Senior Azure DevOps & CI/CD Engineer

AJAY KUMAR KADIYALA

Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer Senior Azure DevOps Engineer Senior CI/CD Engineer

Gmail : *************@*****.***

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

•Senior Azure DevOps Engineer with 10+ years of experience designing, building, and operating enterprise CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins) on Microsoft Azure.

•Infrastructure as Code specialist using Terraform, Azure Bicep, and ARM templates with reusable modules and GitOps workflows for consistent, repeatable provisioning.

•Hands-on expertise in containerizing applications with Docker and running production Kubernetes/AKS workloads, including Helm, ingress, autoscaling, persistent volumes, and node pools.

•Skilled in Python, PowerShell, Bash, and Ansible automation for provisioning, deployment validation, patching, and infrastructure maintenance.

•Proven record of embedding DevSecOps, RBAC, and Zero Trust controls into pipelines, including SAST, container scanning, quality gates, and Key Vault-based secrets management.

•Delivered 30% faster deployment cycles, reduced MTTR, and improved release reliability for enterprise Azure environments.

•Experienced in monitoring and observability (Azure Monitor, Prometheus, Grafana), Agile collaboration, and mentoring junior DevOps engineers.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Category

Skills & Tools

Cloud Platforms

Microsoft Azure (primary), AWS, GCP

CI/CD & Release Engineering

Azure DevOps, GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Git, YAML Pipelines (.gitlab-ci.yml), Multi-Stage Pipelines, Reusable Pipeline Templates, Shared Components, Include Files, Parent/Child Pipelines, GitLab Runners, CI/CD Variables, Artifacts, Caching, Deployment Environments, Approval Gates, Protected Branches/Tags, CODEOWNERS, Merge Request Workflows, Maven, Gradle, Nexus, Artifactory

Infrastructure as Code

Terraform (Reusable Modules), Azure Bicep, ARM Templates, GitOps, Ansible

Containers & Orchestration

Docker, Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Amazon EKS, Helm, Azure Container Registry (ACR), Container Image Management, Ingress, Autoscaling, Persistent Volumes, Node Pools, GPU-Ready AKS Node Pools

Azure Compute, Data & Platform Services

Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets, App Services, Azure Functions, Azure Storage, Blob Storage, Storage Queues, Azure NetApp Files, Azure SQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL/MySQL, Redis Cache, Azure Data Factory, HDInsight, Azure IoT Hub, Stream Analytics, Azure CDN, Resource Groups, Azure Migrate, Azure Update Management

Azure Networking & Resilience

Virtual Networks, Subnets, NSGs, Azure Firewall, Application Gateway, WAF, Azure Front Door, Traffic Manager, Load Balancers, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Azure Arc, Private Endpoints, Service Endpoints, DDoS Protection Standard, Network Watcher, Azure Site Recovery (DR)

DevSecOps & Security

DevSecOps, SAST, Dependency Scanning, Secret Detection, Container Image Scanning, Vulnerability Scanning, SonarQube, Quality Gates, Policy-Based Security Controls, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Zero Trust, Least Privilege, Separation of Duties

Identity & Secrets Management

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Azure RBAC, Managed Identities, Service Principals, Azure Key Vault, Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), OIDC, Workload Identity Federation, SSO, Credential Rotation, Environment Isolation

Monitoring & Observability

Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Prometheus, Grafana, Power BI, Alerting & Dashboards

Scripting & Automation

Python, PowerShell, Bash, Azure CLI, Ansible

Databases

MySQL, PostgreSQL, Azure SQL, Redis, Oracle Database@Azure (Exadata)

AWS Services

EC2, IAM, VPC, S3, CloudWatch, ECR, EKS, ECS, AMI/Golden Images, AWS Networking

AI/ML-Adjacent & AI-Assisted Engineering

Azure Cognitive Services, Azure AI Search, AI/ML Workload Data Persistence, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code

Application Technologies

Java, Python, Maven, Gradle, Dockerized Microservices

Operating Systems & Tools

Linux, Windows, Jira, ServiceNow, Confluence, Agile/Scrum

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Microsoft Mar 2025 – Present

Senior Infra Automation & DevOps Engineer

•Engineered and enhanced enterprise CI/CD pipelines for microservices using GitLab CI/CD, Azure DevOps, and Jenkins, implementing multi-stage build, test, security scanning, artifact publishing, containerization, and environment-specific deployments to improve release reliability and delivery speed.

•Developed reusable GitLab CI/CD templates, shared components, include files, and standardized YAML workflows, giving application teams consistent build, test, security, packaging, and deployment processes.

