Job Description

• Role: Senior Performance Engineer (Title listed in portal as DevOps Engineer 2)
• Location: Heerlen, Netherlands (Hybrid: 2 days/week on-site; maximum travel distance within 1 hour of Heerlen)
• Hours per Week: 38 hours (32 hours per week negotiable)
• Required Experience: Minimum 6 years of experience in a similar role
• Required Education: Completed HBO or WO degree in IT or a related field
• Employment Type: Open to Freelance / ZZP and Contract/Secondment
• Travel Required: 25% to 50%

Role Objective

This role is responsible for ensuring the speed, stability, scalability, and efficiency of digital applications and systems across a complex enterprise IT landscape. Working within an Agile and DevOps environment, the Senior Performance Engineer designs and executes performance testing strategies, analyzes deep technical metrics, identifies bottlenecks, and acts as an expert consultant to product owners, architects, and DevOps teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Performance Testing & Strategy: Design, execute, and analyze various performance test types (including load, stress, and endurance testing), developing and maintaining automated test scripts.
• Root Cause Analysis: Analyze test data and system metrics to identify underlying performance bottlenecks, trends, and architectural constraints, translating technical findings into concrete improvement strategies.
• Consultancy & Advisory: Guide product teams on performance best practices, evaluate software architecture from a performance standpoint, and advise on optimization paths.
• DevOps Integration: Introduce, implement, and standardise modern performance testing tools, monitoring frameworks, and methodologies into existing CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with developers, architects, and product owners across multiple value streams to drive continuous quality improvements.
• Knowledge Leadership: Lead knowledge-sharing initiatives, mentor team members, and serve as the organization's central point of contact for complex performance engineering queries.

Candidate Qualifications & Requirements

• Education & Experience: Bachelor's (HBO) or Master's (WO) degree in Information Technology or a related field, with at least 6 years of relevant experience in testing and performance engineering.
• Technical Expertise:
  • Proven experience diagnosing and resolving performance bottlenecks in complex, multi-tiered systems.
  • Strong working knowledge of programming languages, performance testing tools, and system monitoring platforms.
  • Hands-on experience within Agile and DevOps frameworks across web and mobile applications.
• Language Skills: Excellent verbal and written proficiency in both Dutch and English.
• Consultative & Analytical Mindset: Strong analytical capability to interpret complex data streams, alongside the soft skills required to present technical advice clearly to diverse stakeholders (developers, management, project leads).
• Work Location & Mobility: Ability to commute to the office in Heerlen 2 days per week (must reside within 1 hour travel time of Heerlen).