Release & DevOps Specialist (JHB) at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

• A provider of tailored Financial Solutions seeks a Release & DevOps Specialist who will be responsible for ensuring smooth, reliable, and repeatable software releases from development through staging to production.
• This role bridges the gap between Development, QA, and Operations by managing release processes, automating deployments, and maintaining stable environments.
• They will enable the Development team to focus on building features, while ensuring the business receives high-quality, production-ready software on time.
• Must-Have criteria include strong experience with CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, hands-on experience with automated deployments for .NET / Blazor / SQL Server applications & expert understanding of source control (Git branching strategies).

DUTIES:

Release Management –

• Own and manage the release calendar, coordinating with Product Owners, Developers, and QA.
• Plan, document, and communicate release schedules and content.
• Ensure staging environments are aligned with production and release packages are validated before go-live.
• Triage bugs raised in staging and work with Developers/QA to resolve them efficiently.
• Facilitate go/no-go decisions with stakeholders.

DevOps / Automation –

• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps.
• Automate deployments to dev, staging, and production environments.
• Ensure reproducible builds and consistent deployment scripts.
• Manage environment configuration, secrets, and access control.
• Implement rollback and recovery strategies.

Environment & Infrastructure –

• Maintain dev, staging, and production environments to ensure parity and stability.
• Monitor environment health, performance, and resource usage.
• Work with IT Ops to align deployments with compliance and security policies.

Collaboration & Process Improvement –

• Act as the first line of investigation for staging issues (deployment/config/data), escalating true code defects back to Devs.
• Partner with QA to ensure test environments are production-like.
• Improve release processes to reduce lead time and increase deployment frequency.
• Provide dashboards and reporting on release readiness, success rates, and post-release stability.

REQUIREMENTS:

Must-haves –

• Strong experience with CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps.
• Hands-on experience with automated deployments for .NET / Blazor / SQL Server applications.
• Expert understanding of source control (Git branching strategies).
• Strong troubleshooting skills across code, config, and environment layers.
• Exposure to Release/Change Management processes in enterprise or regulated environments.

Nice-to-haves –

• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools e.g. Seq.
• Knowledge of security practices for deployments (secrets management, access policies).
• Scripting experience (PowerShell, Bash, Python).
• Experience with infrastructure automation (e.g., containerization).

ATTRIBUTES:

• Structured & detail-oriented – able to manage multiple moving parts in parallel.
• Problem solver – investigates staging/production issues calmly and systematically.
• Collaborative – works closely with Developers, QA, and IT.
• Ownership mindset – treats release success as their personal responsibility. 
• Continuous improver – always looking for ways to make releases faster, safer, and more reliable.