DevOps Engineer
jcw groupEvanston (IL)
About the role
JCW has partnered with a leading digital assets and data center infrastructure firm to identify a Vice President, DevOps/SRE to lead their infrastructure automation platform across data center operations. Based in Chicago, this is a senior technical leadership role for a DevOps/SRE professional who can steer an enterprise automation roadmap while remaining hands-on enough to dive into the code. The ideal candidate treats infrastructure as a product and has a proven track record building self-service automation platforms in complex hybrid environments. They are equally comfortable setting IaC governance standards and mentoring a team of engineers. This individual operates with an automate-first mindset, drives engineering velocity, and brings deep expertise across Terraform, Ansible, and VMware in large-scale environments. Key Qualifications6–10 years of experience in infrastructure, DevOps, or SRE with a focus on automation at scale Deep proficiency with Terraform (providers, modules, state management) and Ansible (roles, playbooks, Tower/AWX) Hands-on experience with image creation tooling (Packer, SCCM) for hardened Windows and Linux builds in hybrid environments Strong experience managing and automating VMware (vSphere/vCenter) and cloud platforms (Azure, AWS) High-level scripting skills across Python, Go, PowerShell, and Bash Experience with observability tools such as Splunk, ELK, Prometheus, or Grafana Strong mastery of Git branching strategies and CI/CD platforms (Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions) Understanding of network topology with experience on platforms such as Juniper or Palo AltoPrior team leadership or management experience strongly preferred
Before you apply
Applying takes about a minute. These four things decide how fast it moves after that.
Your profile is current
It's what we read first. Occupations, seniority and locations matter more than a long history.
Two examples you can talk through
Not a portfolio — just two pieces of work where you can explain the decisions and what you'd change.
A number in mind
What you're on now and what would make you move. We negotiate better when we know both.
Your notice period
Employers plan around it, and it's the question that stalls offers most often.
Once you apply, someone reads it and calls you before anything reaches the employer — usually within two working days.