Associate DevOps Engineer / DevOps Engineer

Are you passionate about building systems that let other engineers move fast? Join Kinsale Insurance, a leading excess and surplus (E&S) lines carrier headquartered in Richmond, VA, as a DevOps Engineer on our Infrastructure Operations team. We're known for our high-quality, high-touch approach and our commitment to secure, innovative, and well-architected platforms. Whether you're early in your career or bring hands-on experience, you'll find real opportunities here to grow and make a lasting impact.

About the Role

We treat our internal platform as a product and our application development, security, data, and QA teams as our customers. Our mission is to build the golden paths that make the secure, compliant, well-architected way to ship software also the easiest way, so our engineers spend their time delivering business value instead of fighting infrastructure. This role offers meaningful growth at every stage: Associate DevOps Engineers sharpen their technical craft and take ownership of platform capabilities with guidance from senior engineers, while DevOps Engineers own platform capabilities end to end and drive initiatives from problem to production. Wherever you start, you'll deepen your expertise across a modern cloud-native stack while collaborating closely with a supportive, service-oriented team.

What You'll Do

• Working hands-on with Kubernetes, GitLab CI/CD, Terraform, and AWS.
• Building and maintaining project scaffolding, CI/CD pipeline templates, and reusable modules that give teams a secure, well-instrumented starting point by default.
• Building and running self-service capabilities that let teams provision what they need with little to no manual effort.
• Automating manual, repetitive infrastructure and deployment tasks using Terraform, Helm, and scripting languages such as Python and Bash.
• Contributing to GitLab CI/CD processes that help teams ship faster and more reliably.
• Operating and maintaining our cloud-native environment running on AWS.
• Partnering with app dev, security, data, and QA teams to understand their needs and support improvements that make their work easier.
• Driving platform engineering best practices through mentorship, documentation, and hands-on project experience, sharing what you learn along the way.

At the DevOps Engineer level, you'll also design, own, and improve processes across the platform.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, a relevant bootcamp or program, or demonstrable equivalent experience.
• Comfort working with YAML and version control (Git).
• Comfort working with (or building for) AI tools and AI solutions.
• Strong problem-solving instincts and attention to detail.
• Genuine curiosity, a strong desire to learn, and enthusiasm for automating things and improving the developer experience through a collaborative, service-oriented attitude.

Associate DevOps Engineer additionally brings:

• Foundational familiarity with at least a few of the following (you'll learn the rest here): containers and/or Kubernetes, CI/CD concepts and tools such as GitLab Pipelines, scripting with Python or Bash, cloud platforms such as AWS, and infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform).

DevOps Engineer additionally brings:

• 2+ years of hands-on experience with Kubernetes and container technologies.
• 2+ years working with GitLab Pipelines (or comparable CI/CD) building automated delivery pipelines.
• Practical experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform) and configuration automation.
• Proficiency scripting with Python and Bash.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS in a cloud-native context.
• The ability to take a well-scoped problem and drive it to completion with limited oversight.

Preferred (but not required):

• CKA or CKAD certification, or a willingness to pursue one with our support.
• Exposure to any of our stack (Consul, Vault, Helm, New Relic, Nexus, Kong) is a plus.
• Curiosity about platform engineering, Internal Developer Platforms, or golden-path concepts.

Why You'll Love Working at Kinsale

• Competitive Pay & Bonus Opportunities – Rewarding performance and initiative.
• Comprehensive Benefits – Health, dental, and vision insurance with up to $3,600 (individual) or $6,800 (family) in HSA contributions per year.
• Work-Life Balance – Generous paid time off including 22 days of PTO and 10 paid company holidays.
• Career Growth – Clear promotion paths, mentorship, and ongoing professional development.
• Retirement & Security – Up to 6% matching 401(k) contributions on base salary and bonus, standard life insurance, and disability coverage.
• Continuous Learning – Annual $3,000 reimbursement for educational training and certifications.

Integrity & Responsibility

Kinsale values strong financial responsibility. A credit check will be conducted as part of the selection process for roles that require sound judgment, trustworthiness, or access to sensitive information.

Ready to Apply?

If you're motivated, analytical, and eager to learn, this is your opportunity to build a lasting career in platform engineering. Join Kinsale Insurance and grow in a company that rewards initiative, collaboration, and excellence.

Apply today and start building your future with us!