Senior Infrastructure Engineer – OpenShift | NV1

Pinaka; Canberra; Hybrid; AUD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Services Australia is seeking a Senior Infrastructure Engineer to lead OpenShift and Kubernetes administration across Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. The role includes planning, configuring, upgrading and securing OpenShift environments in a hybrid work setup with potential on-call duties.

The ideal candidate has extensive Kubernetes experience, strong automation skills, and the ability to mentor junior staff while coordinating with cross-functional teams to deliver reliable government digital

Qualifications

• At least 5+ years of experience in system administering including OpenShift/Kubernetes cluster administration.
• Extensive experience in Kubernetes administration including networking, security, storage, and troubleshooting within containerised environments.

Responsibilities

• Administer, configure and maintain on-premises Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform environments.
• Perform OpenShift platform lifecycle activities including installation, upgrades, patching and maintenance.
• Monitor platform health, capacity, performance and availability; troubleshoot complex OpenShift, Kubernetes and underlying infrastructure issues.

Job description

Australian citizenship required. Must have an active Negative Vetting Level 1 (or higher) security clearance.

Location: Canberra/Melbourne/Brisbane (Hybrid).

Senior Infrastructure Engineer

Australian citizenship required. Must have an active Negative Vetting Level 1 (or higher) security clearance.

Location: Canberra/Melbourne/Brisbane (Hybrid).

What to Submit

• A tailored resume in docx format
• A one page (5000 character) summary response to the selection criteria below.

RFQ Details

• RFQ ID: LH-08236
• Agency: Services Australia
• Closing Date: 29th October, 2026
• Estimated Start Date: Friday, 01 January 2027
• Initial Contract Duration: 12 months
• Extension Term: Other
• Experience Level: Senior – EL1 equivalent
• Security Clearance: Must have an active Negative Vetting Level 1 (or higher) security clearance
• Location of Work: ACT, VIC, QLD
• Working Arrangements: Hybrid. Canberra ACT is preferred. Melbourne VIC and Brisbane QLD will also be considered. Flexible hybrid arrangements may be considered, provided candidates reside within reasonable travel time and distance to attend onsite when required, including emergencies.
• Maximum Hours: 80 hours per week

Job Details

Infrastructure Engineers implement, manage and retire the infrastructure (including physical, virtual, networking and cloud infrastructure) that supports digital services.

The experienced Senior OpenShift Engineer will be able to navigate the monitoring, installation, configuration, administration, troubleshooting and maintenance of on-premises Red Hat OpenShift clusters, particularly within the context of government services.

The ideal candidate will provide technical support, troubleshoot problems and automate solutions to ensure stable and efficient operation of OpenShift environments, with a proven ability to lead cloud projects, mentor junior staff and integrate seamlessly into a complex, dynamic team environment.

The role involves managing and optimising OpenShift platforms to meet high standards of performance, security and compliance.

On-call duties may be required in extenuating circumstances but are not the default expectation. Occasional or infrequent out-of-hours support may be required for maintenance or supporting activities.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

OpenShift Administration & Operations

• Administer, configure and maintain on-premises Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform environments, ensuring platform availability, stability, performance and operational resilience.
• Perform OpenShift platform lifecycle activities, including cluster installation, configuration, upgrades, patching, maintenance and technology refresh.
• Monitor platform health, capacity, performance and availability, proactively identifying issues before they impact services.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex OpenShift, Kubernetes and underlying infrastructure issues involving networking, storage, compute, certificates, authentication and cluster components.
• Implement and maintain OpenShift platform configurations, policies, operators and supporting services in accordance with security requirements.
• Develop and maintain automation for platform administration using Ansible, GitOps and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices.
• Design, deploy and manage OpenShift or other Kubernetes clusters in enterprise environments, ensuring high availability and scalability.
• Assist developers in automating deployment, scaling and management of containerised applications using OpenShift and CI/CD pipelines.
• Oversee cluster management, resource allocation and capacity planning.
• Implement OpenShift security practices including vulnerability scanning, network segmentation and role-based access control.
• Lead technical teams in OpenShift projects, mentor junior engineers and manage project timelines and deliverables.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, application and engineering teams to investigate incidents, implement changes and resolve technical issues.
• Maintain comprehensive technical documentation, operational procedures and platform management practices.

