Senior Platform Infrastructure Software Engineer

Alkira Australia; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Alkira seeks a Senior Platform Infrastructure Software Engineer to own foundational platform services, including global Kubernetes footprint, CI/CD runners, and shared infra such as databases and storage. You will drive architecture, create reusable modules, and mentor engineers.

You will also lead disaster recovery, observability efforts, and production tooling, shaping the scale of Alkira’s NIaaS platform.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in infrastructure, platform, DevOps, or SRE engineering, including production ownership.
• Deep production Kubernetes experience operating clusters, not only deploying to them.
• Strong Terraform or OpenTofu experience at scale: module design for other teams, state management, policy-as-code.
• Strong programming ability in Go, Python, or a comparable language.
• Experience with stateful shared services in production (message brokers, databases, CA, etc.).
• Deep Linux fundamentals and system-level debugging under load.
• Understanding of networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, load balancing, service-to-service.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider; ability to work across others.
• Sound judgment about blast radius and reversible risky changes.
• Strong technical judgment, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the global Kubernetes cluster footprint across regions and cloud providers.
• Own internal CI/CD runners and build platforms capacity, isolation, scaling, and performance.
• Own shared infrastructure like managed databases, object storage, registries, and build platforms.
• Own lifecycle of shared platform services such as PKI, vaults, Kubernetes operators.
• Own disaster recovery design, backups, replication, RTO/RPO targets, and DR drills.
• Design reusable Terraform/OpenTofu modules for other teams with policy built in.
• Own observability stack and set the standard for instrumentation.
• Build production tooling in Go or Python; significant portion is software engineering.
• Mentor engineers via code/design reviews and technical guidance.
• Drive cost-down and drift elimination; participate in on-call rotations.

Skills

Kubernetes

Go

Python

Terraform

OpenTofu

Linux

Networking

Cloud platforms

CI/CD

Code review

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related technical field

Tools

Terraform

OpenTofu

Kubernetes

ArgoCD/ Flux

Helm/Kustomize

Job description

The Role

Alkira is transforming networking through its Network Infrastructure as a Service (NIaaS) platform, enabling enterprises to build andoperate global cloud networks with simplicity, scale, and agility.We are seeking a Senior Platform Infrastructure Software Engineer to own the foundational layer every other engineering team at Alkira depends on, including Platform Services.

Platform Infrastructure does not own customer-facing features. We build the primitives other engineering teams need in order to work at all: the global Kubernetes cluster footprint, the internal cluster running our CI/CD runners and build platforms, the shared infrastructure teams consume (databases, object storage, container registries), and the lifecycle of the shared services everything else is built on. We also build the Terraform modules other teams use to ship their own infrastructure quickly and safely.

Our customers are engineers, and the output is code, Terraform configuration/modules, Go and Python tooling, cluster and service automation. You will own complex projects, drive architectural decisions, and set the standards other engineers work within.

Responsibilities

• Own the global Kubernetes cluster footprint across regions and cloud providers: provisioning, upgrades, multi-tenancy, resource and network policy, andfailureisolation.
• Own the internal cluster running CI/CD runners and build platforms: capacity, isolation, scaling, and the build performance every team feels daily.
• Own the shared infrastructure other teams consume - managed databases, object storage buckets, container registries, and build platforms including provisioning paths, access model, and cost.
• Own the full lifecycle of shared platform services such asinternal PKI, vaults, Kubernetesoperators.
• Own disaster recovery for the platform: backup and restore, replication and failover design, documented RTO and RPO targets, and regular DR exercises that prove recovery works.
• Design and publish reusable Terraform/OpenTofumodules that let other teams deliver their own infrastructure faster, with correctness and policy built in rather than reviewed in. Treat adoption by other teams as the measure of whether a module succeeded.
• Own the observability stackand set the standard otherteamsinstrument against.
• Build production tooling in Go or Python. A significant share of this role is software engineering, not configuration
• Mentor engineers through code review, design review, and technical guidance
• Drive down cost andeliminatedrift: orphaned resources, stale state, pipelines outliving the services they built.
• Participate in the on-call rotation for the Platform Infrastructure

