Tech Lead Application Support Engineer (+9 years, Porto)

📍 Hybrid | Porto

🚀 About the Role

We are looking for a TECH LEAD Application Support Engineer to join a team responsible for the stability, reliability, and continuous evolution of business-critical applications operating in a 24/7 environment.

This is a highly technical role that combines Application Support, Infrastructure Engineering, Technical Leadership, Project Coordination, and Architecture Design. You will act as a key technical reference, ensuring operational excellence while driving infrastructure improvements, automation initiatives, and strategic technical projects.

Working closely with Development, Infrastructure, Database, Network, and Business teams, you will help guarantee service continuity, optimize application performance, and shape the future architecture of critical platforms.

🎯 Your Mission

As a TECH LEAD Application Support Engineer, you will:

• Ensure the stability, availability, and performance of critical applications and infrastructure.
• Lead complex technical initiatives and infrastructure projects.
• Provide Level 3 support for production environments and critical incidents.
• Design resilient and secure architectures aligned with enterprise standards.
• Drive automation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support business projects from technical design through production deployment.
• Promote operational excellence, reliability, and service quality across the application landscape.

💼 Key Responsibilities

Application Support & Production Operations

• Provide Level 3 Application and Infrastructure Support for critical systems.
• Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve production incidents and operational issues.
• Handle change requests, maintenance activities, deployments, and technical operations.
• Participate in an on-call rotation to support applications operating 24/7.
• Contribute to problem management and root cause analysis activities.
• Ensure compliance with SLAs and operational commitments.

Technical Leadership

• Act as the technical lead for application support and infrastructure-related topics.
• Coordinate technical activities across Infrastructure, Development, Database, and Network teams.
• Lead technical discussions, planning sessions, and architecture reviews.
• Support decision-making processes and provide guidance on technical best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across platforms and operational processes.

Infrastructure & Reliability Engineering

• Design and promote resilient, scalable, and secure application architectures.
• Define and implement monitoring strategies, alerting mechanisms, and operational KPIs.
• Ensure application and infrastructure stability through proactive maintenance and optimization.
• Analyze capacity, performance, and resource utilization to support business growth.
• Adapt infrastructure resources through scaling, optimization, or architectural redesign.

Change & Release Management

• Coordinate infrastructure and application change activities.
• Manage production releases and deployment processes.
• Support application go-live activities alongside development and technical teams.
• Ensure deployment readiness and operational validation before production releases.
• Coordinate major technical operations such as infrastructure changes, server migrations, and datacenter activities.

Automation & Process Improvement

• Develop and maintain automation solutions using:Shell Scripting
• Python
• PowerShell
• Improve operational procedures and reduce manual intervention through automation.
• Create test scenarios and technical validation processes.
• Promote best practices for operational efficiency and reliability.

Monitoring & Incident Management

• Implement and maintain monitoring solutions and efficient alerting systems.
• Monitor applications and infrastructure to proactively detect issues.
• Contribute to operational dashboards, reporting, and system observability.
• Analyze incidents and implement preventive actions to improve service quality.

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

• Manage backup strategies and perform regular recovery testing.
• Ensure Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP) remain operational and effective.
• Participate in DRP exercises and resilience validation scenarios.
• Validate recovery capabilities across datacenter, infrastructure, network, and application failure scenarios.

Architecture & Project Delivery

• Define technical architectures for new applications and infrastructure solutions.
• Support business and IT projects from architecture design through implementation.
• Ensure solutions align with infrastructure standards, security requirements, and operational best practices.
• Collaborate with development teams to build robust and scalable application platforms.
• Contribute to modernization and transformation initiatives.

Documentation & Knowledge Management

• Produce and maintain technical documentation, including:Software Architecture
• Infrastructure Architecture
• Operational Procedures
• Runbooks
• Monitoring Requirements
• Disaster Recovery Processes
• Ensure effective knowledge sharing across support and engineering teams.

✅ What We're Looking For

Mandatory Requirements

• Minimum 6 years of experience in Linux-based application support, infrastructure engineering, or related technical roles.
• Proven experience in Application Production Support and technical operations.
• Strong experience leading technical initiatives and coordinating teams.
• Hands-on experience in complex production environments.
• Strong troubleshooting and incident management skills.
• Experience supporting business-critical systems operating 24/7.
• Strong understanding of infrastructure security, performance, and reliability principles.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

🛠 Technical Skills

Operating Systems

• Linux (Advanced)
• Windows Server (Nice to Have)

Scripting & Automation

• Shell Scripting
• Python
• PowerShell

Middleware & Web Technologies

• WebSphere
• JBoss
• Application Server Migration
• Web Infrastructure Management

Security & Networking

• SSL Certificates
• Reverse Proxy
• Load Balancing
• Infrastructure Security Best Practices

Scheduling & Batch Processing

• Control-M
• VTOM

Monitoring & Observability

• Zabbix
• Grafana
• ELK Stack
• Application Monitoring
• Infrastructure Monitoring
• Alerting & Reporting

DevOps & Deployment Tools

• Git
• Jenkins
• XL Deploy
• XL Release
• Bitbucket
• Artifactory
• OpenShift
• Docker

Continuity & Recovery

• Backup & Restore
• Disaster Recovery Planning
• Capacity Management
• Business Continuity