DevOps Platform Engineer (w/m/d)

Introduction

As a transmission system operator, we ensure the power supply for around eleven million people in Baden-Württemberg. We create the infrastructure for the energy transition by maintaining, optimizing, and expanding the high-voltage grid as needed. With our grid, we not only make the state an innovative power hub in the heart of Europe but also play a significant role in shaping the energy system of the future.

The System Operation department is responsible 24/7 for the safe, environmentally sound, and efficient operation of the transmission grid and the TransnetBW control area. This includes not only controlling the 380- and 220-kilovolt transmission grid but also providing high-performance IT and infrastructure systems, trading on energy and balancing markets, HSE tasks, and developing future-proof platform solutions for controlling the power grid.

The energy infrastructure is facing the biggest transformation in decades. By 2032, the power grid will transform from a few central power plants into a highly dynamic, decentralized system of renewable generators, storage, and flexible loads. Such a grid requires IT systems that operate at hyperscaler level in terms of performance, security, and availability: on-prem, air-gapped, and completely under our own control. This is exactly where MSHIP comes in.

We are building our own cloud-native platform on bare-metal basis in several geographically distributed data centers, explicitly designed for critical infrastructure (KRITIS) requirements. Our team will not merely "use" cloud services but will "build" its own cloud-native platform: self-hosted, self-run, air-gapped, highly automated, and strictly following GitOps and Platform Engineering principles.

Responsibilities

• You are actively involved in the setup, further development, and operation of an on-prem, self-hosted, air-gapped cloud-native platform, operated across multiple data centers. Our goal is to be our own "hyperscaler" with modern, highly automated infrastructure and platform patterns.
• You use GitOps, Policy-as-Code (PaC), and Diagram-as-Code to specify and automatically ensure the desired state of the platform. We are currently in the setup phase and evaluating tools such as Argo CD, Flux (GitOps), OPA Gatekeeper, Kyverno (PaC), C4 modeling, and Structurizr (Diagram-as-Code).
• You use modern technologies to recreate Kubernetes clusters instead of updating them, enabling seamless implementation of Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity Management (BCM). We are currently evaluating toolchains such as Talos, kubeadm, Metal³, and Rancher for cluster lifecycle management.
• You work closely with developers, citizen developers, and external partners to enable secure, robust, and distributed services, business applications, and algorithms.

Profile

• You have completed a degree in computer science or a comparable field of study, or have a specialized training in software development with several years of professional experience.
• Experience in building and operating on-prem or self-managed cloud-native platforms
• Practical experience with Kubernetes ecosystems (e.g., Talos, kubeadm-based clusters, Rancher, Metal³/Ironic)
• In-depth knowledge of high availability scenarios (HA scenarios), DR, BCM, as well as network and storage architectures in distributed systems
• Experience in at least one of the following areas:
  • GitOps (e.g., ArgoCD, Flux)
  • IaC (e.g., Terraform, Crossplane, Ansible)
  • Policy as Code (e.g., OPA/Gatekeeper, Kyverno)
  • Observability (e.g., Prometheus, Loki, Grafana, OpenTelemetry)
• Enjoy defining modern platform and hyperscaler principles from scratch together with the team

We Offer

• A real technical challenge with societal impact
• A team that knows more than it shows – and is open to ideas
• Scope, responsibility, safe space – no overhead, no show
• A platform that you can help shape and be responsible for
• An environment that fosters and challenges you

Further Information

You don't meet all the requirements? No problem.

We are aware that hardly anyone covers all technologies or subject areas completely. What is more important to us is your passion for modern platform and cloud-native approaches, your willingness to develop further with us, and to actively contribute to shaping our cloud-native platform in the critical infrastructure (KRITIS) environment.

The position requires a background and security check. If you have any questions beforehand, please feel free to contact the named contact person at TransnetBW.

Send us your comprehensive application via our application form.

All employer benefits can be found on our career page.

Your Contact TransnetBW GmbH Alexander Weinmann Heilbronner Straße 51-55 70191 Stuttgart T: +49 711 21858-3606 bewerbung@transnetbw.de