Lead Engineer - Managed Kubernete

Target; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Target is seeking a Lead Engineer – Kubernetes Platform to design, build, automate, and operate Kubernetes platform services across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.

You will develop tooling with Go, drive GitOps/CI/CD workflows, and mid-scale cluster management including GKE, with focus on reliability, security, and scalability. Strong cloud-native expertise is required for platform modernization.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, cloud engineering, platform engineering, or related field.
• Strong expertise in Kubernetes, cloud-native platforms, and platform automation.
• Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE); AWS/Azure acceptable.
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture, networking, CNI, ingress, services, load balancing.
• Experience with IaC and deployment tools: Terraform, Helm, Kustomize.
• Experience implementing GitOps with Argo CD and/or Flux.
• Strong CI/CD automation and modern delivery practices for Kubernetes.
• Experience with observability, metrics, logging, monitoring, tracing, reliability.
• Experience with Linux and container host optimization; storage (CSI, PV/PVC, StatefulSets) and DR.
• Automation-first mindset with IaC, GitOps, and version control.
• CKA/CKAD certifications are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, automate, and operate Kubernetes platform services across hybrid cloud and on-prem environments.
• Develop platform tooling, controllers, and automation using Go.
• Design, implement, and manage GitOps and CI/CD workflows for multi-cluster deployments.
• Manage, optimize, and scale Kubernetes clusters including GKE and cloud infra.
• Drive platform observability, reliability, security, and operational excellence.
• Lead platform initiatives: upgrades, migrations, networking, storage, scalability, modernization.
• Define platform architecture, standards, and long-term strategy.
• Collaborate with engineering to deliver secure, scalable cloud-native capabilities.
• Mentor engineers and influence engineering best practices across teams.
• Partner with stakeholders to define roadmaps balancing product needs with sustainability.

Skills

Go

Kubernetes

GCP

GKE

Terraform

Helm

Kustomize

Argo CD

Flux

CI/CD

Observability

Linux

CSI

StatefulSets

GitOps

CKA/CKAD

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Terraform

Helm

Kustomize

Argo CD

Flux

Job description

About us:

Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. Learn more about Target here (https://corporate.target.com/about) .

As a lead engineer, you serve as the technical anchor for the engineering team that supports a product. You create, own and are responsible for the application architecture that best serves the product in its functional and non-functional needs. You identify and drive architectural changes to accelerate feature development or improve the quality of service (or both). You have deep and broad engineering skills and are capable of standing up an architecture in its whole on your own, but you choose to influence a wider team by acting as a “force multiplier”. Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

We are looking for a Lead Engineer – Kubernetes Platform with extensive platform engineering experience in designing, building, automating, and operating cloud-native platforms. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Kubernetes, cloud-native technologies, and platform automation, with a strong focus on reliability, scalability, security, and operational excellence. This role will provide technical leadership in evolving our Kubernetes platform across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.

Required Skills

• Strong software development experience in Go (Golang) .

• Extensive hands-on experience designing, administering, andoperatingKubernetes platforms, including cluster provisioning, configuration, upgrades, troubleshooting, and production operations.

• Strong experience running Kubernetes on public cloud platforms. Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP ) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is preferred; equivalent experience with AWS, Azure, or other public cloud platforms is also acceptable.

• Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture and networking, including CNI plugins, ingress controllers, services, network policies, load balancing, traffic routing, and service connectivity.

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code ( IaC ) and Kubernetes deployment tools such as Terraform , Helm , and Kustomize .

• Experience implementing GitOps practices using tools such as Argo CD and/or Flux .

• Strong understanding of CI/CD automation and modern software delivery practices for Kubernetes platforms.

• Experience with observability solutions, including metrics, logging, monitoring, alerting, distributed tracing, and platform reliability.

• Experience administering Linux operating systems andoptimizingcontainer host environments.

• Experience with Kubernetes storage technologies, including CSI drivers, Persistent Volumes (PV), Persistent Volume Claims (PVC), Storage Classes,StatefulSets, and disaster recovery strategies.

• Strong automation-first mindset with experience managing infrastructure and platform services as code using version control,GitOps, and Infrastructure as Code practices.

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) and/or Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, automate, andoperateKubernetes platform services across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.

• Develop platform tooling, controllers, and automation using Go (Golang).

• Design, implement, and manageGitOpsand CI/CD workflows to automate application and infrastructure deployments across multi-cluster Kubernetes environments.

• Manage,optimize, and scale Kubernetes clusters, including Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and the supporting cloud infrastructure.

• Drive platform observability, reliability, security, resiliency, and operational excellence.

• Lead platform initiatives including Kubernetes upgrades, cluster migrations, networking enhancements, storage architecture, scalability improvements, and platform modernization.

• Define platform architecture, engineering standards, and long-term technical strategy.

• Partner with engineering teams to deliver secure, scalable, resilient, and self-service cloud-native platform capabilities.

• Serve as a technical subject matter expert, mentor engineers, and influence engineering best practices across teams.

• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to define platform roadmaps and balance product requirements with long-term platform sustainability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, cloud engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure engineering, ora related field.