Senior Platform Engineer - On-Prem Kubernetes (TS)

TENICA; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 137,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

TENICA is seeking an experienced Senior Platform Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and security of enterprise Kubernetes platforms in on-premises, isolated environments with air-gapped requirements. The role emphasizes hands-on Linux administration, high-availability architectures, and platform automation in a government context.

Ideal candidates have active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility and a willingness to obtain a CI polygraph, plus strong automation, scripting, and GitOps

Qualifications

• Master's degree in STEM with 6+ years of relevant experience or a Bachelor's with 8+ years.
• Minimum of two years of hands-on experience deploying and managing production Kubernetes clusters on-premises or in non-cloud environments.
• Experience building Kubernetes clusters with Kubespray, kubeadm, or equivalent technologies.
• Strong experience administering enterprise Linux systems in production environments.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes architecture, cluster lifecycle management, container runtimes, and infrastructure troubleshooting.
• Experience developing automation scripts and playbooks using Ansible, Bash, Python, or comparable technologies.
• Experience implementing GitOps workflows using ArgoCD or comparable CD tools.
• Experience supporting air-gapped, isolated, or offline deployment environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, configure, and maintain enterprise Kubernetes platforms in on-premises and isolated environments.
• Perform advanced Linux systems administration including systemd, kernel optimization, and SSH configuration.
• Install, configure, and troubleshoot container runtimes such as containerd and CRI-O.
• Manage Linux namespaces, cgroups, and OS isolation mechanisms.
• Implement Linux security hardening using SELinux, AppArmor, and security profiles.
• Design and implement software-defined storage solutions and persistent volumes.
• Configure CSI drivers for dynamic storage provisioning and monitor storage performance.
• Build and maintain production Kubernetes clusters using kubeadm, Kubespray, or similar tools.
• Design HA Kubernetes control planes, load balancing, and resilient architectures.
• Manage etcd operations, backups, snapshots, and cluster maintenance.
• Perform Kubernetes upgrades, node maintenance, and disaster recovery procedures.
• Implement Kubernetes monitoring, logging, observability, and security controls.
• Configure RBAC, network policies, admission controllers, and container security standards.
• Support certificate lifecycle management, vulnerability remediation, and security assessments.
• Develop infrastructure automation using Ansible, Bash, Python, and IaC practices.
• Implement GitOps workflows with ArgoCD and CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure testing and deployment.
• Support container image management and deployment in air-gapped environments.
• Troubleshoot Kubernetes workloads using kubectl, k9s, and crictl.
• Collaborate with engineers, cybersecurity, and DoD stakeholders to ensure reliability and operations.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation and architecture diagrams.

Skills

Kubernetes

Linux administration

Automation scripting

CI/CD practices

Security best practices

Education

Master's degree in STEM (6+ years)

Bachelor's degree with 8+ years experience

Tools

Kubespray

kubeadm

Ansible

Bash

Python

ArgoCD

kubectl

crictl

Job description

TENICA is seeking an experienced Senior Platform Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and security of enterprise Kubernetes platforms in on-premises, isolated environments with air-gapped requirements. The role emphasizes hands-on Linux administration, high-availability architectures, and platform automation in a government context.

Ideal candidates have active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility and a willingness to obtain a CI polygraph, plus strong automation, scripting, and GitOps