Core DevOps/Infrastructure

5+ years of experience in DevOps, focusing on high-availability and scalable architecture.
Expertise in Kubernetes: Cluster administration, networking, security policies.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Hands-on experience with Terraform, Ansible.
Linux Mastery: Deep understanding of Linux internals (Debian/Ubuntu), security hardening.

Data Management/Messaging:

Advanced Database Administration: Proficiency in managing and optimizing PostgreSQL, Redis, and NoSQL solutions (MongoDB, InfluxDB).
Event Streaming: Experience maintaining Kafka.

CI/CD/Automation:

GitLab Expert: Designing complex multi-stage CI/CD pipelines, using GitLab Runners, and implementing GitOps workflows.
Software Development: Strong scripting skills in Python and Bash for automation and custom tool development.

Observability/Security:

Full-stack Monitoring: Building comprehensive observability with ELK Stack, Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki.

Security/Compliance: Experience with SIEM tools, secret management (HashiCorp Vault), and implementing DevSecOps practices.

Networking:
Deep knowledge of the OSI model, TCP/IP, load balancing (Nginx, HAProxy), and SDN.

Virtualization:
Virtualization & Computing: Deep experience with Proxmox or VMware ESXi; 
Building and managing virtual infrastructure and resource optimization.