Principal Platform Engineer

Clarity Innovations, LLC; Herndon (VA); Hybrid; USD 113,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Clarity Innovations in Herndon, VA is seeking a senior Platform Engineer to design and operate Kubernetes-based cloud systems across AWS/Azure. You will bridge development and production, applying Terraform, Crossplane, Ansible, and IaC to deliver scalable, secure solutions that support national security missions.

The role emphasizes CI/CD GitOps, automation, and observability with Prometheus, Grafana, Helm, and Istio, while maintaining zero-trust security.

Qualifications

• Mission-focused mindset aimed at cyber dominance to support warfighter objectives.
• Top Secret security clearance required.
• Bachelor's degree or 4 years hands-on engineering experience.
• 8+ years in Platform/Full Stack engineering or similar roles.
• Proficient with Kubernetes in production environments.
• Experience with Prometheus monitoring and Helm packaging.
• CI/CD with GitOps deployments and automated pipelines.
• Familiarity with Terraform, IaC, and containerization.

Responsibilities

• Lead design of Kubernetes and cloud-based systems (AWS/Azure).
• Provision and manage IaC with Terraform, Crossplane, or Ansible.
• Manage environments using KIND to bridge dev and production.
• Deploy and maintain AI workloads to solve customer challenges.
• Identify bottlenecks and optimize stack performance.
• Deploy, manage, and maintain Kubernetes across environments.
• Monitor/workloads with Prometheus and Grafana; use Helm/Kustomize.
• Implement Istio for service mesh and network policies.

Skills

Kubernetes

Terraform

Crossplane

Ansible

KIND

Istio

Helm

Kustomize

Prometheus

Grafana

Docker

Go

Python

CI/CD

GitOps

IaC

OpenID Connect

KeyCloak

Foundry

HITL

Cross Domain Solutions

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Engineering/Computer Science/IT

Tools

Docker

Job description

Clarity Innovations is a trusted national security partner, dedicated to safeguarding our nation’s interests and delivering innovative solutions that empower the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to transform data into actionable intelligence, ensuring mission success in an evolving world.

Our mission-first software and data engineering platform modernizes data operations, utilizing advanced workflows, CI/CD, and secure DevSecOps practices. We focus on challenges in Information Warfare, Cyber Operations, Operational Security, and Data Structuring, enabling end-to-end solutions that drive operational impact.

We are committed to delivering cutting-edge tools and capabilities that address the most complex national security challenges, empowering our partners to stay ahead of emerging threats and ensuring the success of their critical missions. At Clarity, we are people-focused and set on being a destination employer for top talent, offering an environment where innovation thrives, careers grow, and individuals are valued. Join us as we continue to lead innovation and tackle the most pressing challenges in national security.

Location: Herndon, VA (Hybrid, 3+ days in office)

Role

This position is part of a dynamic team at the forefront of implementing designs to support the next generation of cyber operations. This role requires technical versatility across the stack, from backend services to infrastructure. Above all, Engineers are driven by a "Whatever It Takes" mindset—executing in an expedient and pragmatic way while keeping the mission top-of-mind and making excellent engineering decisions to deliver successful outcomes correctly and on-time.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of Kubernetes and cloud-based systems (AWS/Azure).
• Provision and manage infrastructure as code (IaC) using tools like Terraform, Crossplane, or Ansible.
• Manage specialized environments using tools like KIND to bridge the gap between development and operational deployment.
• Deploy and maintain AI workloads as appropriate to solve customer challenges.
• Identify bottlenecks and optimize specific features across the stack, from service latency to resource utilization.
• Deploy, manage, and maintain Kubernetes across development and production environments.
• Monitor and optimize workloads using Helm and Kustomize to deploy microservices at scale.
• Implement network policies, load balancing, and service discovery using Istio Service Mesh.

DevSecOps & Automation

Design and operate CI/CD pipelines to streamline code deployments and facilitate operational capabilities.

Ensure infrastructure security through implementing FIPS encryption, Zero Trust principles, and robust identity management.

Relentless Automation: Advocate for and implement robust automation to eliminate manual work and improve system reliability.

Operations & Observability

Implement and monitor system availability and security, using Prometheus and Grafana.

Troubleshoot and resolve production incidents to minimize downtime, relentlessly seeking automated long-term fixes.

Manage recovery processes to ensure mission continuity.

Understand high-level operational relevancy and business objectives of the technology you are implementing.

Contribute to sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.

Promote automation practices across teams to enhance agility and performance.

Knowledge Management: Create clear documentation and stay updated on latest industry trends to keep solutions cutting-edge.

Required Qualifications

• Mission-focused mindset with an emphasis on achieving cyber dominance to provide a technical advantage for the warfighter and others executing critical US national security objectives.
• A bias for action, ownership, and the drive to see projects through to mission completion.
• Current Top Secret security clearance.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, IT, or a related technical discipline. (Degree requirement can be met with four years of hands-on experience in an Engineering or similar full-time position.)
• More than 8 years of industry experience as a Platform Engineer, Full Stack Engineer or similar role.
• Proficient with container orchestration using Kubernetes in production environments.
• Experience with monitoring tools for Kubernetes environments, such as Prometheus.
• Experience working with Helm charts for packaging applications.
• Ability to collaborate as a team and execute independently.
• Thrives in a high-trust/startup, adaptable team environment.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and CI/CD GitOps based deployments.
• Proficient in containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Podman).
• Understanding of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools, such as Terraform.
• Expertise with both compiled and scripting languages (Go, Python, etc).

Preferred Qualifications

• SCI eligibility.
• Expertise in the Cyber Operations.
• Expertise with Istio for service mesh management.
• Experience with Rook-Ceph for storage.
• Experience with Kubernetes operators and custom resource definitions (CRDs).
• Experience with DevSecOps practices and integrating security tools with Kubernetes.
• Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL).
• Experience with OIDC (OpenID Connect) and KeyCloak.
• Familiarity with PLTR technologies, such as Foundry.
• Familiarity with Agile development practices and the Scaled Agile Framework.
• Familiarity with Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) utilities.
• Familiarity with VPN technologies such as IPSec, OpenVPN, and Wireguard.
• Familiarity with integrating with Cross Domain Solutions.

Salary Range: $113,000 - $300,000

We are 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, disability, or veteran status.