Platform Engineer

Defense Unicorns

56d

About The Position

We are seeking a Platform Engineer to develop and maintain the organization’s platform. The role focuses on Kubernetes, system architecture, problem-solving, and guiding junior engineers. Teams work across different technical baselines and focus on the platform layer, infrastructure-as-code automation, security, and implementation. The Platform Engineer helps automate and build a runtime production environment and connects application teams—including custom development, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), and open-source software (OSS)—with that environment. The role advocates best practices and facilitates communication between application and platform teams. The position requires U.S. citizenship because the employer is a U.S. government contractor. An active Secret clearance is highly preferred; candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a clearance. Travel is expected at 10%–25%.

Requirements

Proven experience as a Platform Engineer or in a similar role, focused on system architecture and development.
Experience with cloud-native technologies such as Kubernetes, Google Cloud, and Docker.
Familiarity with continuous delivery, distributed architectures, systems, everything-as-code, containerization, and cloud services.
Proficiency in at least one programming language, such as Python, Go, or Ansible, and a basic understanding of shell scripting.
Proficiency with YAML.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently.
Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
Comfort debugging systems and reading and writing code.
Knowledge of DevSecOps/DevOps and CI/CD theory.
Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

Active Secret security clearance or higher.
Experience working on a team following an Agile framework in a remote environment.
Experience with security automation and familiarity with API security, container security, and cloud security.
Familiarity with architecture security design, monitoring, and performance instrumentation in a complex enterprise environment.
DoD 8570 IAT II certification.
Department of Defense experience, especially working on a production system with an Authority to Operate (ATO).

Responsibilities

Automate and build a runtime production environment.
Serve as the link between applications and the production environment, advocating best practices and facilitating communication between application and platform teams.
Validate solutions and implementations against outlined tasks and business requirements, maintaining platform integrity and efficiency.
Identify and solve business problems independently, including developing small components without explicit architecture diagrams.
Understand how medium-level tasks contribute to overall goals and collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate components into a cohesive platform.
Provide time and effort estimates for medium-sized tasks and assist with project planning and resource allocation.
Use familiarity with at least one programming language and understand when to use a programming language versus shell scripting.
Own the connection between application development teams and the production environment.
Adapt to additional responsibilities as organizational needs evolve.
Guide junior engineers.