronization Process established and fully automated
• Automated rollback mechanism Implemented and tested
• Shared-environment deployment conflicts Zero conflicts across release trains
• POD team pipeline onboarding All 10+ teams on standardized templates
• Apex test execution time ≥ 40% reduction
• Post-deployment manual steps ≥ 80% reduction through automation