Platform Engineer - TS/SCI with CI Polygraph

Modern Government Solutions; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Modern Government Solutions (MGS) seeks a Platform Engineer to design, deploy, maintain, and secure infrastructure for AI workloads. You will join a team building enterprise-grade platforms and development pipelines, delivering high reliability and security across the organization.

The role emphasizes Kubernetes clusters, IaC, CI/CD, and monitoring, with opportunities to mentor junior engineers and lead technical initiatives.

Qualifications

• Active DoD TS/SCI security clearance required.
• 5+ years designing, deploying, securing, and maintaining Kubernetes-based infra.
• Current IAM Level II certification per DOD 8570 IAT.
• Strong Kubernetes networking knowledge (Calico/Cilium, DNS, service meshes).
• Hands-on CI/CD and GitOps with standard tools.
• Proficiency with Terraform, Pulumi or CloudFormation and Helm/Kustomize.
• Solid Linux/Unix administration and networking basics.
• Scripting in Python/Go/Bash; strong Git workflows.
• Understanding of DevOps and SRE principles and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, secure, and maintain scalable Kubernetes clusters (EKS/AKS/GKE/OpenShift).
• Build automated CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows (Argo CD, Jenkins, GitHub Actions).
• Provision IaC using Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation; manage deployments with Helm/Kustomize.
• Secure environments with RBAC, policy enforcement, secret management (Vault/AWS Secrets).
• Implement monitoring and tracing (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, Datadog, Splunk).
• Write automation scripts in Python/Go/Bash; mentor junior engineers; lead initiatives.
• Travel up to 20% for on-site installations and customer support.

Skills

DoD TS/SCI with CI Poly clearance

Kubernetes design & security

IAM Level II certification

Kubernetes networking

CI/CD & GitOps

Infrastructure as Code

Kubernetes packaging (Helm/Kustomize)

Linux administration

Scripting (Python/Go/Bash)

DevOps & SRE principles

Git workflows

Python/Go/Bash scripting

Network fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS,HTTP

Tools

Argo CD

Terraform

Pulumi

CloudFormation

Helm

Kustomize

Vault / AWS Secrets Manager

Prometheus

Grafana

ELK/OpenSearch

Datadog

Splunk

Jenkins/GitHub Actions/Tekton/Argo Workflows

Job description

TITLE: Platform Engineer

LOCATION: McLean, VA

EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full-Time Salary

TRAVEL: 20%

POSITION SUMMARY

Modern Government Solutions (MGS) is seeking a Platform Engineer to design, deploy, maintain, and secure the infrastructure supporting our Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. You will join a team of platform engineers building and securing enterprise-grade infrastructure and development pipelines, collaborating across the organization to deliver the highest standards in platform reliability and security.

RESPONSIBILITIES (not limited to):

• Design, deploy, secure, and maintain highly available, scalable Kubernetes clusters (EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, or self-managed), including control plane and worker node architecture.
• Build and maintain automated CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Tekton, or Argo Workflows) following GitOps practices with tools such as Argo CD.
• Provision infrastructure as code using Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation, and manage Kubernetes deployments with Helm and Kustomize.
• Secure Kubernetes environments through RBAC, admission controllers, vulnerability scanning, and secret management tools such as Vault or AWS Secrets Manager.
• Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, and distributed tracing (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, Datadog, or Splunk) and troubleshoot issues across the full stack.
• Write automation scripts and custom tooling in Python, Go, or Bash; mentor junior engineers and lead technical initiatives.
• Travel up to 20% of the time for on-site installations, maintenance, and troubleshooting at customer sites or data centers.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Must possess an active DoD TS/SCI with CI Poly security clearance.
• 5+ years of professional experience designing, deploying, securing, and maintaining Kubernetes-based infrastructure.
• Current IAM Level II certification to satisfy DOD 8570 IAT requirements.
• Strong knowledge of Kubernetes networking, including CNI plugins (Calico, Cilium), network policies, service meshes (Istio, Linkerd), and DNS.
• Hands-on CI/CD and GitOps experience with industry-standard tools.
• Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation) and Kubernetes packaging tools (Helm, Kustomize).
• Strong Linux/Unix administration skills and solid grasp of core networking protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, load balancing).
• Scripting ability in Python, Go, or Bash, and expert-level Git and collaborative development workflows.
• Deep understanding of DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, with strong problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Relevant certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, or Azure DevOps Engineer Expert).
• Experience with Kubernetes operators, custom resource definitions (CRDs), or building internal developer platforms (IDPs).

*Applicants selected will be United States citizens and may be subject to a government security investigation for access to classified information.*

ABOUT US

At MGS, we believe a people-first culture corresponds to organizational success through a commitment to excellence, integrity, inclusion, and an attitude that welcomes challenges meets demands, sustains growth, and drives innovation. We provide expert mission-first technical and programmatic services and solutions for the US intelligence community, the US Department of Defense, and other governmental agencies. We create people-first organizational cultures where employees feel needed in the system, not a system that needs employees. We provide you with long-term career opportunities centrally focused on our core value system: inclusion, integrity, and a commitment to excellence.

MGS 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, or protected veteran status, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.