Platform Engineer - Army

Defense Unicorns; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% Company Paid Health Premiums

Health Savings Account

401(k) Retirement Plan

Company Stock Options

Home Office Budget

Job summary

Defense Unicorns is looking for a skilled Platform Engineer with strong proficiency in Kubernetes and hybrid cloud architectures. The successful candidate will deploy and manage environments across AWS EKS and Azure AKS, implementing Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) modules and serving as the primary technical interface for customers.

Benefits include 100% company-paid health premiums, flexible time off, and reimbursement for training. Ideal candidates will possess a DoD IAT Level II certification and have a strong analytical mindset.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Platform Engineer or similar role.
• Hands‑on experience with Azure AKS, AWS EKS, or on‑prem Kubernetes.
• Comfortable serving as the primary technical interface for customers.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and manage UDS environments across AWS EKS, Azure AKS, and on‑prem.
• Build and maintain custom UDS packages and modules.
• Implement and manage Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) modules.

Skills

Strong proficiency with Kubernetes

Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)

Hybrid cloud architectures

Azure AKS experience

GitOps experience

DevSecOps/DevOps knowledge

Strong analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Education

DoD IAT Level II certification (such as Security+)

Tools

Terraform

OpenTofu

Helm

Job description

EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION WILL REQUIRE AN ACTIVE SECRET CLEARANCE TO APPLY.

Role Description

In this position, you will be expected to:

• Possess strong proficiency with Kubernetes, Helm, and containerized applications, enabling robust platform deployment and management.
• Deploy and manage UDS environments across AWS EKS, Azure AKS, and on‑prem for government‑backed commercial vendors.
• Build and maintain custom UDS packages and application‑specific modules, enabling streamlined deployment of customer environments.
• Implement and manage Infrastructure‑as‑Code (IaC) modules to reliably provision and configure customer environments.
• Adhere to SLA commitments, including on‑call support for critical UDS issues in customer environments.
• Serve as the primary technical interface for customers, providing guidance, troubleshooting, and resolution of complex UDS issues.
• Develop and deliver technical training content tailored to customer needs, including remote and on‑site sessions demonstrating platform features and best practices.
• Coordinate customer onboarding and ensure smooth adoption of UDS deployments.
• Gather feedback from customers and the community to provide actionable insights to internal teams, improving products, services, and deployment processes.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to experiment with new tools, techniques, and strategies for improving deployment efficiency and customer outcomes.
• Analyze operational and usage data to identify trends, optimize delivery strategies, and drive process improvement.
• Experiment with new tools, techniques, and technologies to improve growth outcomes.
• Contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the organization.

The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.

Preferred Experience and Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Platform Engineer or similar role, with a focus on system architecture and development.
• Strong knowledge of hybrid cloud architectures, including networking, RBAC, and storage for cloud and on‑prem clusters.
• Hands‑on experience with Azure AKS, AWS EKS, or on‑perm Kubernetes (e.g., RKE2, K3s, OpenShift).
• Experience with Helm, GitOps, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code (Terraform, OpenTofu) for infrastructure, cluster provisioning and lifecycle management.
• Knowledgeable about DevSecOps/DevOps and CI/CD pipelines running on GitLab or GitHub.
• Comfortable serving as the primary technical interface for customers, providing architecture guidance, production support, and platform expertise.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret complex data for informed decision‑making.
• Excellent communication skills and effectiveness in a remote team environment.
• Self‑motivated, proactive, and able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Willingness to travel as needed for on‑site training and support.
• DoD IAT Level II certification (such as Security+).
• A DoD Secret or higher clearance is not required but preferred.

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health

• Premiums are 100% Company Paid
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Company Stock Options
• Home Office Budget

Leave

• We offer all full‑time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s.

Learning

• Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions
• Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)

Defense Unicorns is an equal‑time employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

If you are a skilled Platform Engineer looking to contribute to the growth and success of a dynamic organization, we invite you to apply and join our team.