DevOps/Infrastructure Contractor (UK SaaS Launch) at Simply Done, Manchester, £Contractor Rate

Contract: Fixed-scope production infrastructure setup, with optional ongoing monthly support
Location: Remote (UK-based contractors only, UK timezone required)
Start date: ASAP
Budget: Please provide a fixed UK project quote or contractor day rate
We are seeking a DevOps / Infrastructure Contractor to prepare an established UK-facing B2B SaaS platform for production launch.
The application is already built. The focus of this engagement is to design and implement a secure, reliable, and maintainable production infrastructure before the platform goes live to UK and potentially EU-based customers.
This is a fixed-scope engagement focused on deployment, security, backups, monitoring, and operational readiness in line with modern UK production standards.

Engagement Structure:
The initial engagement is a short, fixed-scope infrastructure project.
Key focus areas include:
Git-based deployment workflows
Staging and production environments
Automated backups with off-site storage
Tested and documented restore procedures (disaster recovery)
Monitoring, alerting, and observability
Server hardening and access control
Secrets management
PostgreSQL operational safety
Production documentation and runbooks
An optional monthly retainer may follow for ongoing support, maintenance, and incident response.

What You’ll Be Doing:
Implementing repeatable, automated deployment processes (removing manual changes)
Setting up CI/CD pipelines (e.g. GitHub Actions or equivalent)
Configuring staging and production environments
Hardening Ubuntu server security (SSH, firewall, permissions)
Configuring Nginx reverse proxy with TLS (Let’s Encrypt)
Standardising Node.js production runtime setup
Implementing process management (e.g. PM2 or equivalent)
Setting up PostgreSQL backups, restores, and recovery procedures
Implementing monitoring for uptime, errors, performance, and certificate expiry
Improving secrets management and access control practices
Producing clear infrastructure documentation and runbooks

Essential Skills:
Strong Linux administration experience (Ubuntu preferred)
Extensive experience with Nginx (reverse proxy, TLS, production configuration)
PostgreSQL administration (backup, restore, security, performance tuning)
CI/CD pipeline experience (GitHub Actions or similar)
Experience with Git-based deployment workflows
Production experience running Node.js applications
Experience with PM2 or equivalent process managers
Strong security mindset (least privilege, SSH hardening, patching, secrets handling)
Experience operating production systems handling personal data
Awareness of UK GDPR and production data responsibilities

Desirables:
Redis
Cloudflare (DNS, CDN, WAF, security tooling)
Object storage (S3, Cloudflare R2, etc.)
Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible, etc.)
Logging and monitoring systems
SaaS scaling experience (load balancing, replication, scaling strategies)

What We’re Looking For:
We are looking for an engineer with real production experience in UK or equivalent production environments, not development-only systems.
You should be able to assess an existing setup, identify risks, and implement a secure, observable, recoverable, and maintainable infrastructure suitable for a UK commercial SaaS launch.
This role requires a practical, security-focused engineer who can deliver production-ready systems and clear documentation.

Application:
Please submit your CV along with a short note covering:
Relevant production infrastructure projects (UK or similar environments preferred)
Your experience with CI/CD, Linux, Nginx, PostgreSQL, and Node.js deployments
Your approach to backups, disaster recovery, monitoring, and security hardening
Your expected UK project cost or day rate
Your availability over the next 30 days

Pay: £2,000.00-£4,000.00 per month

Application question(s):

• What are your salary or day-rate expectations for this position?

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Manchester