Cloud Architect 5

Job Overview & Responsibilities

At ULA, the Cloud Architect 5 serves as the senior technical authority for Kubernetes platform engineering, multi‑enclave cloud operations, and mission‑critical workload integration. This role defines enterprise architecture standards, drives reliability and security across clusters, and mentors CloudOps engineers while partnering closely with mission program teams.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Govern and maintain Kubernetes clusters supporting engineering workloads, CI/CD environments, and CloudOps automation.
• Design and manage cluster topology including nodes, node groups, autoscaling rules, taints/tolerations, and workload affinity.
• Own cross‑cluster networking and service mesh architecture, including Ingress, load balancers, and CNI strategy.
• Define and enforce Kubernetes security posture: RBAC models, OPA/Gatekeeper policies, pod security standards, and secrets‑management approaches.
• Architect and manage storage strategies involving CSI drivers, EBS/EFS provisioning, persistent volumes, and backup/restore workflows.
• Drive observability practices using Prometheus, Grafana, and distributed tracing systems.
• Lead incident response and reliability engineering for EKS clusters, addressing node failures, scheduler issues, cluster upgrades, and workload migration.
• Coach CloudOps team members to strengthen cluster operations, readiness, automation, and troubleshooting capabilities.
• Integrate Kubernetes platforms with mission program workflows, toolchains, and specialized workloads.

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of 8 years of related work experience.

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of cloud engineering or infrastructure experience, including hands‑on production Kubernetes administration.
• Deep expertise with EKS or equivalent managed Kubernetes platforms.
• Strong proficiency in cloud networking, service mesh concepts, and core Kubernetes networking models.
• Demonstrated experience implementing security controls such as RBAC, OPA/Gatekeeper, pod security standards, and secrets‑management systems.
• Hands‑on experience with CSI drivers, persistent storage architectures, and backup/restore design.
• Proficiency with observability stacks including Prometheus, Grafana, and distributed tracing.
• Proven ability to lead incident response, diagnose complex cluster issues, and ensure reliability in mission‑critical environments.
• Strong communication skills and ability to coach and mentor junior and mid‑level engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating Kubernetes in multi‑enclave or regulated/governed environments.
• Deep knowledge of AWS cloud architecture including VPC design, IAM security, EKS internals, and cloud‑native networking.
• Familiarity with GitOps workflows, ArgoCD, Flux, or similar declarative deployment systems.
• Strong background in automation using Terraform, Helm, Ansible, or Python.
• Experience integrating Kubernetes systems with complex engineering toolchains or mission workloads.
• Prior experience leading reliability engineering, modernization efforts, or cloud platform governance.
• Contributions to CloudOps operating models, cluster standards, or enterprise governance frameworks.

Pay

• Salary range for ULA - Denver: $158,462.00 - $264,104.00
• Employees may be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus in addition to base pay.

Benefits

• 401(k) match plus an additional employer contribution.
• Discretionary annual incentive bonus for eligible employees.
• Generous paid time off.
• Flexible work environments.
• Most salaried ULA team members work a "9/80 schedule," meaning they enjoy every other Friday off.