Principal Application Support Engineer

Principal Application Support Engineer

Salary

$139,552.19 - $176,890.48 Annually

Location

Chinook Building 401 5th Avenue Seattle, WA

Job Type

Career Service (Exec)

Job Number

2026-27913

Department

KCIT - Information Technology

Division

Engineering Division

Opening Date

09/01/2026

Closing Date

9/15/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

FLSA

Exempt

Bargaining Unit

C19 : PROTEC17-Information Tech

Full- or Part-Time

Full Time

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

Summary

This position is only open to Internal King County employees. Only current King County employees will be considered.

The King County Information Technology (KCIT) Custom and Cloud Applications Team is hiring a Principal Application Support Engineer to lead support activities for applications spanning various business domains of King County, particularly in Law-Safety-Justice, E-commerce and Accessor & Treasury applications. This specialist and technical lead position will focus on onboarding new systems through continuous integration & deployment pipelines, performing upgrades, building and monitoring system alerts and dashboards, resolving production issues, and managing application lifecycles both on-premises and cloud hosting environments mainly in Azure.

The successful candidate will apply software development and data management skills to support coding, scripting, system monitoring, process improvement, application security, and configuration management. They will troubleshoot complex issues across application and platform layers while collaborating closely with KCIT divisions managing Information & Cyber security, Network, Cloud infrastructure, Database & Operating Systems, Servers, Software Engineering, and Project Management teams. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in production incident management, application troubleshooting, observability, and support operations, with a learning mindset for improving the reliability and operational maturity of critical applications.

About King County Department of Information Technology (KCIT)

King County is committed to being the best-run government in the nation, and King County Information Technology (KCIT) is helping lead that transformation. KCIT harnesses the power of technology to modernize operations, advance digital equity and social justice, and deliver innovative solutions that engage, empower, and serve our residents, businesses, and community partners.

Recognized by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for excellence in vision, strategy, innovation, and collaboration, KCIT is focused on delivering smart, secure, and customer-centered technology services that strengthen county operations and support thriving, resilient communities. As the technology business partner to all 18 County departments, KCIT provides the foundational systems and services that power many of the region's most essential functions. We work side-by-side with our partners to design and deliver technology solutions that enhance customer experience and advance King County's mission. Learn more about KCIT at: http://kingcounty.gov/depts/it.aspx.

This recruitment may be used to fill additional vacancies that may occur.

Job Duties

• Support complex and high-impact IT solutions to serve business partners.
• Support applications and other IT solutions hosted on premises and in the Cloud, especially in modern hosting platforms and keep up with emerging technologies.
• Troubleshoot, configure and implement applications and related components.
• Operate and maintain applications in the teams support portfolio, including relevant data and IT processes.
• Oversee architectural designs as a technical lead role for new IT solutions to support evolving business needs.
• Lead day-to-day application issue resolutions, manage communications and provide after-hours application support.
• Act as the lead contact point for system support issues, explain business processes, resolve system issues, work with internal and external system users.

Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills

• Minimum of six (6) years of experience in supporting business software systems and applications.
• Experience in Azure application support, Kubernetes operations, container platforms, observability, performance troubleshooting, incident management and root cause analysis.
• Proficiency in coding environments tools such as Visual Studio, VS Code, Azure Dev Ops, SSMS, IIS.
• Proficiency in coding languages such as C#, JavaScript, PowerShell, SQL and experience with continuous integration and deployment process.
• Experience with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, operational dashboards, telemetry strategy and alert tuning.
• Experience with Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions, automation and scripting experience using PowerShell or Bash.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes security, RBAC and policy controls.
• Familiarity with Azure platform services, including Virtual Networks, Load Balancers, Application Gateway, Key Vault, Storage Accounts, Azure AD / Entra ID, identity and access patterns.
• Experience to support and troubleshoot deployment and release issues in Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions.
• Experience working closely with development, DevOps, infrastructure, database, and security teams to oversee system enhancements & upgrades, resolve issues and improve supportability & reliability, reduce recurring incidents, and build operational maturity.
• Experience with change management processes to facilitate complex system changes; identify, analyze, and prioritize system change requests; assess potential impacts to applications from changes implemented by other IT teams. Demonstrated change management competencies, collaborative leadership skills and personal accountability.
• Proficiency in Microsoft troubleshooting application issues involving servers, Azure, networking, information security; track, resolve, and document system problems and issues requiring a broad understanding of complex systems.
• Familiarity with troubleshooting Kubernetes issues involving pods, deployments, services, ingress, config maps, secrets, node pools, scaling and cluster health.
• Demonstrated competence with MS Windows operating systems and MS Office products (Teams, Excel, Word, Outlook, Visio).
• Ability to lead teams through all phases of project delivery lifecycle, and to work effectively with minimal supervision.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including presentation to non-technical audiences.
• High degree of general IT support maturity and demonstrated confidentiality and customer service orientation.
• Demonstrated technical writing skills to create end-user documentation including help files, diagnostics approach and results, gap analyses, system overview diagrams and flowcharts.
• Ability to work closely with key stakeholders to develop and maintain technical documentation, prepare training materials, and conduct training sessions for technical staff.

Desirable

• Six (6) years of work experience in software development support, preferably related to cloud hosting environments.
• Certification or equivalent experience in systems engineering.
• Experience in managing servers, networks and cloud resources.
• Azure / Kubernetes certifications or equivalent experience

Supplemental Information

Hybrid Work: KCIT works in a hybrid model, with days in the office as well as telecommuting. The ratio of remote to onsite work will be dependent on business needs and is subject to change. The primary onsite location is the Chinook Building, 401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104.

Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will join an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work as we transition to the departments hybrid environment. Employees will be provided with a County-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours.

Work Schedule: The normal workweek for this position is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Alternative schedules may be considered by your manager. This position will participate on the After-Hours Support (AHS) team (24x7, 7-day rotation Monday-Sunday).

FLSA Status: This position is FLSA Exempt and is not eligible for overtime pay.

Classification: IT Production Engineer-Principal (Job code: 741701)

Union: This position is represented by Protec17: Information Technology.

Who May Apply: This recruitment is open to internal King County employees. We value diversity, diverse perspectives and life experience and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nations best places to live, work and play.

Application Process

Applicants must complete the online application to include:

• Employment history going back at least seven years if possible (or more to include all relevant experience).
• A resume including all relevant experience.
• A cover letter detailing how your experience and qualifications make you a fit for this position.

If you are interested in pursuing this position and supporting King County's vision for unified, equitable, and high-performing government, please follow the application instructions carefully. Provide us with your work history as applicable, ensuring that you provide details that highlight your ability to fulfill the requirements for this position.

If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, or you would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process, please contact Angelia Remolana at aremolana@kingcounty.gov

King Countys Vision, Mission, and ACTIVATE Values unite us.

King County serves residents with a relentless sense of urgency, delivering on commitments with transparency and accountability. We are action-oriented, creative problem solvers who collaborate across roles, engage directly with communities, and challenge the status quo to achieve meaningful impact. As a unified team, we uphold high ethical and stewardship standards, embrace change, stay curious, and continuously improve. Across all interactions, we listen first, act quickly, and stay aligned as a team to earn and sustain public trust. Learn more about our Vision, Mission, and ACTIVATE Values here and visit our Why work at King County page here.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on sex, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age except by minimum age and retirement provisions, pregnancy, status as a family caregiver, parental status, marital status, military status or status as a veteran who was honorably discharged or who was discharged solely as a result of the persons sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, citizenship or immigration status, genetic information, or other protected class. However, to the extent that distinction or differential treatment on the basis of citizenship or immigration status is authorized by either federal or state law, regulation, or government contract, it is not an unfair practice.

Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

King County offers a highly-competitive compensation and benefits package designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and support our employees health and well-being. Eligible positions receive the following benefits and have access to the following programs:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage options: King County provides eligible employees with options, so they can decide what's best for themselves and their eligible dependents
• Life and disability insurance: employees are provided basic coverage and given the opportunity to purchase additional insurance for both the employee and eligible dependents
• Retirement: eligible King County employees may participate in a pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems and a 457(b) deferred-compensation plan
• Transportation program and ORCA transit pass
• 12 paid holidays each year plus two personal holidays
• Generous vacation and paid sick leave
• Paid parental, family and medical, and volunteer leaves
• Flexible Spending Account
• Wellness programs
• Onsite activity centers
• Employee Giving Program
• Employee assistance programs
• Flexible schedules and telecommuting options, depending on position
• Training and career development programs

For additional information about employee benefits, visit our Benefits, Payroll, and Retirement Page.

This is a general description of the benefits offered to eligible King County employees, and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. If any information on this document conflicts with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the CBA prevails.

NOTE: Benefits for Term Limited Temporary (TLT) or Short Term Temporary (STT) positions, including leave eligibility and/or participation in the pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, will vary based upon the terms and details of the position. Short Term Temporary positions are not eligible for an ORCA transit pass.

For inquiries about the specifics of this position, please contact the recruiter identified on this job posting.

01

The person hired for this position must successfully pass a Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) background check. Are you willing to undergo a background investigation prior to an offer of employment? This will include reference checks with previous employers, and a detailed criminal background check including fingerprinting.

• Yes
• No

02

Are you authorized to work in the United States?

• Yes
• No

03

Does your authorization require sponsorship now or in the future from an employer or other source? (This does not preclude you from being considered for this position.)

• Yes
• No

04

How many years of increasingly responsible experience do you have in supporting business software systems and applications?

• None, but willing to learn
• One year but less than two years
• Two years but less than three years
• Three years but less than four years
• Four years but less than five years
• Five years but less than six years
• Six or more years

05

Please describe in detail your increasingly responsible professional experience in supporting business support systems and applications and how you meet the minimum qualification of at least 6 years in this area. Please include what employer you gained that experience at and include dates if applicable.

06

Are you applying to this position as an eligible Priority Placement Program Participant who is a current or previous King County Employee impacted by layoff? AND Is this position the same or lower percentage of full-time when compared to the position held at the point of the notification of layoff? AND Do you possess the skills and abilities to qualify for this position?

• Yes, I was given a layoff notice from my Career Service role at King County and I am within two years of the effective date of my layoff. Additionally, the position I was laid off from was the same or a higher percentage of FT status when compared to this one.
• No.

07

If you answered yes to the question above and you are applying for this position as a Priority Placement Participant, to be considered, you must provide the following three pieces of information in the space provided: 1. The title you held when you received your layoff notice 2. The department you worked in 3. The effective date of your layoff

Required Question

Employer King County

Address King Street Center

201 South Jackson Street

Seattle, Washington, 98104

Phone 206-477-3404

Website http://www.kingcounty.gov/