CONTRACT - Sr Engineer, Kubernetes (NTD)

Nintendo•Redmond, WA

1d•$70 - $126•Onsite

About The Position

As a Senior Software Engineer, Kubernetes, you will be a key member of our internal platform team. This role is a unique blend of software development and DevOps principles, focusing on standardizing, stabilizing, and scaling our Kubernetes infrastructure. You will be responsible for both day-to-day operations and strategic long-term projects that will shape our platform's future.

Requirements

Senior-level candidate with a software engineering background and hands-on experience with managing production Kubernetes environments.
7+ years of professional experience in software development, with at least 5 years of hands-on experience building and managing production-level Kubernetes infrastructure.
Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture, including core concepts like Pods, Deployments, Services, RBAC and the API server.
Experience with using and managing Kubernetes clusters hosted on on-premise hardware and in cloud environments such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure
Experience provisioning and managing infrastructure with tools like Terraform, specifically for Kubernetes clusters.
Proficiency with Helm (especially advanced usage) or Kustomize.
Experience with managing Kubernetes application & service deployment with tools such as ArgoCD, FluxCD, Spinnaker, Kargo, GitLab CI/CD, or GitHub Actions.
Expertise with Docker and other container runtimes like containerd.
Hands-on production experience with Cilium (or closely transferable CNIs such as Calico or Canal, with demonstrated ability to ramp on Cilium/eBPF). Working knowledge of Linux networking fundamentals (iptables/nftables, conntrack, MTU, BGP) and Kubernetes traffic paths (kube-proxy or eBPF replacement, CoreDNS, ingress controllers, Gateway API).
Production experience with at least one service mesh — Istio (sidecar and/or ambient) preferred, Linkerd or Cilium Service Mesh acceptable — including mTLS, traffic policy, and Envoy-level troubleshooting (listeners, clusters, xDS, access logs).
Experience with programming languages such as Go, Python, or C#.
Knowledge of Linux & Windows systems, as well as scripting functionality for both
Applicants must be legally eligible to work in the United States to be considered. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with Terraform, kubeadm, and kubespray for cluster provisioning and management preferred.

Responsibilities

Document and Standardize: Audit our existing infrastructure and document our current setup, including its architecture, processes, and configurations. Your goal is to establish a clear and reproducible foundation.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Build out robust deployment scripts and IaC templates to enable the full reproduction of our Kubernetes infrastructure. You will leverage tools like Terraform to provision and manage our clusters, ensuring consistency and reliability.
Platform Strategy: Investigate and propose solutions for a hybrid cloud strategy, evaluating the technical and business merits of different approaches.
Implement Deployment Automation: Design and implement standardized, automated deployments using GitOps principles. This includes setting up and managing tools such as ArgoCD, Flux CD, Spinnaker, or Kargo to ensure a single source of truth for all deployments.
Tooling & CI/CD: Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines to streamline developer workflows. You'll help manage application deployments using package or configuration managers like Helm or Kustomize.
Cluster Management: Have hands-on experience with Kubernetes cluster management, which require familiarity with tools like kubeadm and kubectl.
On-Premise & Cloud Environments: Have knowledge & experience working with Kubernetes clusters hosted on on-premise and in cloud environments, along with the unique considerations that come with both.
Networking & Service Mesh: Own the design, tuning, and troubleshooting of cluster networking end-to-end — including the CNI dataplane (Cilium), ingress/Gateway API, Envoy configuration, and service mesh. Diagnose and resolve complex throughput, latency, and connectivity issues spanning worker nodes, pod networking, and east-west traffic.
Collaboration & Mentorship: Work closely with peer groups and other teams, sharing your expertise and helping to build a deeper understanding of Kubernetes best practices across the organization.