Senior Elastic Engineer

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking an experienced Senior Elastic Engineer to support a high-visibility federal modernization effort focused on migrating enterprise security logging and observability platforms from Splunk to Elastic. This position will support mission-critical infrastructure at Scott Air Force Base, IL, where the selected engineer will lead Elastic architecture, Kubernetes deployments, and custom data ingestion solutions within a secure DoD environment. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise with the Elastic Stack, Kubernetes/ECK deployments, and designing scalable, production-grade logging and security platforms.

SECRET CLEARANCE REQUIRED

Key Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain enterprise Elastic Stack environments supporting security logging, search, and observability.
• Lead migration efforts from Splunk to Elastic while ensuring minimal operational disruption.
• Build and implement custom data ingestion pipelines for enterprise security and operational data.
• Configure and manage Index Lifecycle Management (ILM) policies and data retention strategies.
• Deploy and administer Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) environments using Kubernetes operators.
• Optimize Elastic cluster performance, scalability, reliability, and availability across production environments.
• Troubleshoot complex Elastic infrastructure, Kubernetes, and distributed system issues.
• Support security-focused logging, SIEM integrations, and enterprise observability initiatives.
• Develop automation and operational best practices for Elastic platform administration.
• Maintain technical documentation, deployment standards, and operational procedures.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience supporting Elastic engineering, platform engineering, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or infrastructure engineering.
• Strong hands-on experience designing and administering enterprise Elastic Stack environments.
• Experience building custom data ingestion pipelines and managing large-scale logging platforms.
• Advanced Kubernetes experience with Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) deployments preferred.
• Experience troubleshooting complex Elastic architectures and distributed environments.
• Ability to work onsite at Scott Air Force Base, IL.
• Active Secret Clearance required (Interim Secret or Interim Top Secret may be considered).

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience leading Splunk-to-Elastic migration projects.
• Experience supporting SIEM, security logging, and enterprise observability platforms.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes operators and containerized infrastructure.
• Experience supporting DoD, federal, or classified environments.
• Elastic certifications (Engineer, Security, or Observability).

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to independently design and implement complex Elastic solutions.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across engineering and government stakeholders.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently while supporting a highly technical team.

Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation: $190,000-$230,000 annually.
• Fully funded, long-term federal engagement supporting a major enterprise modernization initiative.
• Opportunity to lead a high-impact Splunk-to-Elastic migration for a mission-critical DoD customer.
• Relocation assistance available (approximately $5,000+)

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