Platform Engineer - FedD180/FedD181

Summary

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Platform Engineer to join their platform team, which is responsible for the development, maintenance, and reliability of a cloud-based platform environment. The role involves working across various aspects of infrastructure, automated deployments, and CI/CD pipelines while advocating best practices and ensuring platform reliability, security, and scalability.

Responsibilities

• Build, maintain, and improve Kubernetes clusters and containerized application deployments across cloud environments (AWS, EKS, RKE2)
• Develop and manage infrastructure as code (IaC) to provision and configure platform resources consistently and repeatably
• Own and improve CI/CD pipelines, including GitLab CI configuration, runner deployments, and automated build and deployment workflows
• Support identity and access management through tools such as Keycloak, including user onboarding, role configuration, and troubleshooting
• Implement and maintain monitoring, alerting, and logging to ensure platform health and support incident investigation
• Manage certificate lifecycle operations, including renewal of public certificates and related automation
• Contribute to platform security posture through container security practices, Iron Bank image compliance, and support for ATO processes
• Collaborate with application teams to troubleshoot deployment issues, broken pipelines, and platform integration problems
• Write and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, architecture decision records (ADRs), and operational standards
• Influence the strategic vision by contributing to the strategic planning that aligns technological advancements with the mission objectives
• Participate in on-call rotations and support platform incidents in a tier 2 role
• Mentor and support junior engineers through pairing, code reviews, and knowledge sharing

Skills

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes (deploying, managing, and troubleshooting clusters and workloads)
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi, or similar)
• Proficiency with CI/CD tooling, particularly GitLab CI or equivalent pipeline platforms
• Working knowledge of Linux/Unix operating systems and command-line administration
• Experience with cloud platforms, preferably AWS (EC2, EKS, IAM, S3, VPC)
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, container image builds, registry management)
• Ability to read and write YAML fluently for Kubernetes manifests, CRDs, Helm charts, and pipeline configurations
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently in a remote, asynchronous environment
• US citizenship required; must be eligible for CUI access
• Possess or ability to obtain a DoD 8570 IAT II certification (e.g., Security+ CE)
• Hold or be eligible for a security clearance
• Experience with UDS Core, Iron Bank, and/or Continuous Authority to Operate (C-ATO) processes
• Familiarity with identity and access management platforms such as Keycloak or similar
• Experience with monitoring and observability tooling (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, or similar)
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Go, Python, or Bash scripting)
• Experience working in a DevSecOps model with secure coding practices and vulnerability remediation
• Familiarity with GitOps workflows and tools (e.g., Flux, ArgoCD)
• Department of Defense experience, specifically working on a production ATO'd system
• Experience with distributed architectures and everything-as-code approaches
• AWS certifications related to platform or solutions architecture
• Experience writing architecture decision records (ADRs), operational runbooks, or engineering standards

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes (deploying, managing, and troubleshooting clusters and workloads)
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi, or similar)
• Proficiency with CI/CD tooling, particularly GitLab CI or equivalent pipeline platforms
• Working knowledge of Linux/Unix operating systems and command-line administration
• Experience with cloud platforms, preferably AWS (EC2, EKS, IAM, S3, VPC)
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, container image builds, registry management)
• Ability to read and write YAML fluently for Kubernetes manifests, CRDs, Helm charts, and pipeline configurations
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently in a remote, asynchronous environment
• US citizenship required; must be eligible for CUI access
• Possess or ability to obtain a DoD 8570 IAT II certification (e.g., Security+ CE)

Nice to Haves

• Hold or be eligible for a security clearance
• Experience with UDS Core, Iron Bank, and/or Continuous Authority to Operate (C-ATO) processes
• Familiarity with identity and access management platforms such as Keycloak or similar
• Experience with monitoring and observability tooling (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, or similar)
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Go, Python, or Bash scripting)
• Experience working in a DevSecOps model with secure coding practices and vulnerability remediation
• Familiarity with GitOps workflows and tools (e.g., Flux, ArgoCD)
• Department of Defense experience, specifically working on a production ATO'd system
• Experience with distributed architectures and everything-as-code approaches
• AWS certifications related to platform or solutions architecture
• Experience writing architecture decision records (ADRs), operational runbooks, or engineering standards

Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Premiums are 100% Company Paid
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• 401k Retirement Plan
• Home Office Budget
• We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s
• Paid Parental Leave
• Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
• Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)