Kubernetes Platform Engineer — On-Prem & Cloud Infrastructure

xceleng; Oak Park (TN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

XCEL Engineering is seeking a Kubernetes Platform Engineer to build and maintain the infrastructure behind our on-premises clusters, focusing on scalability, reliability, and maintainability.

You will lead platform engineering initiatives, evaluate key technologies, and deliver a robust internal platform that powers development across the organization. This role requires DoE Q clearance eligibility and strong Kubernetes, Linux networking, and GitOps experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in computer science or closely related field with 8+ years as a Platforms engineer.
• At least 5 years of Kubernetes experience.
• US Citizenship with ability to obtain DoE clearance (Q clearance).
• Experience administering Kubernetes on on-premises infrastructure (K3s, RKE2) or similar.
• Experience with cloud Kubernetes (GKE/EKS).
• Strong Linux networking knowledge (iptables, DNS, TCP/IP).
• Experience with GitOps (ArgoCD or Flux).
• Scripting in Bash, Python, or Go.
• Cilium CNI production experience.
• Ability to work in a team and communicate clearly.
• Understanding of Kubernetes security best practices (Pod Security Standards, RBAC, secrets).
• GCP and/or AWS cloud experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage full lifecycle of Kubernetes clusters (on-premises K3s/RKE2, GKE, EKS) and related upgrades.
• Troubleshoot cluster-level issues including control plane problems and node failures.
• Implement and maintain cluster security hardening per CIS benchmarks.
• Manage etcd health, backup procedures, and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Monitor cluster performance and optimize resource utilization for multi-tenant workloads.
• Coordinate with datacenter operations for physical infrastructure changes.

Skills

Team collaboration

Communication

Go programming

Bash scripting

Python scripting

RBAC concepts

Education

Bachelor's Degree in computer science or related field

Tools

Kubernetes (K3s/RKE2) on-prem

GKE/EKS cloud Kubernetes

Linux networking (iptables, DNS, TCP/IP)

GitOps (ArgoCD/Flux)

Cilium CNI

Terraform

Ansible

Backstage

Istio

Linkerd

AWS

GCP

BGP routing

IPv6 networking

Job description

XCEL Engineering is seeking a Kubernetes Platform Engineer to build and maintain the infrastructure behind our on-premises clusters, focusing on scalability, reliability, and maintainability.

You will lead platform engineering initiatives, evaluate key technologies, and deliver a robust internal platform that powers development across the organization. This role requires DoE Q clearance eligibility and strong Kubernetes, Linux networking, and GitOps experience.