Principal DevOps Engineer
Grade: 11/12
Salary range: $149,739 - $173,174+ superannuation and leave loading
Duration: Full-time, ongoing
Location: Hybrid working arrangements with expected office attendance at least 40% of the working week. Some remote site visits may be required but these would be infrequent.
Role overview
The Principal DevOps Engineer is responsible for leading the delivery of data platforms by driving the design, build and operational reliability of critical business systems powering ingestion, storage, analysis and value-add digital services across NSW Telco Authority. The role provides authoritative technical direction across the team's delivery scope, owning the design, build and operation of data platforms and supporting infrastructure that mobilise data sources into enterprise-value information entities.
About the team
This role sits within the Enterprise Architecture, Data and Innovation team with dedicated responsibility for build and delivery functions within NSW Telco Authority. You will work closely with the section Manager to establish a high-performing team that delivers combined software engineering and data production capabilities for the organisation. The team designs, builds and operates the organisation's digital data infrastructure and pipelines, aggregation of information from multiple business domain systems and enabling secure access to resulting data elements. A strong focus is placed on operational reliability, data quality and consistency, ensuring downstream data products and services are trusted, maintainable and fit for purpose.
Your responsibilities will include
* Set technical direction for the design, build and operation of data platforms, pipelines and supporting infrastructure.
* Direct delivery across the team's focus areas, translating business and data needs into executable technical priorities and standards.
* Own platform and service reliability, ensuring availability, performance, security and operational readiness.
* Establish and govern DevOps practices, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automation, observability and incident management.
* Ensure data quality and consistency using medallion architecture principles to support clean, trusted downstream data products.
* Lead through technical authority by guiding, influencing and supporting engineers and data practitioners.
* Partner with stakeholders and consuming teams to align platform capabilities with reporting, analytics and service requirements.
For more information on the role and its accountabilities, details can be viewed in the role description.
To be successful in this role you will have
Essential skills
* Proven hands-on leadership delivering and operating production data platforms, including data lakes/lake houses/warehouses (e.g. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, Azure Synapse or equivalent), with demonstrated production readiness such as multi-environment design, automation, observability and release governance.
* Demonstrated implementation of CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code for data platforms, using modern tooling (e.g. Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub Actions, Bicep/ARM/Terraform) to enable repeatable dev/test/prod provisioning and controlled releases.
* Demonstrable experience designing and operating data pipelines across multiple ingestion patterns, including API-based ingestion, batch file ingestion, streaming/event data and CDC/replication, with clear consideration of reliability, replay and data consistency.
* Principal level technical leadership without formal line management, including setting technical direction, defining and governing standards and patterns, leading design reviews, and directing delivery outcomes through technical authority.
* Strong technical decision-making capability, balancing trade-offs such as cost vs performance, security vs usability, and batch vs streaming approaches, with evidence of practical outcomes achieved.
* Demonstrated operational ownership of data platforms, including accountability for delivery, service availability, performance and reliability, incident response and root cause analysis in live production environments, and clear communication of issues and risks to stakeholders.
Desirable skills
* Demonstrated uplift of DevOps/DataOps maturity, e.g. introducing reusable ingestion frameworks/modules, automated testing, standardised observability patterns, or multi-environment automation adopted across teams.
* Experience in public sector or regulated environments, including governance, security, compliance or risk management frameworks, particularly within the telecommunications sector.
* Experience establishing/embedding platform operating practices, such as service ownership models, performance metrics, continuous improvement loops, and business disciplines that improve reliability and transparency.
* Experience partnering with enterprise functions (architecture, security, governance, data consumers) to align platform evolution to strategy and standards while maintaining delivery momentum.
About NSW Telco Authority
NSW Telco Authority (NSWTA) operates and manages the Public Safety Network to deliver radio communications for frontline responders. We work with emergency services and telecommunications carriers to protect communications assets during emergencies and natural disasters. NSWTA is a delivery agency with responsibility for over $1.5 billion in key NSW Government projects that connect communities and support emergency services. We lead and coordinate whole-of-government connectivity strategy to bridge the digital divide and help keep people and places safe. NSWTA operates as a standalone Statutory Authority within the Department of Customer Service. We promote flexibility and we will consider part-time, job share and other flexible arrangements. We're proud of our customer-centric, people-first culture and it is key to the success of our fast-moving, high-performance organisation, where our people and partners live and breathe our values of Integrity, Trust, Service and Accountability. We understand the importance of continuing to learn and grow in your career and provide a range of training and development opportunities to keep upskilling and nurturing our people. We're also committed to creating opportunities for job mobility and new experiences within our organisation or the wider public sector. For more information, go to NSW Telco Authority.
Salary Grade 11/12, with the base salary for this role starting at 149,739 base plus superannuation
Click Here to access the Role Description.
Visit the Capability Application Tool to prepare for the recruitment process by accessing practice application and interview questions based on the focus capabilities listed in the role description.
Closing Date: 9:59am Friday 27th March 2026
Careers at Department of Customer Service
A career at the Department of Customer Service (DCS) gives you the opportunity to help improve government services and be part of reform that benefits people across NSW. We are focused on delivering excellent customer service, digital transformation, and regulatory reform. Come join us and influence the future of our great state.
Belong in our diverse and inclusive workplace
The strength of our workforce lies in its diversity and embracing difference, while the key to our success is leveraging the contributions of employees with different backgrounds and perspectives. You can view our full diversity and inclusion statement. We want you to bring your best self to this application process. If you have any support or access needs that may require adjustments to allow you to fully participate in this selection process (including an alternate format of the application form) please contact the provided email or phone number.
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