Become part of the team which implements Infrastructure as Code.

?? Find out more in an interview with Mira, our DevOps Engineer.?

Mira is a DevOps Engineer in ADIDAS (Active Directory IDentity & Access Services) team. He started in IT HUB in the role of End User Support Specialist. He became an Engineer due to his perseverance, self-education, and passion for modern technologies. He believes that once you are passionate about what you do and combine it with hard work, you can achieve excellent results.

Now you have a chance to join Mira's team. Let's explore what this role offers to you.

In ADIDAS team, we manage the critical infrastructure of NN.

All NN applications using an Active Directory rely on this infrastructure. The amount of responsibility in our team is quite significant, as we deal with potential issues on the level of countries, e.g. problems with DNS. On the other hand, the more significant responsibility, the more exciting projects we have.

Our team is multinational. We collaborate remotely.

Everything we do has to be done by at least two people in parallel because it concerns the whole NN. We have a huge responsibility at work, and we have to know our stuff and the consequences of our actions. From New York, Japan to Singapore, over 18 mostly European countries, infrastructure must run continuously.

Our team focuses on the implementation of Infrastructure as Code.?

It's one of those exciting projects I talked about. Our current setup is a hybrid one (on-prem machines that we manage via code), and our main goal is to replace domain controllers in all countries. These new machines will be managed entirely via code. Once we migrate all the controllers to the up-to-date version, we will have only one register setting, one log-on banner, etc. Everything will be controlled via code.

?? Btw we explained how we build Infrastructure as Code in one of our technological meet-ups, you can watch it on our Youtube channel.

We have excellent feedback from other companies that we use unique technologies for such a big corporation.

One of those technologies which make us future proof is Azure. We use it quite extensively, and it allows us to automate heavily.

I like solving challenges, one of the biggest ones was to code an infrastructure.

Some domain controllers were managed by code, but it was not as flexible as needed, so we had to rewrite it. We started from scratch, and now we manage our stations by a completely new code that is much more flexible and environment-agnostic.?

An example of a priority one incident we solved is dropping out of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in all countries.

This priority one incident appeared a year ago, when MFA dropped out, causing all the applications using MFA to be in trouble. I was up till 3 AM, then I slept 1,5 hours and continued working till 5 PM. We had to do a quick work-around and exclude MFA for all applications for a moment.

Do you want to move forward in your career??We are looking for an Active Directory Infrastructure Engineer.

If you are a medior, we can offer you a very generous budget and our mentorship to move you forward in this role. If you have senior skills, you can still grow thanks to unique and complex projects.

Everyone who joins our team has to make a "Showcase."

We want to move things forward. That's why quick learning is essential to us. Your first project would be building your own safe environment. Usually, it takes several weeks or months. If you're willing to learn new things, it's a perfect opportunity for you.

The team has its routines, like a "daily" or a beer.

We start the day with a daily meeting, sharing what was done and what needs to be done. Then we collaborate on development. Regarding the operational part of DevOps, you would be in contact with our colleagues from the Netherlands.

Our responsibility is to take care of the environment together, searching, and troubleshooting bugs. And, of course, going for a beer from time to time with the team. ??

IT HUB Prague is a friendly place to work.

In my opinion, we have a friendly office place with friendly relationships among managers and team members. I don't feel any strict hierarchy here. Of course, there is authority, but at the same time, you can have a beer with a manager and talk about your weekend.

Something about me.

I started in IT HUB in 2017 in the role of End User Support Specialist. If someone had trouble with a computer, I physically went there and fixed it. This role was about solving problems, usually a broken keyboard, monitor, mouse, or any other piece of hardware.

I've been referred to IT HUB by one of my friends, who got a referral bonus for me (laugh). I still remember my interview with my previous manager, Mickey. My English was bad, and I was almost sure that he would not hire me.

Finally, I got a chance. Mickey liked my IT skills, and I was lucky that I did not need much of English during my work for End User Support. I took over the role from a colleague who passed me his 8-year knowledge in 1 month. It was quite a challenge.

After some time, I felt that it was time to move on.

So, I spoke to Mickey, who told me that IT HUB supports internal mobility and that I could move to a different team. Since then, I started to educate myself. I attended many workshops focused on Active Directory and Windows Servers. It was a direction where I wanted to specialize.

At that time, Azure was not that popular.

That's why I focused on on-prem technologies. After visiting Windows Server training and a couple of more workshops, Mickey presented me with a vacancy in the ADIDAS team. I applied and was accepted for the junior position of Azure DevOps Administrator.

Dev & Ops roles gradually changed to one single role - DevOps.

It was in February 2019. So far, the Dev part was delivered by colleagues from the Netherlands and the Ops part by colleagues in Prague. My new manager wanted to unite the roles. As a first step, I had to learn how to develop from the Dutch part of the team.

In September 2019, the team roles were united, and my role changed to DevOps Engineer Junior. It was a huge opportunity for administrators in the team. They were transformed into DevOps Engineers. It was a strategic decision.

It took me one year to get used to the environment, understand the code, and learn the complex infrastructure. I had to understand all connections and relationships in it.

My job is my hobby.

In October 2020, I became a DevOps Engineer Medior. It was a quick path. I would say the most essential key to success is to like what you do. I like my job. I spend a lot of my free time doing the same things. I want to automate, code, understand my environment, understand what I am doing. If I have the opportunity to use it at work afterwards, I enjoy waking up those days.

I am interested in topics of Azure DevOps, hybrid workspace, and automation. That's why my role is a perfect fit for me. I am still learning. Microsoft is releasing new features, which we want to implement in our environment. It's not repetitive at all, which I appreciate a lot.

By the way, wish me a luck. I am currently in the process of career promotion to become a senior. ??

We hope that this interview gave you a solid overview of what we do in ADIDAS team. Do you find it interesting? We would like to hear from you. Contact either directly manager of the team Ond?ej Pe?eny, or apply ?? via our Career page.