DevOps and Test Engineer

€63-75,000 FTE - Full-time/Part-time (38.5/32hrs) - Vienna / Hybrid

IONATE is a deep technology start-up building the technology backbone for smart grids. Our team is looking for a DevOps and Test Engineer who will be responsible for all aspects of our software deployment lifecycle (CI/CD), from setting up development systems, to running our production environment.

Reporting to the Head of Software and requiring solid expertise in DevOps tasks, this position will also challenge your skills in systematically designing, running and evaluating software tests. You will be working directly with our software team based in Vienna with skilled architects, software engineers and AI specialists.

You will need an innovative approach to DevOps engineering with well-grounded reasoning and experience, collaborating with an international multi-disciplinary team to deliver IONATE’s HIT technology.

What You Will Do:

Infrastructure Management & Security

• Act as primary owner for infrastructure security, availability, and scalability
• Implement and manage infrastructure-as-code (IaC) using Terraform or CloudFormation
• Diagnose and resolve scalability/performance bottlenecks

DevOps Practices & Automation

• Lead CI/CD pipelines, Kubernetes orchestration, and cloud automation initiatives
• Build/manage containerised applications via Docker/Kubernetes for robust deployments
• Automate repetitive tasks to enhance operational efficiency

Software Deployment

• Shape deployment concepts for IONATE’s connected transformers with cross-functional teams
• Ensure software delivery aligns with customer requirements for connectivity, security, and deployment

System Architecture & Quality Assurance

• Improve architectural maintainability and codebase quality through technology updates
• Maintain network/architecture diagrams and technical documentation

Testing & Validation

• Implement state-of-the-art testing methodologies across deployments and code versions
• Track testing progress and regression systematically

Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Work within a distributed, multidisciplinary European team to deliver integrated solutions

• Promote knowledge sharing and engineering best practices

Requirements

What You Will Need:
Deployment Infrastructure & Tooling

• Solid background in deployment stack configuration across environments (dev, test, QA, prod) including Linux-based system administration and optimisation
• Expertise in containerisation technologies e.g. Docker/Docker Compose
• Experience using orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes/Helm Charts
• CI/CD pipeline management experience using Bitbucket and Harbor
• Infrastructure-as-Code implementation via Terraform/AWS CloudFormation
• Comprehensive knowledge of cloud deployment with AWS/Azure serverless architectures

Monitoring & Observability

• Application monitoring implementation experience using Sentry and Grafana
• Demonstrable expertise in Log management systems (e.g., Loki)
• Distributed tracing proficiency with OpenTelemetry/Jaeger

Networking & Security

• Experience in Load-balancing configuration via Traefik/HAProxy
• Strong knowledge of Authentication system design and OAuth2 integration

Testing Methodology

• Comprehensive test strategy development for software components and systems
• Unit/Integration Testing implementation (we use Jest framework for JavaScript)
• End-to-End Testing pipeline design and execution experience
• Performance/Load Testing planning and analysis

Automation & Scripting

• Scripting proficiency (Bash) for process automation and optimisation

Work Approach & Mindset

• Self-driven ownership of complex technical challenges from concept to delivery
• Innovative problem-solving for novel technical obstacles
• End-to-end project ownership with a strong delivery focus
• Clear technical communication across written and verbal formats

Useful to Have:

• Message-oriented architecture experience (Websockets, Redis Streams)
• Power systems engineering knowledge or domain exposure

Benefits

• Flexible working schedules: You will be based in our modern Vienna offices but will have the flexibility for hybrid work-from-home arrangements. Talk to us at the application stage about any scheduling preferences you may have.

• Employee Option Plan: You get equity in IONATE, so as we succeed so do you.

• Pension: a competitive, flexible, and sustainable pension product to help you plan for your future.

• Career Development: It's important to us that you have the opportunity for ongoing professional development and career growth.
• Slow travel: We believe in a low carbon future, so if you wish to travel by a lower carbon method - but it takes much longer than flying - we will give you an extra 2 slow travel days per year.

About IONATE

Driven by first-principles engineering, IONATE is transforming power systems for the energy transition.

Our hardware is the Hybrid Intelligent Transformer (HIT): a new building block for the power grid and everything connecting. It integrates into the network like a transformer but solves key power quality issues through all-in-one power flow control. Beyond the passive voltage step, it provides data visibility, stepless and dynamic voltage control, harmonics removal and reactive power control with millisecond-precision. Its innovative hybrid design leveraging magnetic control makes it a robust, reliable, and affordable upgrade.

While deployed to remove constraints and prevent issues, HITs effectively light up real-time control nodes for the very first time. Once placed in strategic points of the network, IONATE's AI platform can coordinate them to form a true smart system, coupling top-down grid orchestration with instantaneous bottom-up control in the physics. This full stack will achieve real-time system optimisation and turn the passive old grid into a flexible, decentralized platform that catalyses innovation.

3 reasons why you should apply:

You'll work on something that matters. The most rewarding aspect of our job is seeing what we build in the lab get used in the real world. As our tech gets used in solar farms, batteries, and electricity grids, your work will help shape the future of the green energy transition .

The thinking you'll do here is not your average exercises on repeat. Building a brand-new class of tech requires cutting-edge ideas. If you like to solve unconventional problems, to be given freedom to explore, to challenge - and be challenged by - field experts, you will fit just right in.

The rocket ship is taking off. Our innovation has been proven and demand is immense. IONATE is now rapidly scaling up and undertaking global projects. Joining early and working side-by-side with our leadership team means ample opportunity to grow your role together with our company.

IONATE has a friendly team that collaborates and supports one-another. If you don't fit all the description above, but you are passionate about the work we are doing and could add value to our team, please get in touch. We believe in making positions fit the skills of people, not the other way around. We are also committed to providing equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone. We value diversity in race, gender identity, sexuality, age, family or civil status, disability, religion, or ethnicity and encourage you to apply wherever you come from.