A day in the life of a cloud DevOps engineer

As the energy sector grapples with increasing demand and the need for cleaner solutions, our cloud DevOps team leverages the latest cloud technologies to drive our scalability.

Do you have what it takes to create cloud solutions that power global energy innovation? Our cloud DevOps engineer role might be for you!

Brief overview of the role of a cloud DevOps engineer at Shell

Cloud DevOps engineers at Shell are in charge of developing and operating cloud-based applications. They’re at the intersection of software development and IT operations, ensuring seamless integration between these traditionally separate domains.

As such, the cloud DevOps engineer role demands a mix of technical prowess in cloud platforms like AWS and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) along with a deep understanding of DevOps principles.

Daily responsibilities and importance of cloud DevOps engineers within Shell’s operations

The day-to-day activities of a cloud DevOps engineer at Shell include:

• Monitoring and optimizing cloud system performance
• Managing code deployment pipelines
• Applying information and digital engineering principles for maintaining cloud infrastructure
• Collaborating with development teams to streamline processes

Morning activities

Start of the day: review system performance reports and identify any overnight issues

Our cloud DevOps engineers start their day with a thorough analysis of system performance reports. They scrutinize overnight logs for anomalies and use advanced monitoring tools to detect potential issues before they escalate.

This proactive approach is key to maintaining the stability of Shell’s global operations.

Prioritize tasks: security updates, patch installations, and critical system checks

Security updates and patch installations are high on the priority list. Our engineers use automation tools to deploy patches across our cloud environments to ensure all systems are protected against the latest vulnerabilities.

They also perform system checks to verify the overall health of our cloud platforms.

Daily stand-up: coordinate with the IT team to align on the day’s objectives

Communication is essential for aligning efforts, which is why morning activities usually end with a quick team meeting or stand-up to set the day’s objectives.

During these meetings, the DevOps team discusses ongoing projects and deployment plans, as well as potential challenges.

Midday tasks

Implementing new features: discuss deployment strategies and roll-out plans

Working closely with developers and leveraging infrastructure-as-code techniques the cloud DevOps team shifts focus to implementing new features and designing deployment strategies.

This process involves using tools like Terraform to define and provision cloud resources programmatically.

Collaboration with development teams to streamline operations and enhance the deployment pipeline

This is one of the day-to-day tasks on which our cloud DevOps engineers spend a lot of time, as it ensures our cloud infrastructure remains agile with respect to business needs.

Working with various teams to optimize the DevOps pipeline, this collaborative effort involves:

• Refining continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) processes
• Working on improving code deployment strategies
• Implementing automation scripts (and updating them if need be)

Lunch and Learn session: continuous learning on the latest cloud technologies and team knowledge sharing

Ongoing education is a top priority at Shell, which is why our engineers participate in “Lunch and Learn” sessions where they share insights on the latest cloud technologies and DevOps practices.

Some of the topics discussed during these technical deep-dive sessions may include serverless architecture, machine learning operations (MLOps), and so forth.

Afternoon responsibilities

Monitoring and troubleshooting: addressing system alerts, optimizing resources, and ensuring uptime

During the afternoon, our engineers actively monitor our cloud systems for any real-time alerts or performance issues. They leverage their technical skills to troubleshoot issues as they arise, typically diving into log analysis or performing root cause analysis to resolve problems swiftly and ensure uptime.

Pushing code updates: manage CI/CD pipelines, merge pull requests, and oversee automated testing

Code management is another critical afternoon task, putting our cloud DevOps engineers responsible for:

• Overseeing CI/CD pipelines to ensure smooth code integration
• Merging pull requests to incorporate new features and fix bugs
• Managing automated testing processes

GitLab CI and GitHub Actions are two DevOps tools that are often used to automate these workflows.

Preparing for scalability: adjust infrastructure as code configurations to handle anticipated load increases

With an eye on future needs, our team of cloud DevOps engineers adjust infrastructure configurations to handle anticipated load increases. This might involve setting up auto-scaling groups in AWS or implementing horizontal pod autoscaling in Kubernetes.

The main goal here is to ensure Shell’s cloud systems can dynamically adapt to changing demands without manual intervention.

Evening wrap-up

Review the day’s accomplishments and set goals for the next day

Before concluding their shift, our cloud DevOps engineers take time to review the day’s accomplishments, be it deploying code or optimizing infrastructure for scalability, and outline priorities for the following day.

Document changes and update the team wiki

Next, the cloud DevOps team will update the team’s knowledge base with significant changes or new information. This documentation is crucial for maintaining consistency across Shell’s global IT operations. It also facilitates knowledge transfer between different teams.

Final system checks before the end of the shift

Finally, the engineers conduct a comprehensive system audit to ensure all cloud resources are secure and optimized before the next shift takes over.

Professional development opportunities at Shell

Training and growth opportunities

At Shell, we’re committed to the professional development of our cloud DevOps engineers. We offer a range of opportunities to help our engineers improve their skills and advance in their careers including:

• Regular training sessions on emerging cloud computing technologies
• Opportunities to earn industry-recognized certifications (e.g., AWS Certified DevOps Engineer)
• Mentorship programs pairing junior engineers with seniors

How Shell supports continuous professional education

Shell encourages its employees to stay updated on the latest advancements in cloud computing and automation tools by providing access to formal courses and on-the-job learning opportunities.

This serves both Shell and its engineers. On the one hand, it strengthens Shell’s position as an innovator in the energy sector, and on the other hand, it improves the engineer’s skills and experience.