Platform Engineer - Secret/Top Secret

Defense Unicorns

6d•$123,250 - $201,250•Remote

About The Position

Defense Unicorns is seeking talented and versatile Platform Engineers to join a team of dedicated unicorns advancing freedom and independence globally. In this role, you will help build and sustain a self-managed production environment — serving as the crucial link between application developers and the platform that supports them — while contributing to the growth of Defense Unicorns' capabilities and open source products. Our teams work across varied technical baselines depending on engagement, with a focus on the Platform layer. To deliver for our Mission Heroes, we also work across IaC automation, security hardening, and implementation. Depending on your level, you'll either be executing with excellence on that platform or helping shape its long-term direction.

Requirements

3+ years of experience operating production cloud-native systems within the Kubernetes ecosystem
Proficiency in IaC, particularly Terraform or OpenTofu
Experience with automation in Go, Python, Bash, or similar languages
Experience with CI/CD methodologies and systems such as GitLab Runners or GitHub Actions
Experience designing, deploying, and maintaining cloud infrastructure in AWS, Azure, or GCP environments
Experience building and operating observability platforms, particularly those built on OpenSearch/ELK, Prometheus, Loki, and Grafana
Understanding of NIST 800-171/800-53 and FedRAMP requirements
Experience in an on-call capacity for platform reliability; ability to monitor, improve, and restore operations within a DevSecOps team
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work both independently and collaboratively
Active DoD Security Clearance (Secret minimum, Top Secret preferred)
CompTIA Security+, comparable certification, or ability to obtain within 3 months of hire
Demonstrated ability to solve highly technical problems spanning multiple knowledge domains
Expert-level knowledge in 2–3 key technologies such as Kubernetes (operations, customization, integrations, troubleshooting, operators, webhooks, security), CI/CD, Go, or others
Deep familiarity with Linux/Unix operating systems and systems administration at scale
Proficiency with security hardening automation (STIGs, FIPS, CIS Benchmarks)
Experience architecting and implementing platforms across an array of IaaS providers
Experience working with customers or stakeholders to define a technical roadmap aligned to mission objectives
DoD 8570 IAT II certification (or ability to obtain)

Nice To Haves

Fluency in authentication workflows and constructs such as SAML, OIDC, OAuth, JWTs, and zero-trust identity patterns
Understanding of policy-as-code engines such as Kyverno, or OPA
Experience with software supply chain tooling including SBOM, Sigstore, and SLSA
Experience with or understanding of UDS/Zarf and its applications
Experience with DoD platform tooling such as PlatformOne (Big Bang, Iron Bank, Party Bus)
Experience in air-gapped environments
Experience building, testing, and exercising Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity Plans
Experience on a production Authority to Operate (ATO'd) system, including Big Bang, Iron Bank, and/or C-ATO processes
A passion for continuous improvement through retrospectives, post-incident reviews, and iterating to better ways of working

Responsibilities

Operate and maintain Production UDS Cloud Environments (Kubernetes and the UDS baseline of tools we deliver to Mission Heroes/Customers), supporting teams operating within that environment
Develop and maintain a secure, scalable, and observable environment based on Infrastructure-as-Code, leveraging Terraform/OpenTofu across various Kubernetes distributions (EKS, RKE2, and others)
Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines supporting the full software development lifecycle — compiling, scanning, containerizing, testing, linting, deploying, monitoring, and releasing
Leverage a diverse set of cloud and on-prem IaaS providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, vSphere, Proxmox, LXD) to build robust, scalable systems for cloud, on-prem, and hybrid architectures
Design and implement observability tooling — particularly stacks built on Prometheus, Loki, and Grafana — to help teams diagnose and resolve production-impacting incidents
Participate in on-call rotation to address production-impacting incidents (business hours only for now)
Identify and articulate gaps in existing processes, contributing insights to the product backlog
Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Work within an Agile framework in a remote environment
Solve highly technical problems spanning 2–3 knowledge domains and contribute expertise across Defense Unicorns' open source projects and product repositories
Demonstrate expert knowledge in 2–3 key technologies (CI/CD pipelines, Kubernetes, Go, or others) and serve as a technical resource for the broader team
Bring deep Linux/Unix systems administration skills: automate the process of securing, configuring, deploying, and distributing machines to support services including DHCP, DNS, NTP, PXE, IPSec, and others
Lead security hardening automation efforts (STIGs, FIPS, CIS Benchmarks) across the platform
Work with Mission Heroes to define a technical roadmap aligned to mission objectives
Envision and articulate the long-term vision for our products, contributing to strategic planning that aligns technological advancement with mission goals