AI Platform Engineer - TS/SCI with CI Poly

PGTEK; Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

401(k) with company match

Education assistance

Job summary

PGTEK is seeking an AI Platform Engineer to design deploy and optimize Kubernetes environments across cloud and on‑prem. You will drive CI/CD automation ensure platform reliability and implement security controls in a mission‑critical setting.

The ideal candidate has deep cloud native and DevOps experience plus strong scripting and collaboration skills. This onsite role in McLean VA offers a competitive salary and TS/SCI clearance requirements.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing deploying and managing Kubernetes environments.
• Strong automation and IaC experience with Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and GitOps tooling (Argo CD).
• Security, RBAC, secret management and compliance in cloud environments.
• Proficiency with Linux/Unix and networking concepts.

Responsibilities

• Design deploy secure and upgrade Kubernetes clusters across cloud and on‑prem.
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows.
• Develop IaC using Terraform Pulumi CloudFormation.
• Implement monitoring logging and observability across platforms.
• Collaborate with engineering operations and security teams.

Skills

Kubernetes administration

Cloud-native architecture

DevOps practices

Automation & scripting

Problem-solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Platform reliability

Education

CKA/CKAD/CKS (certifications)

AWS/Azure/Cloud certifications

DoD 8570 IAT-related certifications

Tools

Docker

Terraform

Pulumi

CloudFormation

Argo CD

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE/OpenShift)

Terraform

Prometheus/Grafana

ELK/OpenSearch

Job description

Description

AI Platform Engineer

Location: McLean, VA (Onsite 5 Days per Week)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Salary Range: $125,000 - $185,000

Clearance Required: Active TS/SCI with Counterintelligence Polygraph

Certification Requirement: Current IAM Level II certification meeting DoD 8570 IAT requirements

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced AI Platform Engineer to play a critical role in building, maintaining, securing, and optimizing the infrastructure that supports advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. This individual will be responsible for designing and managing scalable Kubernetes environments, implementing automated deployment pipelines, and ensuring platform reliability, security, and performance.

The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes administration, DevOps practices, and automation with strong problem-solving and collaboration skills. This role will work closely with engineering, operations, and security teams to deliver highly available AI platform solutions in a mission-critical environment.

Key Responsibilities

Kubernetes and Platform Engineering

• Design, deploy, secure, maintain, and upgrade highly available Kubernetes clusters across cloud and on-premises environments.
• Manage Kubernetes control plane components, worker nodes, and supporting infrastructure.
• Implement and maintain containerized workloads using Docker and Kubernetes best practices.
• Configure and manage Kubernetes resources including Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Persistent Volumes, and Namespaces.
• Support advanced networking configurations, including CNI plugins, network policies, service meshes, and DNS services.

Security and Compliance

• Implement security best practices across Kubernetes environments.
• Manage RBAC, admission controllers, vulnerability scanning, secret management, and network security controls.
• Ensure platform compliance with government and organizational security requirements.
• Support secure deployment practices and infrastructure hardening initiatives.

DevOps and Automation

• Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines for containerized applications.
• Utilize GitOps methodologies and tools to automate application deployment and platform management.
• Develop infrastructure as code (IaC) solutions using Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation, or similar tools.
• Create automation scripts and tooling using Python, Go, Bash, or related languages.

Monitoring, Performance and Reliability

• Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability solutions across platform environments.
• Diagnose and resolve complex performance issues affecting Kubernetes clusters and applications.
• Optimize resource utilization and platform scalability.
• Support distributed tracing, centralized logging, and operational analytics initiatives.
• Apply DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles to improve platform resilience and operational excellence.

Collaboration and Leadership

• Collaborate with development, operations, security, and infrastructure teams.
• Lead technical initiatives and mentor junior engineers.
• Drive continuous improvement efforts across platform engineering and deployment practices.
• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Requirements

• Extensive experience designing, deploying, and managing Kubernetes environments (EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, or self-managed clusters).
• Advanced knowledge of Docker and containerization technologies.
• Strong understanding of Kubernetes networking, service meshes, and cluster architecture.
• Expertise in Kubernetes security, access controls, and secret management.
• Experience with CI/CD platforms such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Tekton, Argo Workflows, or similar.
• Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools including Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation.
• Strong scripting and automation experience using Pyt on, Go, Bash, or similar languages.
• Experience with GitOps tools such as Argo CD.
• Hands-on experience with monitoring and observability platforms including Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, Datadog, or Splunk.
• Strong Linux/Unix administration background.
• Solid understanding of networking concepts including TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, and load balancing.
• Expert-level Git and version control experience.

Professional Skills

• Exceptional troubleshooting and analytical problem-solving abilities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical efforts.
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Adaptability and commitment to continuous learning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
• Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
• Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
• Experience developing Kubernetes Operators and Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)
• Experience building Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)
• Familiarity with testing methodologies including unit, integration, and end-to-end testing

Travel Requirements

Up to 20% travel as required for on-site installations, maintenance, and troubleshooting activities at customer locations or data centers.

Benefits

Our comprehensive benefits package for full-time salaried employees is effective immediately upon the start date. Benefits include comprehensive PPO medical coverage with access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) option, a vision plan, and dental insurance with the base dental plan option paid for by PGTEK. Life Insurance, Short and Long-Term disability, and Critical Illness insurance have premiums covered. Additionally, PGTEK offers a matching 401(k) plan and a discount on pet insurance through ASPCA Pet Insurance. An Employee Assistance Program is available at no cost to all employees. PGTEK offers a generous amount of PTO and Holidays, and an Education Assistance Program is available after 12 months of employment.

About Pgtek

PGTEK is a true consulting organization dedicated to helping clients achieve their business and technology objectives utilizing our decades of experience and business relationships. PGTEK invests in the educational advancements of our staff by providing the necessary resources to complete Professional and Business Certifications. Our company is our people, and we treat them like family.

EOE, including disability/veterans