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, ora relatedtechnical field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in infrastructure, platform, DevOps, or SRE engineering, including production ownership.
• Deep production Kubernetes experience operating clusters, not onlydeploying tothem.
• Strong Terraform orOpenTofuexperience at scale: module design intended for other teams to consume, state management, and policy-as-code.
• Strong programming ability in Go, Python, or a comparable language.
• Experience running stateful shared services/infrastructurein production(message broker,databases, certificateauthority, etc...)or comparable.
• Deep Linux fundamentals: process and resource behavior, and system-level debugging under load.
• Understanding ofnetworking fundamentals including TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, load balancing, and service-to-service communication.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider and the ability to work across others.
• Sound judgment about blast radius, and the discipline to make risky changes reversible.
• Strong technical judgment, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills.

Preferred

• Experience on an internal platform or developer platform team, where the users were other engineers.
• Experience withScalror otherIaCplatforms, including policy-as-code with OPA
• GitOpswithArgoCDor Flux; Helm,Kustomize, or operator development.
• Managing self-hosted CI runners
• Deep understanding ofPrometheus/Thanosor equivalent, including writing exporters and instrumentation standards.
• Experience with observability platforms, telemetry systems, logging, distributed tracing, and monitoring architectures.
• Experience buildinghighly available, multi-tenant SaaS platformsoperatingatsignificantscale.
• Proven ability to influence engineering strategy across organizations and mentor technical talent.
• Carrying productionon-callfor what you built.

About Alkira

Alkira, a Lumen company, is building the future of enterprise networking: one programmable platform to connect, secure, and operate every cloud, site, partner, data center, and AI workload. Founded by Amir and Atif Khan, the creators of Viptela and pioneers of the SD-WAN market, Alkira was built to radically simplify how enterprises deploy and manage network infrastructure. Today, as part of Lumen, we are bringing that cloud-native operating model to a global network foundation trusted by the world’s largest enterprises.

Our platform helps customers move faster without managing hardware, stitching together providers, or operating fragmented cloud networks. Teams can build and scale connectivity on demand, apply consistent security and segmentation, and gain visibility across distributed environments from one place.

At Alkira, you’ll help shape the next chapter of networking: cloud-like consumption, private-network performance, and total control across the enterprise. We move fast, solve hard problems, and build technology that changes how global businesses connect.

Join us and help build the future of networking.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $ 84,629- $ 155,152 USD. Your actual base salary and level will be determined on a case by case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge, skills, experience, education and location. The interview process will include a coding challenge, screening with the hiring manager and technical interviews.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer-sponsored visa (e.g., H-1B) now or in the future. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position at this time.

Life at Alkira

Life at Alkira is human and connected, even in a fast moving, AI-focused organization. We set clear expectations and trust people to meet them. With real support and shared accountability, teams collaborate better, move faster, and deliver meaningful outcomes.

Our Lumen 8 behaviors guide how we interact, make decisions, and work together, shaping a culture built to perform and win.

To learn more about Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution and how we live into the Lumen 8, please visit:
https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/life-at-lumen

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of our FAQ page. Job-related concerns identified during the background screening may disqualify you from the new position or your current role. Background results will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, "protected statuses"). We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination in any employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, benefits, discipline, termination, job assignments or training.

Privacy Notice

Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process. Our ApplicantPrivacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect applicant information, as well as how individuals may request access to or deletion of their personal data.

To review Alkira's Global Employment Applicant and Talent Community Privacy Notice, please visit:
https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/privacy-notice

Disclaimer

The job responsibilities described above indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not intended to include a comprehensive inventory of all duties and responsibilities for this job. Job duties and responsibilities are subject to change based on evolving business needs and conditions.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Please be advised that Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution does not require any form of payment from job applicants during the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings will be posted on our official website or communicated through official company email addresses. If you encounter any job offers that request payment in exchange for employment at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution, they are not for employment with us but may relate to another company with a similar name.