Senior DevOps Engineer (Azure, Linux, API Performance & Production Troubleshooting)

Senior DevOps Engineer (Azure, Linux, API Performance & Production Troubleshooting) Job Overview We are looking for an experienced Senior DevOps Engineer to troubleshoot and resolve intermittent API performance issues in our production environment. Our entire application stack is hosted on Microsoft Azure and consists of multiple Ubuntu servers running Apache, PHP-FPM, CodeIgniter, Redis, MySQL and Node.js background services. We are facing intermittent production issues where APIs remain in a Pending state, become delayed, or occasionally get stuck even though server resources, Apache and MySQL appear healthy. We need someone who can perform end-to-end root cause analysis across infrastructure, application and database layers. This is NOT a development role. This is a Production Support, DevOps and Performance Troubleshooting role. Current Environment Infrastructure Microsoft Azure Ubuntu Linux servers Multiple application servers Application Stack Apache 2.4 PHP 8.x PHP-FPM CodeIgniter Redis MySQL (AWS) Node.js background processes External API integrations Problems We Need Help Solving We need an expert who can investigate and permanently fix issues such as: APIs are getting stuck in the Pending state from the browser Slow API responses Random API delays APIs blocking subsequent API calls Intermittent application slowness Server performance degradation Database connection bottlenecks Connection pool issues External API dependency delays Session locking issues Redis lock contention Infrastructure bottlenecks Production stability issues The candidate should be comfortable troubleshooting issues even when CPU, memory and MySQL appear healthy. Key Responsibilities API Troubleshooting Investigate APIs getting stuck or remaining in the Pending state Identify reasons for slow API responses Trace API execution flow end-to-end Identify API bottlenecks Investigate API timeout issues Analyze API dependencies Troubleshoot API chaining issues Infrastructure Troubleshooting Analyze Azure infrastructure Investigate networking issues Review load balancing configurations Analyze VM performance Investigate server bottlenecks Server Administration Troubleshoot Ubuntu servers Analyze server health Investigate hanging processes Monitor resource utilization Analyze network connections Apache & PHP-FPM Analyze Apache worker utilization Troubleshoot PHP-FPM worker issues Configure and analyze slow logs Optimize server performance 2. Database Analysis Investigate MySQL connection issues Analyze database bottlenecks Identify slow queries Analyze database locking Review database connection management Redis Analysis Investigate Redis locks Analyze session handling Review queue processing Troubleshoot concurrency issues Monitoring & Observability Implement monitoring solutions Configure alerting mechanisms Implement request tracing Build diagnostic dashboards Improve logging mechanisms Required Skills Cloud & Infrastructure Microsoft Azure Azure Virtual Machines Azure Networking Azure Load Balancer Azure Monitor Azure Application Insights Linux Administration Ubuntu System troubleshooting Process analysis Networking analysis System performance tuning Required Linux Tools 3 lsof ss netstat journalctl systemctl Web Server Apache 2.4 Apache server-status Apache MPM Reverse proxy troubleshooting Backend Technologies PHP PHP-FPM CodeIgniter Node.js Databases MySQL AWS RDS Connection pooling Query optimization Cache & Queue Systems Redis Session management Lock management Queue troubleshooting Monitoring Tools Azure Monitor Application Insights Log Analytics Candidate Must Be Able To Answer These Questions Why is an API getting stuck even though CPU usage is low? Why is an API showing Pending status in the browser? How do we identify where an API is stuck? How do we determine whether the issue is Azure, Apache, PHP, Redis, MySQL or an external API? How do we identify session locking issues? How do we investigate database connection bottlenecks? How do we trace an API from browser to database? Why do subsequent APIs get delayed because of one API? How do we implement proper monitoring to prevent these issues? 4. Expected Deliverables The selected candidate should: Identify the root cause of API delays and pending requests. Trace requests from Browser → Server → Application → Database → External Services. Implement permanent fixes. Add monitoring and observability. Configure alerts and diagnostics. Improve application stability and performance. Provide documentation and recommendations. Ideal Candidate 7+ years of DevOps experience Strong Azure knowledge Strong Linux troubleshooting skills Experience with Apache, PHP-FPM and MySQL Experience troubleshooting production systems Experience in diagnosing API latency and hanging requests Strong root cause analysis skills Ability to independently investigate complex issues