Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Engineer

Prattwhitney; Colorado; Hybrid; USD 108,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

401(k) matching

Flexible work schedules

Educational assistance

Job summary

RTX is seeking a senior AKS Engineer to design, implement, and support containerized platforms within our enterprise Azure cloud. You will deploy and manage AKS clusters, build CI/CD pipelines, and enforce security controls while collaborating with architects to scale microservices.

Remote role in the U.S. with a focus on reliability, governance, and operational excellence. This role demands hands-on cloud and Kubernetes experience and strong automation skills.

Qualifications

• University degree or equivalent experience is required with substantial relevant work history.
• 5+ years of experience with cloud platforms; 3+ years hands-on Azure with 2+ years supporting production Kubernetes (AKS preferred).
• Strong understanding of container architecture, Docker, and orchestration with Azure networking, security, and managed identities.
• Experience with IaC (Terraform, Bicep) and GitOps approaches (Flux, ArgoCD) with CI/CD pipelines.
• Hands-on experience administering Linux and Windows Server environments, including monitoring, patching, and performance optimization.

Responsibilities

• Deploy, configure, and maintain production and non-production AKS clusters following enterprise standards.
• Manage cluster lifecycle: upgrades, scaling, node management, workload integrations.
• Build and optimize CI/CD pipelines supporting containerized workloads using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar tools.
• Develop and maintain Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Bicep, ARM).
• Implement and enforce AKS security controls including RBAC, Azure AD integration, image scanning, secrets management, and network security measures.
• Monitor workloads using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Prometheus/Grafana, and other observability tools; address performance and reliability issues.
• Collaborate with application teams and architects to design and support scalable microservices and containerized solutions.
• Maintain documentation, runbooks, architecture patterns, and operational standards.
• Participate in on-call rotations and incident response for AKS and related cloud platform services.
• Support governance, compliance, and audit requirements for Kubernetes environments.

Skills

Kubernetes

AKS

Cloud platforms

Linux/Windows admin

CI/CD practices

GitOps

RBAC & Azure AD

Containerization

Security controls

Education

University degree or equivalent

Advanced degree in related field

Tools

Terraform

Bicep

Arm templates

GitHub Actions

Azure DevOps

Helm

Flux

ArgoCD

Prometheus

Grafana

Job description

At RTX, the world's largest aerospace and defense company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. With our three market leading businesses, world-class operations and investments in research and development, we offer capabilities and opportunity no one else can. Together, we push the boundaries of known science and find new ways to connect and protect our world. Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense.

The following position is to join our RTX Enterprise Services team: The Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting containerized application platforms within the enterprise Azure cloud environment. This senior individual contributor role focuses on delivering scalable, reliable, and secure Kubernetes-based solutions. The engineer contributes technical depth, operational reliability, and continuous improvement but does not serve as the team lead.

Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the company’s immigration sponsorship now or in the future. The company will not offer immigration sponsorship for this position. The company will not seek an export authorization for this role. Security clearance type: None/Not Required. Security clearance status: Not Required.

What You Will Do

• Deploy, configure, and maintain production and non‑production AKS clusters following enterprise standards.
• Manage all cluster lifecycle activities including upgrades, scaling, node management, and workload integrations.
• Build and optimize CI/CD pipelines supporting containerized workloads using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar tools.
• Develop and maintain Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts, and infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, Bicep, ARM).
• Implement and enforce AKS security controls including RBAC, Azure AD integration, image scanning, secrets management, and network security measures.
• Monitor workloads using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Prometheus/Grafana, and other observability tools; proactively address performance and reliability issues.
• Partner with application teams and architects to design and support scalable microservices and containerized solutions.
• Maintain documentation, runbooks, architecture patterns, and operational standards.
• Participate in on‑call rotations and support incident response for AKS and related cloud platform services.
• Support governance, compliance, and audit requirements for Kubernetes environments.

Required Qualifications

• Typically requires: A University Degree or equivalent experience and minimum 8 years prior relevant experience, or
• An Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years experience 5+ years of experience with cloud platforms; 3+ years hands‑on Azure experience with 2+ years supporting or managing production Kubernetes clusters (AKS preferred).
• Understanding of container architecture, Docker, and orchestration fundamentals with knowledge of Azure networking, security, managed identities, and resource architecture.
• Experience with IaC (Terraform, Bicep) and GitOps approaches (Flux, ArgoCD) with hands‑on experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Demonstrated deep, hands‑on daily experience administering and troubleshooting both Linux and Windows Server environments, including system configuration, monitoring, patching, and performance optimization and must have diagnostic skills across distributed systems, compute, networking, storage, and application layers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Azure certifications (AZ‑104, AZ‑305, AZ‑400, AZ‑500) or Kubernetes certifications (CKA/CKAD).
• Experience with service mesh architectures (Istio, Linkerd) or ingress controllers.
• Exposure to cost optimization strategies for Kubernetes.
• Understanding of microservices architecture patterns and distributed system design.

What We Offer

Whether you’re just starting out on your career journey or are an experienced professional, we offer a robust total rewards package with compensation; healthcare, wellness, retirement and work/life benefits; career development and recognition programs.

Some of the benefits we offer include parental (including paternal) leave, flexible work schedules, achievement awards, educational assistance and child/adult backup care.

The salary range for this role is 107,500 USD - 204,500 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. RTX considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits, including but not limited to, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, flexible work schedules, employee assistance program, Employee Scholar Program, parental leave, paid time off, and holidays.

Specific benefits are dependent upon the specific business unit as well as whether or not the position is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement. Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position and whether or not it is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance.

This role is a U.S.-based role. If the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply. RTX anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require RTX to shorten or extend the application window.

Location

This position is remote. Please consider the following role type definition as you apply for this role: Remote: This position is currently designated as remote. Employees who are working in Remote roles will work primarily offsite (from home). As part of our commitment to maintaining a secure hiring process, candidates may be asked to attend select steps of the interview process in-person at one of our office locations, regardless of whether the role is designated as on‑site, hybrid or remote.

RTX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected class.

RTX provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.

Privacy Policy and Terms: Click on this link to read the Policy and Terms RTX is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. It comprises three industry-leading businesses – Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. Its 195,000 employees enable the company to operate at the edge of known science as they imagine and deliver solutions that push the boundaries in quantum physics, electric propulsion, directed energy, hypersonics, avionics and cybersecurity. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.