Senior Platform Engineer​/Kubernetes SME

Senior Platform Engineer / Kubernetes SME

Belong. Connect. Grow. with K !

K ’s National Security Solutions team provides high-end engineering and advanced technology solutions to our customers in the intelligence and national security communities. In this position, your work will have a profound impact on the country’s most critical role – protecting our national security.

• Innovative Projects: K ’s work is at the forefront of engineering, logistics, operations, science, program management, mission IT and cybersecurity solutions.
• Collaborative Environment: Be part of a dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation, fostering a supportive and intellectually stimulating workplace.
• Impactful Work: Your contributions will be pivotal in designing and optimizing defense systems that ensure national security and shape the future of space defense.

K  is seeking a highly experienced Senior Platform Engineer to join our team in Beavercreek, OH. The ideal candidate will be a Kubernetes SME with a DoW Top Secret clearance and SCI eligibility.

• Own the design, build, and operations of a modular, API‑first platform that abstracts infrastructure from simulation software
• Lead multi‑cluster Kubernetes, service mesh, security hardening, and observability to support hundreds of users and tens of thousands of entities across connected and air‑gapped environments
• Design and operate multi‑cluster Kubernetes environments (control/data/CI/observability planes) with strong isolation and zero‑trust defaults
• Implement service mesh (e.g., Istio) for mTLS, traffic control, and fine‑grained Authorization Policy; manage ingress (Gateway/Virtual Service) and east‑west policies
• Author and maintain platform CRDs and controllers/operators to reconcile developer intent into runtime objects (name spaces/cells, Deployments/Jobs, Services, policies, gateways)
• Integrate network policy (eBPF/Cilium), secrets management, RBAC/ABAC, and policy‑driven automation across environments
• Stand up observability (metrics/logs/traces) and SLO monitoring; drive reliability (HA, backup/restore, DR)
• Support air‑gap packaging/delivery and secure software supply chain (images, SBOMs, provenance)
• Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility

• Location: On-site/Hybrid
• Travel Requirements: 15%
• Working Hours: Standard

Required:

• 12+ years of Software Engineering experience with 5–8+ years in platform/SRE roles operating production Kubernetes at scale; strong multi‑cluster and Git Ops (Argo CD/Flux) experience
• Hands‑on with Istio/Envoy, Cilium (Network Policy, eBPF), Ingress/Gateway API, and cluster networking (DNS, L7/L4)
• Controller/operator development using Go (Kubebuilder/Operator SDK) or Type Script‑based frameworks; CRD design/versioning
• Observability:
  Prometheus, Open Telemetry, Fluent Bit/Open Search; incident response and performance tuning
• Security: mTLS, OIDC, JWT, OPA/Gatekeeper/Kyverno (or equivalent), image signing, SBOM, CVE remediations

Desired:

• Experience in air‑gapped or classified environments; package and deploy with tools that support disconnected sites
• Exposure to Kubernetes Gateway/Envoy Gateway, egress control, and sidecar injection strategies
• Prior VV&A support for modeling & simulation platforms
• Ability to work across Unclassified → Secret → TS/SCI/SAP environments

$187,700-$225,000

This range is for the Colorado Spring, CO area only.

$196,600-$218,400

This range is for the Lexington Park, MD, Maui, HI, & Carlsbad, CA areas only.

The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate’s working location, knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience, clearance level, contract affordability and in consideration of internal parity.

K  may offer bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation to certain job titles or levels, per internal policy or contractual designation. Additional compensation may be in the form of sign on bonus, relocation benefits, short term incentives, long term incentives, or discretionary payments for exceptional performance.

If you’re excited about making a significant impact in the…