Kubernetes Site Reliability Engineer (mid-level)

The Aerospace Corporation • El Segundo, CA

23d • Onsite

About The Position

The Aerospace Corporation’s Digital Innovation Division supports engineering teams through Mission IT engineering and support services. Mission IT Operations is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to develop and maintain on-premises and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters that form the core of a Platform as a Service (PaaS). These specialized computing environments support scientists and engineers working on space-related programs, including telemetry analysis, modeling and simulation, and AI large language model training and inference.

As a member of a multidisciplinary platform and infrastructure team, you will work with senior engineers and Kubernetes technical leads to support production Kubernetes and cloud environments. The position requires shared ownership of platform services, strong Linux and automation skills, and collaboration to resolve full-stack engineering problems. You will also provide after-hours troubleshooting support, including for rocket launch events. The role is full-time and 100% onsite in El Segundo, California, or Chantilly, Virginia. A TS/SCI security clearance and polygraph are required; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.

The annual grade-based salary range is $110,400 to $165,500. Individual compensation depends on factors including education, experience, knowledge, and skills.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience developing and delivering complex, large-scale distributed software systems solutions and technical products.
• At least 3 years supporting a highly available enterprise environment.
• At least 2 years of hands-on experience managing or administering existing Kubernetes environments.
• Shared ownership and engineering responsibility for production on-premises Kubernetes services and cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Ability to independently identify engineering problems and collaborate with technical leads to resolve full-stack issues.
• Working knowledge of Linux systems administration and configuration in an enterprise environment.
• Understanding of networking and storage fundamentals.
• Experience automating repetitive tasks with scripting or DevOps tools.
• Ability to obtain a TS/SCI security clearance and polygraph; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Current and active U.S. Government TS/SCI security clearance and polygraph.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or another IT-related field.
• Master’s degree or PhD in a STEM discipline, especially an IT-related discipline.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification.
• Experience managing Kubernetes clusters using Rancher.
• Experience deploying or supporting persistent container storage on Kubernetes, such as Portworx, Rook Ceph, OpenEBS, or Longhorn.
• Experience in Linux performance tuning and security hardening for U.S. Government environments.
• Experience with VMware or Harvester virtualization infrastructures.
• Experience developing automated provisioning and configuration management solutions using Infrastructure-as-Code and GitOps practices, such as ArgoCD, Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, or Packer, and scripting or programming languages such as Bash, Go, and Python.
• Experience with Agile and Scrum.

Responsibilities

• Develop and sustain Kubernetes-based PaaS services, including Coder workspaces, Kueue batch scheduling, Knative serverless, and Crossplane control planes.
• Frequently apply security patches across all layers of Kubernetes infrastructure while maintaining very high uptime.
• Contribute to ownership and engineering responsibility for production Kubernetes and cloud environments, including AWS, Azure, and GCP.
• Collaborate with Kubernetes technical leads to resolve full-stack engineering problems.
• Help ensure successful real-time analysis of telemetry data from space launch partners, including SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin.
• Provide after-hours support for Kubernetes infrastructure troubleshooting, including during rocket launch events.
• Support scientists and engineers running applications in Kubernetes.
• Use Linux systems knowledge to troubleshoot infrastructure.
• Evaluate and test new products and technologies.
• Use code to enhance and automate operations.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
• 401(k) plan with total company-paid benefits of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service, plus matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
• Relocation assistance.
• Professional growth and development programs.
• Education assistance programs.
• Inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level