Cloud | Platform Engineer

UDX Inc.; Durham, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 96,000 - 179,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote contract work

Overlap with US Eastern hours

Direct access to founders

Multi-cloud platform experience

Job summary

UDX Inc. is seeking a senior Cloud Platform Engineer to own and extend our production Kubernetes-based platform across GCP, AWS, and Azure. You will ship changes via pull requests, maintain workers images, and ensure reliable deployments for multiple clients.

You will work on infrastructure as code modules, GitHub Actions, and Kubernetes operators, with strong emphasis on documentation and preventative security. Remote contract role overlapping US Eastern hours.

Qualifications

• Five+ years running production Kubernetes, with multi-tenant or multi-client exposure.
• Fluency in OpenTofu or Terraform modules and GitHub Actions workflows.
• Working knowledge of GCP and AWS IAM, workload identity federation, and cloud-native secret management.
• PHP/Node.js runtime knowledge to debug container health in WordPress or Next.js environments.
• Strong habit of linking issues in commits and maintaining a clear log of changes.

Responsibilities

• Own the worker image family updates, security patches, release tagging, and automated redeploys for tenants.
• Maintain and extend Rabbit automation modules (OpenTofu/Terraform) across GCP, AWS, Azure and reusable GitHub Actions workflows.
• Finish platform migrations across tenant repositories with one PR per repository and rollout tracked in a single issue.
• Run cloud security operations: Security Command Center, GuardDuty findings, IAM and workload identity, secrets inventory.
• Diagnose production incidents on GKE and AKS: pods, DNS, certs, costs, cache, DB connectivity.
• Document operations: issue comments, PRs, and runbooks for recurring tasks.

Skills

Kubernetes

GKE / EKS / AKS

OpenTofu

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Docker image supply

Cloud IAM / workload identity

WordPress / PHP / Node.js runtime

English writing

Tools

OpenTofu

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Job description

ENGINEERING CAREERS

Cloud | Platform Engineer

UDX is looking for a senior platform engineer to own the infrastructure that runs our clients’ workloads: container images, infrastructure-as-code modules, GitHub Actions workflows and Kubernetes clusters across three clouds.

You will take over a working platform, not build one. Rabbit already provisions and runs production for a dozen clients. Your job is to keep it current, extend it when a client needs something new, and make every change land as a pull request that another engineer could read and revert.

The work is concrete: a base image needs a patch and every tenant that runs on it needs a redeploy; a client needs a new managed service wired into their environment; a monitoring threshold is wrong across eighteen repositories; a migration that was started needs to be finished and rolled out. You will be handed a GitHub issue with enough context to start, and you are expected to leave commits, comments and a paper trail behind.

This is a contract role, remote, with overlap required for US Eastern working hours. You will hold administrative access to client infrastructure, so we hire slowly and check references.

UDX is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) founded in 2011 and headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with a distributed engineering team. We build and run cloud infrastructure and web platforms for organizations that cannot afford downtime: cultural institutions, live event promoters, consumer brands, real estate and professional certification bodies. Our delivery platform, Rabbit, turns a Git repository into a fully provisioned, monitored, secured environment on Kubernetes across GCP, AWS and Azure. We also ship Kubernetes operators to the Azure Marketplace.

Every hour we work maps to a GitHub issue. Every change is a pull request. Every day of work leaves a comment. That is how we bill, how we prove work to clients, and how we know what happened six months later.

What you'll do

• Own the worker image family (PHP, Node.js, WordPress runtime, SFTP gateway): base image updates, security patches, release tagging, and the automated redeploy of every tenant running on them.
• Maintain and extend the Rabbit automation modules (OpenTofu/Terraform on GCP, AWS and Azure) and the reusable GitHub Actions workflows that every client repository consumes.
• Finish and roll out platform migrations across tenant repositories, one pull request per repository, with the rollout tracked in a single issue.
• Run cloud security operations for clients: Security Command Center and GuardDuty findings, IAM and workload identity, secrets inventory, monthly OS patching, backup and restore tests.
• Keep the dependency and image update bots honest: verify what they change, catch what they miss, and never let a green dashboard stand in for a merged pull request.
• Diagnose production incidents on GKE and AKS: pod scheduling, cost spikes, DNS and certificate expiry, cache invalidation, database connectivity.
• Write the operational record as you go: an issue comment per working day, a PR per change, a runbook per recurring task.

What you'll need

• Five or more years running production Kubernetes, with at least two years on GKE, EKS or AKS in a multi-tenant or multi-client setting.
• Fluency in OpenTofu or Terraform modules, GitHub Actions (reusable workflows, composite actions, OIDC federation) and Docker image supply chain.
• Working knowledge of GCP and AWS IAM, workload identity federation, and cloud-native secret management. Azure is a plus.
• Enough PHP and Node.js runtime knowledge to debug why a WordPress or Next.js container is unhealthy.
• A habit of leaving evidence: you link issues in commits, comment before you close, and can explain any change from the log alone.
• Written English that a client can read. You will be in their repositories.
• Overlap with US Eastern hours for calls and incidents.

What we offer

• Contract engagement, hourly, with a defined scope and a real backlog on day one.
• A platform that is already built and running in production, so your work ships to real clients immediately.
• Multi-cloud work (GCP, AWS, Azure) and Kubernetes operator development destined for the Azure Marketplace.
• Direct access to the founders. No layers, no ticket queue between you and the decision.
• Remote, flexible hours outside the US Eastern overlap.

Engagement

Specialization Cloud platform, Kubernetes, infrastructure as code, security operations Commitment 20 to 30 hours a week to start, growing with the backlog Engagement Contract, hourly, invoiced monthly against GitHub issues Work setup Remote Overlap At least 4 hours a day inside US Eastern business hours Access Administrative access to client infrastructure, granted after reference checks, hardware key required Location No restriction; US or European time zones preferred for incident overlap Language English, written and spoken; you will write in client repositories Start As soon as the references clear How we work Issue per task, pull request per change, comment per day