Kubernetes / Cloud Architect

SEACORP•Middletown, RI

4d•Onsite

About The Position

SEACORP is seeking a Kubernetes / Cloud Architect to lead the design, standardization, and evolution of an enterprise Kubernetes-based Platform as a Service (PaaS) in support of its SWFTS program. The architect will define the target-state platform architecture, patterns, and operational standards for a resilient, secure, scalable, and highly automated platform that supports consistent workload deployment across enterprise environments. The role spans container runtime, orchestration, networking, storage, observability, service mesh, high availability, security, and platform automation. The architect will guide implementation teams, align technical direction with business and operational goals, and help mature platform engineering, reliability engineering, and automation practices. The position is located in Middletown, Rhode Island, requires U.S. citizenship, and requires a Secret clearance. Travel is infrequent (fewer than three trips annually).

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field.
At least 7 years of experience in infrastructure architecture, cloud architecture, platform engineering, or systems engineering.
At least 3 years of experience designing and operating enterprise Kubernetes platforms in production.
Knowledge of RKE2, Kubernetes, Git, and Linux.
Deep hands-on expertise in Kubernetes architecture, including control-plane components, worker-node design, scheduling, networking, storage, and security.
Experience with enterprise Kubernetes distributions such as RKE2 or similar production-grade platforms.
Experience with container runtimes such as CRI-O and understanding of container lifecycle and node-level operations.
Strong experience with Kubernetes networking technologies, including Canal, Flannel, Calico, Multus, load balancing, and virtual IP approaches such as KubeVIP.
Strong experience architecting persistent storage for Kubernetes, including Ceph.
Experience implementing observability stacks using Prometheus, Grafana, and Fluentd or comparable tools.
Experience designing and implementing service mesh capabilities using Istio or similar technologies.
Strong experience with infrastructure and platform automation using Helm, Ansible, Kustomize, and Kubernetes manifests.
Strong understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, backup, scaling, and reliability engineering principles.
Experience with enterprise security practices, including RBAC, network policies, secrets handling, mTLS, image security, and policy enforcement.
Ability to define and execute production architectures, technical standards, and documented operating models.
Proven ability to work across infrastructure, security, networking, and application teams in complex enterprise environments.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, collaborate with others, handle independent tasking, and learn new technologies quickly.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must hold a Secret clearance.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of Go, YAML, JSON, and CEL.
Knowledge of Kubernetes security technologies and practices such as Vault, OPA, Falco, and mTLS.
Knowledge of resource management tools and approaches such as HPA, VPA, Cluster Autoscaler, and KEDA.
Knowledge of CI/CD pipeline tools and practices, including GitOps, pipelines, and release management.
Master’s degree in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, Cloud Computing, or a related discipline.
Experience with Team Submarine, SWFTS, US Navy program offices, or the TI/APB cycle.
Experience with private cloud platform design.
Experience with GitOps platforms such as Argo CD or Flux.
Experience with governance frameworks such as OPA or Kyverno.
Familiarity with ingress controllers, API gateways, and DNS automation.
Experience with secrets platforms such as HashiCorp Vault, external secrets operators, or cloud-native key management systems.
Experience with platform multi-tenancy models and internal developer platforms.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for containerized application delivery.
Experience with OS hardening, immutable infrastructure, and secure node baseline design.
Experience supporting regulated or security-sensitive environments.
Recognized expertise building and scaling enterprise Kubernetes-based PaaS environments for mission-critical workloads.
Experience delivering software and systems for Team Submarine or SWFTS programs, including Submarine platform tactical systems.
Deep production-level experience across RKE2, CRI-O, Istio, Prometheus, Grafana, Fluentd, Ceph, DRBD, Calico, Multus, KubeVIP, Helm, Ansible, and Kustomize.
Demonstrated success architecting highly available and secure private-cloud or hybrid-cloud platforms at enterprise scale.
Experience designing architectures for highly regulated, air-gapped, or disconnected environments.
Proven ability to make architectural tradeoffs across networking, storage, reliability, operability, and developer experience.
Experience leading large-scale modernization from VM-centric infrastructure to cloud-native platforms.
Ability to align platform architecture decisions with long-term enterprise strategy, operational excellence, and business outcomes.

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture and technical strategy for an enterprise Kubernetes-based PaaS supporting multiple teams and environments.
Define and document reference architectures for platform components, including RKE2, CRI-O, Istio, Prometheus, Grafana, Fluentd, Canal, Multus, Flannel, Calico, KubeVIP, DRBD, Ceph, Helm, Ansible, Kustomize, and Kubernetes manifests.
Design highly available, resilient, and secure Kubernetes clusters for production workloads.
Establish standards for cluster provisioning, node lifecycle management, upgrades, patching, backups, and disaster recovery.
Architect platform networking patterns, including ingress and egress, IP management, multi-homing, overlay networking, policy enforcement, and network segmentation.
Design persistent storage patterns for stateful workloads using Ceph, DRBD, and Kubernetes storage abstractions.
Define service mesh architecture and workload communication standards using Istio, including traffic management, mutual TLS, observability, and policy enforcement.
Establish observability standards for metrics, dashboards, logging, alerting, and operational insights using Prometheus, Grafana, and Fluentd.
Design secure platform patterns for identity, secrets management, policy controls, workload isolation, admission controls, and supply chain security.
Define GitOps and configuration management approaches using Helm, Kustomize, Ansible, and declarative manifests.
Develop multi-cluster and multi-environment strategies for development, test, staging, and production.
Design tenancy, namespace, RBAC, quota, and self-service capabilities.
Produce architecture diagrams, standards, runbooks, and decision records.
Review platform and application designs for compliance with architecture principles, operational standards, and security requirements.
Mentor platform engineers and help mature platform engineering practices, reliability engineering, and automation discipline.

Benefits

Choice of two medical insurance programs through Blue Cross & Blue Shield.
Dental insurance through Delta Dental.
Vision benefit providing discounts and allowances for prescription glasses and contact lenses.
Qualified 401(k) retirement savings account with employer matching contributions up to 8% of eligible compensation.
Employer-paid life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurance equal to annual salary.
Supplemental insurance coverage available for employees and qualified family members, including short-term and long-term disability insurance.
Ten paid holidays per year, including two floating holidays.
Paid Time Off (PTO) program.
Tuition reimbursement.
Referral bonuses.