Technical Delivery & Continuous Improvement

• Plan and deliver complex platform changes, including OpenShift upgrades, patching, configuration changes and technology refresh activities.
• Lead and contribute to collaborative technical discussions within an agile environment.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive operational activities and improve platform reliability, efficiency and consistency.
• Work across infrastructure, security, application and architecture teams to deliver integrated technology outcomes.
• Analyse operational data, incidents and platform performance information to identify trends, risks and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Contribute to monitoring, disaster recovery, operational standards and knowledge sharing.

Technical Skills

Platform & Infrastructure

• Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform administration
• Kubernetes cluster architecture, administration and troubleshooting
• OpenShift operators, nodes, workloads and platform lifecycle management
• Enterprise networking, compute, storage, load balancing and DNS
• Certificates, authentication and identity services
• Container images, registries and application deployment patterns
• OpenShift logging, alerting, monitoring and performance management

Automation & DevOps

• Ansible
• Helm
• Terraform
• Git and GitOps
• Python
• CI/CD pipelines
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)
• Containerisation and cloud-native platform concepts

Security & Governance

• OpenShift security and access management
• Authentication, authorisation and role-based access control (RBAC)
• Vulnerability scanning and network segmentation
• Australian Government Information Security Manual (ISM)
• Essential 8
• Enterprise change, incident, problem and configuration management

Knowledge & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering or a related field is highly desirable.
• Alternatively, demonstrated continuous professional experience of at least 5+ years in a large-scale ICT environment and additionally 3+ years in a large-scale Kubernetes environment is a suitable alternative.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration or equivalent certification is highly desirable.
• Ability to diagnose complex technical issues across multi-architecture, large-scale enterprise environments.
• Ability to translate complex technical information into practical advice for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

About the Organisation

Services Australia is at the frontline of government service delivery, supporting millions of Australians, and is front and centre of a vision to be a world leader in government service delivery. It’s using cutting-edge technology to build world class platforms and capabilities to help Australians get on with their lives.

Selection Criteria

The buyer has specified that each candidate must provide a one page pitch to address all criteria specified. This is equal to 5000 characters.

Essential criteria

• At least 5+ years of experience in system administering - Including experience in OpenShift/Kubernetes cluster administration.
• Extensive experience in Kubernetes administration - Including networking, security, storage, and troubleshooting within containerised environments.

Desirable criteria

• Experience in a government or highly regulated environment, with demonstrated compliance to standards such as the Information Security Manual (ISM) and Essential 8.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration or equivalent certification.

Why choose Pinaka

We know the government ICT market and we keep things straightforward. We take time to understand your background, your goals and the type of role that suits you. We believe transparency is about more than rates and our margins are fair and always disclosed.

What you can expect from us..

• Fair, disclosed margins
• Clear communication at every stage
• Honest advice on fit and competitiveness
• Visibility on submissions and process status
• A professional and respectful experience

How you are paid..

You choose what's best for you.

• PAYG through Pinaka
• Third-party payroll
• Self-employed (own ABN) With a single, transparent and fixed margin, we ensure compliance to all state and payroll laws. So that is one less thing for you to worry about.

BYO CONTRACT

Already in a role but not happy with the setup?

Port in your contract to Pinaka for a simpler and more transparent experience. We also have some exciting limited time offers on top of the incredible margins we offer.

BETTER TOGETHER

Our referral program for people who introduce strong candidates to us.

Refer a friend - Earn $1/hr per successful referral as long as you both with us. Refer as many friends as you want; no caps.

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