Platform Engineer

Introduction

This position is for a Platform Engineer supporting the Army Edge Computing Capability (AECC) project that ALTESS is fielding for the US Army. The AECC solution is a containerized, Kubernetes-based, multitenant hosting environment for hosting Army enterprise and tactical applications. AECC is utilizing Kubernetes and potentially Red Hat OpenShift to implement a cloud-native, software-defined infrastructure across multiple global sites. ALTESS provides value-added common and managed services built on top of the Kubernetes foundation, which hosted Army applications will require. ALTESS is a managed service provider (MSP) and hosting services provider for Army applications. ALTESS is a Product Lead office under Capability Program Executive (CPE) Enterprise Software and Services (CPE ES2).

Your Role And Responsibilities

Platform Engineer Duties

• Collaborate with Government engineers to design, develop, and maintain the AECC Kubernetes‑based platform architecture.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to support the deployment, operation, and sustainment of the AECC Kubernetes platform.
• Provision customer namespaces and containerized workloads using IaC as applications are onboarded to the AECC platform.
• Perform day‑to‑day administration of the Kubernetes platform, including patching and upgrading core components such as the control plane, worker nodes, CNI plugins, CSI drivers, and CRI runtimes.
• Configure and manage Container Network Interface (CNI) plugins (e.g., Calico, Cilium, OpenShift SDN) to ensure secure, resilient, and high‑performance networking for Kubernetes workloads.
• Deploy and manage Container Storage Interface (CSI) drivers to enable dynamic provisioning of persistent storage for containerized workloads (e.g., OpenShift Data Foundation, Ceph).
• Monitor platform and cluster resource utilization and proactively notify the AECC Lead when additional capacity or scaling is required.
• Harden the Kubernetes platform in accordance with cloud‑native best practices and applicable government cybersecurity and compliance requirements.
• Troubleshoot platform issues and perform root cause analysis across Kubernetes networking, containerized workloads, persistent storage, and runtime components.
• Develop and maintain platform documentation, including system diagrams, network topology, Kubernetes configurations, CSI and CRI configurations, and standard operating procedures.
• Provide on‑call support for triage and resolution of after‑hours production incidents.
• Recommend and implement improvements to platform security, scalability, reliability, and performance across containerized compute, network, and storage services.
• Build, configure, and administer Kubernetes clusters in support of mission‑critical workloads.
• Implement and manage container registries (e.g., Docker Hub, Harbor, Red Hat Quay) to enable secure container image storage and distribution.
• Deploy and manage persistent storage solutions for containerized workloads (e.g., OpenShift Data Foundation, Ceph, NFS).

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Senior‑level experience with Kubernetes‑based platforms, including Red Hat OpenShift, Rancher, or upstream (vanilla) Kubernetes.
• Experience with Container Storage Interface (CSI) drivers for dynamic provisioning of persistent storage (e.g., OpenShift Data Foundation, Ceph, AWS EBS, Azure Disks).
• Strong Infrastructure as Code (IaC) experience using tools such as Helm, Kustomize, and Terraform, with GitOps workflows using Argo CD or Flux.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across the full technology stack, including Kubernetes networking, storage, servers, and containerized applications.
• Familiarity with persistent storage solutions for Kubernetes workloads (e.g., OpenShift Data Foundation, Ceph, NFS).
• Experience with Kubernetes monitoring and observability tools, such as Prometheus, Grafana, Elasticsearch, Fluentd, and Kibana.
• Security+ or equivalent DoD 8570.01‑M Information Assurance Technical Level II certification.
• Must hold and maintain an active DoD Secret Security Clearance
• Must possess, or obtain within six (6) months of hire, a Computing Environment certification in a related field, including:
  • Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
  • Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration
  • Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
  • Other equivalent Kubernetes or container‑related certifications

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Proficiency in building, configuring, and administering Kubernetes clusters in enterprise environments.
• Experience with container orchestration tools and technologies, including Docker, Podman, and Kubernetes.
• Experience managing container registries and container image lifecycles (e.g., Docker Hub, Harbor, Red Hat Quay).
• Strong automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) skills using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, and Python.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices, including CI/CD pipeline integration for containerized workloads