Site Reliability Engineer reference: 0000064854

## Site Reliability Engineer: A Deep Dive into a Critical Role for Career Growth This Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) position presents a compelling opportunity for experienced professionals to make a significant impact within a mission-critical banking environment. Based in Knutsford, this role is designed for individuals who are passionate about ensuring the seamless operation, scalability, and performance of complex software systems and infrastructure.

What Makes This Role Stand Out?

The core purpose of this position is to leverage software engineering principles and automation to guarantee the reliability and availability of vital banking applications. This isn't just about fixing problems; it's about proactive engineering and continuous improvement. As an SRE, you will be at the forefront of:

• Ensuring System Uptime and Performance: You'll be instrumental in maintaining the availability, performance, and scalability of systems and services through diligent monitoring, proactive maintenance, and strategic capacity planning.
• Driving Incident Resolution and Prevention: Your expertise will be crucial in analyzing and responding to system outages, and more importantly, in implementing measures to prevent future occurrences.
• Championing Automation: A key aspect of this role involves developing tools and scripts to automate operational processes. This not only reduces manual effort but also significantly enhances efficiency and system resilience.
• Optimizing Resource Utilization: You will actively monitor and optimize system performance and resource usage, identifying and addressing bottlenecks to ensure peak efficiency.
• Fostering Collaboration and Best Practices: This role demands close collaboration with development teams to embed reliability, scalability, and performance best practices into the software development lifecycle, ensuring smooth and efficient operations across the board.
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: You'll be encouraged to stay informed about emerging industry trends and innovations, contributing to the organization's technological growth and fostering a culture of technical excellence.

Key Advantages for Your Career Path:

• Impactful Work: Directly contribute to the stability and success of mission-critical banking applications, a highly valued skill in the financial sector.
• Advanced Technical Development: Gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies and SRE practices within a large, established organization.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with diverse teams, enhancing your communication and interpersonal skills.
• Continuous Learning: The emphasis on industry trends and community involvement fosters an environment of ongoing professional development.
• Strategic Influence: Depending on experience level, there are opportunities to contribute to strategy, drive requirements, and influence technological direction, offering a pathway for leadership or deep technical specialization.

Essential Skills and Considerations:

To thrive in this role, candidates should possess a strong foundation in the following:

• Scripting Proficiency: Extensive experience with scripting languages such as PowerShell, Python, or Bash is crucial for automation and migration tasks.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & Automation: Working experience with IaC and automation tools like Ansible, Chef, or Terraform is a significant advantage.
• Event Streaming Technologies: Familiarity with event business products like Kafka is highly valued.

Highly Valued Additional Skills:

• Experience implementing and supporting SRE practices in large organizations or multi-layered teams.
• Proficiency with DevOps automation tools, including code versioning (Git), JIRA, Ansible, and database CI/CD tools.
• Experience with API development using REST/SOAP.

Beyond Technical Expertise:

Beyond technical skills, potential candidates will be assessed on critical qualities such as:

• Risk and Controls Management: Understanding and mitigating risks within a regulated environment.
• Change and Transformation Acumen: Ability to navigate and drive change effectively.
• Business Acumen and Strategic Thinking: Connecting technical solutions to business objectives.
• Digital and Technology Expertise: A broad understanding of the digital landscape.

Leadership and Individual Contribution Pathways:

The description outlines clear expectations for both leadership and individual contributor roles. If you aspire to lead, you'll be involved in strategy, resource planning, and team development. As an individual contributor, you'll be recognized as a subject matter expert, guiding technical direction and mentoring less experienced colleagues. Both pathways require strong stakeholder management, risk mitigation, and a comprehensive understanding of the organization's functions.

Organizational Values:

All colleagues are expected to embody the Barclays Values: Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship. Additionally, the Barclays Mindset of Empower, Challenge, and Drive will guide your approach to daily work and professional interactions.

This Site Reliability Engineer role offers a dynamic and challenging environment for those seeking to advance their careers in a crucial and evolving field. If you are a proactive, technically skilled, and collaborative individual, this opportunity in Knutsford is certainly worth exploring.