•Configured protected and environment-scoped CI/CD variables, artifacts, caching, and deployment environments to enable controlled promotion across Development, Test, UAT, and Production.

•Implemented GitLab governance using merge-request workflows, protected branches/tags, CODEOWNERS, approval rules, protected environments, and deployment gates to enforce release standards, auditability, and separation of duties.

•Administered GitLab runners, build agents, and Jenkins (agents, plugins, credentials, jobs); resolved runner availability, job failures, dependency, artifact, and caching issues, and analyzed build duration and agent utilization to reduce release cycle time.

•Automated Azure infrastructure provisioning with Terraform and Azure Bicep through Git-based, GitOps-aligned workflows covering networking, storage, monitoring, secure connectivity, and Oracle Database@Azure supporting infrastructure.

•Containerized applications with Docker and deployed scalable workloads on AKS using Helm, managing services, ingress, persistent volumes, node pools, autoscaling, and environment-specific configurations.

•Automated Docker image build, tagging, vulnerability scanning, and publishing to Azure Container Registry (ACR), followed by controlled Helm-based AKS deployments with approval gates, automated validation, health checks, and rollback procedures.

•Architected stateful Kubernetes workloads using Persistent Volumes for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis to support enterprise AI/ML and analytics workloads; integrated Azure Cognitive Services endpoints and provisioned GPU-capable AKS node pools as a foundation for MLOps adoption.

•Integrated Azure Key Vault and Managed Identities with GitLab CI/CD and Azure deployment workflows using PowerShell and secure Azure authentication, enabling automated retrieval and rotation of credentials, certificates, API keys, and connection strings while eliminating manual secret handling.

•Embedded DevSecOps controls, including SAST, code-quality analysis, dependency scanning, secret detection, vulnerability and container image scanning, and policy-based quality gates, to prevent insecure or non-compliant releases.

•Strengthened Azure security with Conditional Access, RBAC, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to enforce Zero Trust access controls; implemented network segmentation using Azure Firewall, DDoS Protection Standard, Application Gateway with WAF, Azure Front Door, NSGs, and Network Watcher.

•Enabled hybrid-cloud connectivity with VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Azure Arc, Private Endpoints, and Azure Firewall, supporting secure and reliable data transfer for enterprise and Oracle Database@Azure workloads.

•Implemented multi-region disaster recovery using Azure Site Recovery (ASR) and validated failover against defined RPO/RTO targets.

•Developed Python, PowerShell, and Bash automation for Azure resource management, infrastructure validation, Linux administration, patching, vulnerability remediation, log aggregation, resource cleanup, deployment health checks, and operational reporting, reducing manual intervention.

•Developed and maintained Ansible playbooks for server configuration, application deployment, package management, patching, and environment standardization across Linux and Azure workloads.

•Established centralized monitoring, logging, and alerting with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, Prometheus, and Grafana for Azure infrastructure, AKS, applications, and Oracle Database@Azure; built dashboards and alerts for capacity planning, troubleshooting, and reduced MTTR.

•Collaborated with development, networking, security, and QA teams in Agile Scrum to resolve production incidents, manage Jira boards and sprints, and meet operational SLAs; delivered knowledge-transfer sessions and technical documentation and mentored junior DevOps engineers.

NRECA (Reasonn LLC) Jun 2024 – Feb 2025

Azure DevOps Engineer

•Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and created technical specifications using Maven and Git, enabling on-time project delivery and improved stakeholder satisfaction.

•Integrated GitLab CI/CD pipelines with Maven, Docker, and AKS, implementing multi-stage automated builds, testing, dependency and vulnerability scanning, container image creation, artifact publishing, deployment validation, and release workflows across Development, Test, UAT, and Production.

•Led infrastructure assessments and Azure migration planning using Azure Migrate and Terraform, building reusable Infrastructure-as-Code workflows for networking, application delivery, security, and monitoring to enable smooth migration of legacy applications to Azure.

•Deployed Azure Front Door, Application Gateway with WAF, and Traffic Manager using Azure CLI and ARM templates, implementing SSL termination, health probes, path-based routing, and OWASP protection for highly available, secure applications.

•Configured Azure IoT Hub for secure integration of building security panels and access devices, reducing onboarding time for new hardware; engineered real-time data ingestion pipelines with Stream Analytics and Azure SQL for access-log processing and IoT alerting.

•Implemented Single Sign-On (SSO) for access control systems via Azure Active Directory, and secured CI/CD and application credentials using Azure Key Vault, Managed Identities, Microsoft Entra ID, and Azure RBAC, enforcing least-privilege and Zero Trust policies.

