Senior DevOps Engineer

About the role

Raft is building mission-critical data platforms for the Department of War that process billions of events per day from hundreds of sensors and operational sources, delivering intelligence to operators who use it to make time-sensitive decisions. Our platform runs across multiple classification levels and deployment environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain secure Kubernetes-based infrastructure supporting data platform workloads across cloud and on-premises environments
• Build, manage, and improve CI/CD pipelines using GitLab and GitOps-based delivery patterns, enabling reliable, repeatable deployments across multiple classification levels
• Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools such as Terraform and Ansible to provision, configure, and lifecycle-manage platform infrastructure
• Collaborate directly with software engineers to understand service architectures, dependencies, and runtime behavior, and contribute code-level changes where needed to improve deployability, reliability, or observability
• Support and optimize data streaming and processing pipelines built on technologies such as Kafka, Kafka Streams, Flink, and Pinot, diagnosing bottlenecks, tuning configurations, and ensuring data integrity across the platform
• Implement and manage platform observability using monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana), logging (Fluentbit, Loki, Kibana), and alerting tooling to maintain operational awareness in production environments
• Apply and enforce DevSecOps practices including container hardening, vulnerability scanning, software supply chain security, and compliance-driven deployment patterns in regulated government environments
• Manage and debug complex Helm chart deployments, service mesh configurations (Istio), and Kubernetes networking across multi-cluster and multi-environment topologies
• Support operations across multiple deployment targets, cloud-hosted (AWS, Azure), on-premises data centers, and edge/tactical environments, adapting platform patterns to the constraints of each
• Write clean, maintainable automation and tooling in Java or Go to accelerate platform operations, reduce toil, and improve developer experience across engineering teams
• Engage directly with customers at the most operationally demanding locations in the Department of War

Requirements

• 5+ years of relevant hands-on experience in DevOps or platform engineering roles
• 5+ years of production experience with Docker and Kubernetes, including provisioning, operating, and troubleshooting clusters in real-world environments
• Strong experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines, with hands-on proficiency in GitLab CI, GitOps workflows (Flux, ArgoCD), and modern software delivery practices
• Experience supporting data-intensive platforms using streaming technologies such as Kafka, or Flink, including configuration, tuning, and operational support
• Solid understanding of data engineering fundamentals, including ETL/ELT pipeline design, data storage patterns, data governance concepts, and integration with downstream consumers
• Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tooling, particularly Terraform; experience with Ansible or similar configuration management tools
• Strong Helm proficiency, including authoring and maintaining charts for complex multi-service deployments
• Hands-on experience with platform observability tooling: Prometheus, Grafana, Fluentbit, Loki or Elasticsearch/Kibana
• Demonstrable software development skills in Java and/or Go, comfortable reading, modifying, and contributing to application codebases, not just deploying them
• Strong systems thinking, troubleshooting discipline, and the ability to work independently in a fast-moving environment with competing priorities
• Experience applying secure and compliant deployment practices in regulated or government environments
• Active Secret clearance required; must be eligible for and willing to obtain a Top Secret/SCI clearance
• Ability to obtain Security+ certification within the first 90 days of employment
• Ability to travel up to 25%

Qualifications

• Experience with cloud infrastructure on AWS and/or Azure, including networking, IAM, storage, and managed Kubernetes services
• Experience with service mesh technologies, particularly Istio, including traffic management, mTLS, and observability integration
• Experience with Kubernetes-based ML/AI platforms such as Kubeflow, KServe, or Ray, and experience supporting GPU-enabled workloads
• Experience with software supply chain security tools including container image scanning, SBOM generation, and runtime vulnerability management
• Experience supporting deployments across multiple classification levels or air-gapped / disconnected environments
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks relevant to DoW software deployment, including RMF, STIGs, and IL4/IL5/IL6 requirements
• Experience with package and dependency management across polyglot environments (Maven, Gradle, NPM, Yarn, pip)
• Experience with distributed tracing and APM tooling (e.g., OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Tempo)

Skills

• Java
• Go
• Kubernetes
• Terraform
• Ansible
• Helm
• Prometheus
• Grafana
• Fluentbit
• Loki
• Kibana
• Istio
• Kubeflow
• KServe
• Ray
• Security+ certification

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary
• Full coverage of healthcare, dental, and vision
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Generous Referral Bonuses
• And More!

Pay

$150,000.00 - $200,000.00

Schedule

Hybrid with up to 25% travel

Company Information

This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.