Employment Type: 1-Year Contract (With possibility of extension or conversion based on performance and organizational needs)
About the Organization
A nationally recognized research institution where your work directly supports groundbreaking scientific programs. We build the infrastructure behind some of the most impactful research in the country.
About the Role
We are looking for a skilled Kubernetes Platform Engineer to join our Platform Engineering team. In this hands-on individual contributor role, you will be at the heart of our infrastructure, managing Kubernetes clusters, implementing cutting-edge networking solutions, and empowering development teams to ship with confidence. If you thrive in technical environments and love solving complex platform challenges, we want to hear from you.
What You’ll Do
Cluster Operations & Administration
Manage the full lifecycle of Kubernetes clusters (on-premises K3s/RKE2, GKE, and EKS), including upgrades, security patching, scaling, and capacity planning
Troubleshoot cluster-level issues including control plane problems, node failures, and resource constraints
Implement and maintain cluster security hardening based on CIS benchmarks and organizational security policies
Monitor cluster performance and optimize resource utilization across multi-tenant workloads
Manage etcd cluster health, backup procedures, and disaster recovery
Networking & Cilium CNI
Implement, configure, and maintain Cilium CNI across on-premises and cloud Kubernetes environments
Design and enforce network policies to achieve secure multi-tenant isolation
Troubleshoot complex pod networking issues including DNS resolution, service discovery, and connectivity
Configure and maintain BGP peering with physical network infrastructure for on-premises integration
Collaborate with network engineering on firewall rules, VLANs, IPv6 networking, and architecture
Developer Platform & Enablement
Contribute to building a next-generation internal developer platform focused on security and development efficiency
Assist development teams with deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting Kubernetes workloads
Review application deployment manifests and provide guidance on best practices
Develop and maintain platform documentation, runbooks, and self-service guides
Engage with development teams to understand platform needs and evolving requirements
Required Qualifications
8+ years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; 6 years with a Master’s; or equivalent experience
Demonstrated experience administering Kubernetes on on-premises infrastructure (K3s, RKE2, or similar)
Experience with cloud-managed Kubernetes (GKE and/or EKS)
Strong understanding of Linux networking fundamentals: iptables/nftables, routing, DNS, TCP/IP
Experience with GitOps methodologies and tools such as ArgoCD or Flux
Proficiency in scripting and automation: Bash, Python, Go
Cilium CNI or equivalent production networking experience
Understanding of Kubernetes security best practices including Pod Security Standards, RBAC, and secrets management
GCP and/or AWS cloud platform experience
Strong collaboration and communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
Go programming experience for operator maintenance and platform tooling development