DevOps Engineer

The role 

This role is a senior key contributor in the overall Legal Technology solutions and Data and Analytics AI initiatives of the firm. You will be automating the environments for Data Science Lab applications in Azure Cloud and Clifford Chance on-premises. You will help integrate third-party applications (such as ContraxSuite) and AI/LLM workloads on Azure Cloud collaborating closely with LTS stakeholders data science lab infrastructure operations and security teams.


Who you will work with

The candidate will be responsible for implementing and maintaining all on-premises and Azure infrastructure used by the Data and Analytics AI team. You will help Data Scientists on automation-related challenges. It is expected that you will work in autonomy implementing best practices (including Microsoft Gold standards) having high appreciation for security-related challenges and working in a fully automated environment (everything must be scripted).
 

Skill & Key Responsibilities

Scripting & Automation

• Expert-level proficiency in scripting for automation using PowerShell Bash and Python.
• Design and develop automation templates/tools for infrastructure provisioning configuration and change management with a strong focus on Infrastructure as Code (IaC):  ARM Templates Azure Blueprints Terraform Biceps

Azure Infrastructure:

• Deploy configure and troubleshoot Azure components:
  • Networking: NSGs Subnets Firewalls Application Load Balancers (ALBs) App Gateway Certificates.
  • Compute & Services: Azure App Service Virtual Machines Scale Sets AKS.
  • Managed Services: SQL Server PostgreSQL Azure ASE.
  • Storage: Storage Accounts Blob Data Lakes.
• Working knowledge of data services: Azure Databricks Azure Data Factory Azure Insights Azure AI Services.
• Expertise in Logging Monitoring Azure AD and Azure Security Center.

DevOps Practices:

• Hands-on experience with:
  • CI/CD Pipelines: Azure Pipelines GitHub Actions.
  • Source Control: Azure Repos GitHub.
• Build & Test Automation Configuration Management Containerization Deployment Automation Log Management Performance Monitoring and Transaction Analytics.
• Develop scripts/tools for CI/CD of containerized applications.

AI/ML Operations:

• LLMOps:
  • Manage inference pipelines token usage optimization and cost-aware deployments of GPT/Azure OpenAI models.
  • Deploy and monitor LLM-powered microservices.
  • Tools: Azure OpenAI Azure Prompt Flow MLflow Weights & Biases.
• MLOps & Model Lifecycle:
  • End-to-end lifecycle management: experimentation deployment monitoring.
  • Automated CI/CD for model artifacts using Azure ML MLflow registry and A/B testing.
  • GPU-based cluster provisioning and cost optimization for inference.

Kubernetes & Container Security:

• Expertise in managing securing and automating AKS clusters including:
  • Helm Autoscaling Service Mesh RBAC GitOps practices.
• Implement security best practices for containerized environments:
  • Image scanning runtime protection vulnerability management.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity risks and mitigation strategies.
   

Additional Responsibilities:

• Assess current environments and recommend improvements for performance and scalability.
• Evaluate emerging cloud and storage technologies.
• Assist in design architecture and implementation of cloud solutions and deployment strategies.
• Troubleshoot and escalate issues as needed.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams in an Agile delivery environment.
• Optimize Azure costs using tools like Azure Cost Management Advisor recommendations and implement cost-saving measures (reserved instances rightsizing scaling automation).
• Knowledge of Azure Active Directory role assignments and conditional access policies.
• Design and deploy event-driven architectures using Azure Queue and Service Bus.
• Experience with Azure AI services Vector Databases (e.g. Azure Cognitive Search).
• Automate deployment of AI/ML models in production using Azure ML and related tools.

Technical Stack

• Languages: Python SQL.

Certifications (Preferred)

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Azure Administrator Associate
• Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (or equivalent)
   

Qualifications :

• BTech in Software Engineering

Written and Verbal Communications

• Highly developed written communication skills and capable of producing global and sensitive communications to a varied audience at all levels in both Practice Areas and Business Services.
• Excellent verbal and interpersonal communications skills some form of customer-facing interaction or consulting experience is a plus.

Core Competencies

Analytical Thought and Problem Solving

• Makes decisions that solve the immediate problem and prevent it from occurring again. 
• Prepares for potential problems and contingencies in case things go wrong. 
• Takes prompt action to resolve problems quickly. 
• Makes pragmatic and practical decisions about how centrally driven initiatives should be implemented locally. 
• Uses all relevant sources of information including the team and other colleagues to generate solutions.

Communicating and Influencing

• Uses a range of different influencing techniques.
• Takes account of different needs and concerns in order to effectively persuade others.
• Communicates effectively with the team through structured meetings and reviews.
• Resolves conflict and delivers feedback in an assertive and transparent way.

Commitment and Self-Motivation

• Makes oneself accessible to clients. 
• Monitors and reviews the quality of service that is provided in order to ensure that it meets/exceeds client expectations. 
• Resolves any problems with clients confidentially and professionally. 
• Remains positive even if progress is slow and solutions are diluted. 
• Is open to learning new skills. 
• Demonstrates a drive towards continual personal growth and development.

Leading and Developing Others

• Addresses underperformance swiftly and constructively. 
• Helps others to understand their own strengths and areas for development by providing regular and constructive feedback. 
• Helps others to set themselves clear goals which work towards the overall aim. 
• Promotes a climate of openness and trust within teams by encouraging individuals to share problems feedback and credit.
   

Additional Information :

How we will support you

From your first day with us you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and development your skills and knowledge. From formal training informal coaching and mentoring through to skills-based and technical training and on the job learning.
 

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender gender identity and expression marital or civil partnership status race colour national or ethnic origin social or economic background disability religious belief sexual orientation or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection terms and conditions of employment including pay promotion training transfer and every other aspect of employment.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. Find out more here.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time