Senior Platform Engineer - Army (FedD169/FedD170)

Defense Unicorns; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 148,750 - 201,250; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision

Company paid premiums

Home office budget

Stock options

401k retirement plan

Paid holidays & leave

Training/conference reimbursements

Job summary

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to join our Army team, focused on building and operating product‑aligned platform capabilities that enable how our software is developed, validated, and experienced. This role owns persistent, always‑on environments and integration layers across the UDS platform, powering demos and UX validation.

You will reduce ad‑hoc demo setup by establishing self‑service environments and tighter system integration, enabling engineering teams to focus on

Qualifications

• US citizenship and eligibility to obtain a clearance.
• Strong experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or infra‑focused software.
• Hands‑on with cloud environments, especially Azure.
• Deep familiarity with Kubernetes and container systems.
• Experience with Helm, GitOps, and IaC (Terraform, Pulumi).
• Experience building/shared or multi‑tenant environments.
• Strong CI/CD understanding and deployment pipelines.
• Experience integrating distributed systems.
• Comfort across app, infra, and networking boundaries.
• Proficient in Linux/Unix systems.
• Strong problem solving and independent work capability.
• Strong communication and collaboration with Eng, Product, UX.

Responsibilities

• Design and operate always‑on product environments for demos and internal use.
• Build feature branch and preview environments to support UX feedback.
• Enable internal dogfooding with long‑running deployments of UDS products.
• Integrate core components across Fleet Management, Edge Management, OS, and services.
• Create shared, reproducible infrastructure to reduce local environment reliance.
• Support self‑service demo and trial environments.
• Improve reliability by enabling real‑world usage and validation.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and UX to reflect real user scenarios.
• Contribute to platform and product architecture decisions on environments and integration.

Skills

Platform engineering

CI/CD

Independent work

Cross-team collaboration

Tools

Azure

Kubernetes

Helm

GitOps

Terraform

Pulumi

Linux/Unix

Job description

Senior Platform Engineer

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to join our Army team, focused on building and operating product‑aligned platform capabilities that enable how our software is developed, validated, and experienced.

This role is responsible for creating and owning persistent, always‑on environments and integration layers across the UDS platform, including Fleet Management, Edge Management, and system‑level components. These environments power internal dogfooding, UX validation, and customer demos, reducing reliance on ad‑hoc local setups and enabling scalable, repeatable, and delightful product experiences.

Today, engineers are frequently pulled into demo setup and environment management, creating context switching and slowing product delivery. This role exists to solve that problem by establishing reliable, self‑service environments and tighter system integration, allowing engineering teams to focus on building while improving overall product quality and usability.

You will operate at the intersection of platform engineering and product development, ensuring that the systems we build can be continuously exercised, validated, and experienced in real‑world conditions. You will be responsible for advocating for a delightful customer product experience as the integrator of the product portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and operate always‑on product environments for customer demos, internal use, and stakeholder access
• Build feature branch and preview environments to support UX and rapid feedback loops
• Enable internal dogfooding through real, long‑running deployments of UDS products
• Integrate core system components across Fleet Management, Edge Management, OS, and related services
• Reduce reliance on local environments by creating shared, reproducible infrastructure
• Support pathways toward self‑service demo and trial environments
• Improve system reliability by enabling continuous, real‑world usage and validation
• Partner with engineering, product, and UX to ensure environments reflect real user scenarios
• Contribute to platform and product architecture decisions where environments and integration are concerned

Travel required: Up to 25%

Required Qualifications

• US citizenship and eligibility to obtain a clearance
• Strong experience in platform engineering, DevOps, or infrastructure‑focused software engineering
• Hands‑on experience with cloud environments, specifically Azure
• Deep familiarity with Kubernetes and container‑based systems
• Experience with Helm, GitOps workflows, and Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi)
• Experience building and operating shared or multi‑tenant environments
• Strong understanding of CI/CD and deployment pipelines
• Experience integrating distributed systems across multiple services
• Comfortable working across system boundaries (application, infrastructure, networking)
• Proficiency with Linux/Unix systems
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to operate independently in ambiguous environments
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across engineering, product, and UX

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret clearance
• System image/architecture and deployment experience
• Familiarity with the Army, Army Software Factory, or similar DoD software organizations
• Experience with Zarf or UDS

Compensation: $148,750 to $201,250 (full compensation packages are based on candidate experience; ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States)

The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization.

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health:

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Premiums are 100% Company Paid
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance

Financial:

• 401k 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
• Paid Parental Leave

Learning:

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

Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity 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.