•Configured Azure Monitor and Log Analytics for proactive alerting to detect IoT device and application failures rapidly and minimize downtime; built Power BI dashboards giving security teams visibility into access trends and system health.

•Developed Python and PowerShell scripts for Azure resource management, deployment validation, and operational troubleshooting, improving repeatability and reducing manual effort.

•Documented architecture, operational procedures, and compliance evidence in Confluence, and maintained deployment evidence and environment controls to support regulatory audits, security reviews, and regulated production releases.

Microsoft (LTIMindtree) Jun 2023 – Jun 2024

Cloud Support Engineer

•Provided L1/L2 support for Azure infrastructure services, including Virtual Machines, Storage, Networking, and Resource Groups, ensuring minimal downtime for production workloads.

•Troubleshot and resolved incidents, service requests, and performance issues for Azure resources using ServiceNow and Jira, restoring service within SLA and improving system reliability.

•Assisted customers in configuring Azure Virtual Networks, Subnets, Private Endpoints, Service Endpoints, VPN Gateways, ExpressRoute, Application Gateway, Load Balancers, Azure Firewall, and NSGs, enabling secure connectivity and network isolation and reducing production support incidents.

•Supported Azure Active Directory, RBAC, and Conditional Access using Azure AD tools and PowerShell, maintaining secure identity management and compliance.

•Monitored cloud environments with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights, setting up alerts and dashboards to detect and resolve issues proactively.

•Patched Windows and Linux VMs using Azure Update Management and PowerShell, remediating security vulnerabilities, applying Microsoft security baselines, and addressing Defender for Cloud recommendations.

•Troubleshot Azure SQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL/MySQL connectivity, performance, and backup issues, restoring availability and improving query response times.

•Supported ARM template deployments by validating parameters and fixing errors with Azure CLI and PowerShell, ensuring successful resource provisioning without delays.

•Helped customers optimize Azure costs by identifying unused resources and right-sizing VMs; assisted with Azure Key Vault, App Services, and Azure Functions integration; created knowledge base articles, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides for recurring issues.

Ameri Health Caritas (Hexaware Technologies) May 2021 – Feb 2023

DevOps Engineer

•Designed and deployed reusable Terraform and ARM Infrastructure-as-Code modules across Azure compute, web, mobile, storage, ADF, HDInsight, Azure SQL, and cloud services, standardizing staging and production provisioning and improving deployment consistency, governance, and repeatability.

•Automated Azure IaaS virtual machines with Terraform modules and deployed virtual machine scale sets to production, enabling consistent infrastructure and faster scaling.

•Integrated Azure Log Analytics with VMs for centralized logging and metrics, and managed Docker-based container resources across cloud and VMware environments, streamlining deployments and reducing troubleshooting time.

•Built a multi-region application environment using CDN, Traffic Manager, App Services, Azure Active Directory, Storage Queues, Cognitive Services, Search, Blob Storage, Azure NetApp Files, Redis Cache, and SQL Database, providing high-performance shared storage, continuous availability, and lower application latency.

•Created Azure RBAC policies to segregate duties and grant least-privilege access, and configured Network Security Groups with inbound and outbound rules on subnets and network interfaces, reducing unauthorized traffic and strengthening production compliance.

•Developed Azure hosting plans and deployed workloads on Azure Virtual Machines with custom images and disks, resulting in more reliable deployments and faster provisioning.

Mapple Tree (Wipro Technologies) Mar 2016 – Jan 2021

Azure Support Engineer

•Developed and managed Azure infrastructure hosting plans and deployed workloads on Azure Virtual Machines using Azure CLI and PowerShell, designing VM storage and images to streamline provisioning and reduce environment setup time.

•Diagnosed and resolved enterprise CI/CD issues involving YAML pipeline configurations, build agents, source-code integrations, credentials, artifacts, deployment stages, and release automation, performing root-cause analysis and implementing corrective actions.

•Monitored CI/CD pipeline health, build-agent performance, job failures, and execution bottlenecks, recommending optimizations that improved pipeline success rates and reduced deployment delays.

•Guided customers in configuring service connections, variable groups, and Key Vault integration for secure deployments, leading to a 30% decrease in configuration errors.

•Acted as a liaison between product engineering teams and customers, escalating and resolving platform bugs and feature limitations, which reduced issue resolution time by 20%.

•Collaborated with global Microsoft support teams to deliver 24x7 coverage, participating in war rooms and high-severity incident resolution with complete RCA documentation.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Technology – Mahaveer Institute of Science and Technology (JNTUH), India Sep 2011 – May 2015

Contact this candidate