Staff SRE - K8s Platform Team (AWS, Kubernetes, Platform Creation)

Okta; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Okta is seeking a Staff Site Reliability Engineer to build and manage Kubernetes platforms on AWS, focusing on high availability, security, and cost optimisation. The role involves architecting scalable clusters, automating deployments with Helm, and implementing Istio service mesh for secure inter-service communication.

You will drive automation via CI/CD pipelines and IaC using Terraform, Chef or Ansible, with strong observability through Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch and ELK.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with Kubernetes / K8s, Helm, Karpenter, Istio
• 8+ years of experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform, Chef or Ansible
• 8+ years of experience with serverless computing (AWS Lambda, API Gateway) and microservices architecture
• Proven experience with AWS (EKS, ECS, RDS, S3, CloudFormation, IAM) and cloud-native architectures
• Strong expertise in Kubernetes platform creation, management, and optimisation
• Hands-on experience with Helm for Kubernetes deployment
• Practical experience with Karpenter for dynamic scaling
• Expertise in Istio for service mesh, including traffic management and observability
• Proficiency in CI/CD pipelines and automation tools (Jenkins, GitLab, CircleCI, Terraform, Spinnaker, Ansible)
• Strong scripting and automation in Python or Go
• Experience with monitoring/logging/alerting tools (Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, ELK)

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain highly available, scalable Kubernetes platforms
• Build, manage, and optimise AWS cloud infrastructure (EKS, ECS, RDS, S3, IAM)
• Automate deployments with Helm charts for production-ready apps
• Implement and manage Karpenter for dynamic cluster scaling
• Configure Istio for secure service mesh traffic and observability
• Automate deployment, scaling, and management with CI/CD pipelines
• Respond to incidents and troubleshoot performance, availability, and security issues
• Design secure cloud infrastructure with access controls and compliance
• Create and maintain documentation for Kubernetes platform setup and procedures

Skills

Kubernetes / K8s

AWS

CI/CD pipelines

Python or Go

Istio

Security best practices

Docker familiarity

Multi-region cloud

Monitoring & observability

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Eng or related field

Tools

Terraform

Chef or Ansible

Helm

Karpenter

Job description

Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human
Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.
This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.Workforce Identity Cloud
Okta Workforce Identity Cloud (WIC) provides easy, secure access for your workforce so you can focus on other strategic priorities, such as reducing costs and doing more for your customers.
If you like to be challenged and have a passion for solving large-scale automation, testing, and tuning problems, we would love to hear from you. The ideal candidate is someone who exemplifies the ethics of, "If you have to do something more than once, automate it" and who can rapidly self-educate on new concepts and tools.

Position Overview:

The Staff Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) will play a key role in building and managing Kubernetes platforms that support cloud-native applications and services. This position focuses on architecting and managing reliable, scalable, and secure Kubernetes-based platforms on AWS, ensuring high availability and performance while optimising costs and automation. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with AWS infrastructure, Kubernetes platform creation, Helm charts, Karpenter scaling, and Istio service mesh.

Key Responsibilities:

• Kubernetes Platform Creation: Design, implement, and maintain highly available, scalable, and fault-tolerant Kubernetes platforms. Ensure clusters are optimised for production workloads, providing high resilience and operational efficiency.
• AWS Infrastructure Management: Build, manage, and optimise AWS cloud infrastructure, including EKS, ECS, S3, VPCS, RDS, IAM, and more. Implement best practices for cost management, scaling, and security within AWS.
• Helm Management: Utilise Helm to automate and streamline the deployment of applications and services to Kubernetes clusters. Create, maintain, and manage Helm charts for production-ready deployments.
• Karpenter Implementation: Implement and manage Karpenter to dynamically scale Kubernetes clusters in response to workload demands.
• Istio Service Mesh Management: Configure and manage Istio to provide service-to-service communication, security, and observability within the Kubernetes clusters. Enable fine-grained traffic management, service discovery, and policy enforcement.
• Platform Automation Scaling: Automate the deployment, scaling, and management of infrastructure and applications. Work with CI/CD pipelines to ensure a seamless flow from development to production with minimal downtime.
• Incident Management Troubleshooting: Respond to incidents, troubleshoot, and resolve system issues related to performance, availability, and security in a timely and effective manner.
• Security Compliance: Design and implement secure cloud infrastructure with appropriate access controls, network security, and compliance frameworks.
• Documentation Knowledge Sharing: Create and maintain detailed documentation for Kubernetes platform setup, operational procedures, and best practices. Promote knowledge sharing across teams.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience with Kubernetes/ K8s, Helm,Karpenter,Istio;
• 8+ years of Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform, Chef or Ansible
• 8+ years of Experience with serverless computing (AWS Lambda, API Gateway) and microservices architecture.
• Proven experience with AWS (EKS, ECS, RDS, S3, CloudFormation, IAM, etc.) and solid understanding of cloud-native architectures.
• Strong expertise in Kubernetes platform creation, management, and optimisation (e.g., setting up highly available clusters, networking, and storage).
• Hands-on experience with Helm for Kubernetes application deployment and management.
• Practical experience with Karpenter for dynamic scaling of Kubernetes clusters and optimising resource usage.
• Expertise in managing and securing Istio for service mesh, including traffic management, security, and observability features.
• Proficiency in CI/CD pipelines and automation tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab, CircleCI, Terraform, Spinnaker, Ansible).
• Strong scripting and automation skills in Python or Go for infrastructure management and platform automation.
• Experience with monitoring, logging, and alerting tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, and ELK Stack.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with multi-region cloud environments.
• Understanding of security best practices for cloud platforms and Kubernetes (e.g., role-based access control (RBAC), encryption, and compliance frameworks).
• Familiarity with Docker and containerization principles.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• Certifications (Preferred): CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator), CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer), or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer are highly desirable.

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