Kubernetes Engineer

About the role

The Aerospace Corporation is seeking a skilled Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff IV/V) with expertise in Kubernetes, Linux, programming, and automation. In this role, you will be responsible for maintaining both on-premise and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters, providing essential support to our engineering team. As part of a multidisciplinary infrastructure team, you will manage multiple clusters used for technical analyses, including space launch telemetry analysis. Collaborating closely with rocket scientists and engineers, you will contribute to the development of innovative solutions to complex challenges within the space enterprise, supporting critical national space assets.

Responsibilities

• Manage Kubernetes for on-prem and in AWS production environments with end-to-end responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, performance tuning, capacity planning & backups/DR.
• Frequent full security patching of all layers of Kubernetes infrastructure while maintaining very high uptime.
• Ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services.
• Identify and resolve full Kubernetes stack engineering problems independently.
• Ensure successful real-time analysis of telemetry data from space launch partners, such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Blue Origin.
• Provide after-hours support for Kubernetes infrastructure troubleshooting during launch events.
• Support scientists and engineers running workloads and apps in Kubernetes.
• Evaluate and test new products and technologies.
• Use code to enhance and automate operations.

Requirements

• Minimum Requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff IV): Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, STEM, or IT or equivalent experience is required. A minimum of (5) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience supporting a high availability enterprise environment is required. A minimum of (2) years hands-on experience managing existing Kubernetes environments, with responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, and backups is required. Full ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services. Be able to identify and resolve engineering problems independently. Experience in Linux systems administration, including configuration, for an enterprise environment. Strong understanding of networking fundamentals. Experience automating repetitive tasks with scripting or DevOps tools.
• Minimum Requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff V): A minimum of (7) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience in AWS, Linux, and IaC is required. Experience architecting and deploying secure AWS and/or Kubernetes environments from scratch is needed. Experience performance tuning and capacity planning AWS and/or Kubernetes environments is required.

Qualifications

• Minimum Requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff IV): Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, STEM, or IT or equivalent experience is required. A minimum of (5) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience supporting a high availability enterprise environment is required. A minimum of (2) years hands-on experience managing existing Kubernetes environments, with responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, and backups is required. Full ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services. Be able to identify and resolve engineering problems independently. Experience in Linux systems administration, including configuration, for an enterprise environment. Strong understanding of networking fundamentals. Experience automating repetitive tasks with scripting or DevOps tools.
• Minimum Requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff V): A minimum of (7) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience in AWS, Linux, and IaC is required. Experience architecting and deploying secure AWS and/or Kubernetes environments from scratch is needed. Experience performance tuning and capacity planning AWS and/or Kubernetes environments is required.

Skills

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) is preferred.
• Experience deploying Kubernetes clusters using Rancher is strongly desired.
• Experience deploying/supporting persistent container storage on Kubernetes (Portworx preferred).
• Experience in Linux performance tuning, and security hardening for an enterprise.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package, including a wide variety of factors such as education, experience, knowledge and skills. Comprehensive health care and wellness plans, paid holidays, sick time, and vacation, standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options, 401(k) Plan, flexible spending accounts, variable pay program for exceptional contributions, relocation assistance, professional growth and development programs to help advance your career, education assistance programs, an inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.