Staff Site Reliability Engineer (Kubernetes)

Okta; Washington; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work from home opportunities

Health + Wellness

Financial Benefits

Pay + Incentives

Time Off

Everyday Living

Resources

Job summary

Okta is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to build and manage Kubernetes platforms on AWS, focusing on reliability, scalability, and security. You will design highly available clusters, automate deployments, and optimize costs while supporting cloud-native applications.

The role requires hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Helm, Karpenter, Istio, and AWS services, plus strong scripting (Python/Bash/Go) and CI/CD tooling. Travel may be required for onboarding at SF or Chicago offices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering or related field is required or equivalent experience.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes platforms and cloud-native architectures.
• Experience with AWS cloud services and multi-region environments.
• Proficiency in Kubernetes tooling: Helm, Karpenter, Istio, and related tech.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain highly available, scalable Kubernetes platforms.
• Manage AWS infrastructure (EKS, RDS, S3, VPCs, IAM) with cost and security best practices.
• Develop Helm charts for production deployments and automate workflows with CI/CD.
• Implement and manage Karpenter for dynamic cluster scaling.
• Configure Istio for service mesh, observability, and secure communications.
• Automate platform deployment, scaling, and CI/CD integration with minimal downtime.
• Respond to incidents, troubleshoot performance, availability, and security issues.
• Ensure security and compliance across cloud platforms and Kubernetes clusters.
• Document procedures and promote knowledge sharing across teams.

Skills

Kubernetes

AWS

Istio

Karpenter

Helm

Terraform

CI/CD

Python

Automation

Security

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related field

Certifications: CKA/CKAD/AWS DevOps Engineer (preferred)

Tools

Helm

Karpenter

Jenkins

GitLab

CircleCI

Terraform

Ansible

Spinnaker

Job description

• The Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) will play a key role in building and managing Kubernetes platforms that support cloud-native applications and services
• This position focuses on architecting and managing reliable, scalable, and secure Kubernetes-based platforms on AWS, ensuring high availability and performance while optimizing costs and automation. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with AWS infrastructure, Kubernetes platform creation, Helm charts, Karpenter scaling, and Istio service mesh
• Kubernetes Platform Creation: Design, implement, and maintain highly available, scalable, and fault-tolerant Kubernetes platforms. Ensure clusters are optimized for production workloads, providing high resilience and operational efficiency
• AWS Infrastructure Management: Build, manage, and optimize AWS cloud infrastructure, including EKS,ECS, S3, VPCs, RDS, IAM, and more. Implement best practices for cost management, scaling, and security within AWS
• Helm Management: Utilize Helm to automate and streamline the deployment of applications and services to Kubernetes clusters. Create, maintain, and manage Helm charts for production-ready deployments
• Karpenter Implementation: Implement and manage Karpenter to dynamically scale Kubernetes clusters in response to workload demands
• Istio Service Mesh Management: Configure and manage Istio to provide service-to-service communication, security, and observability within the Kubernetes clusters. Enable fine-grained traffic management, service discovery, and policy enforcement
• Platform Automation & Scaling: Automate the deployment, scaling, and management of infrastructure and applications. Work with CI/CD pipelines to ensure a seamless flow from development to production with minimal downtime
• Incident Management & Troubleshooting: Respond to incidents, troubleshoot, and resolve system issues related to performance, availability, and security in a timely and effective manner
• Security & Compliance: Design and implement secure cloud infrastructure with appropriate access controls, network security, and compliance frameworks
• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: Create and maintain detailed documentation for Kubernetes platform setup, operational procedures, and best practices. Promote knowledge sharing across teams

Benefits

• Work from home opportunities
• Health + Wellness
• Financial Benefits
• Pay + Incentives
• Time Off
• Everyday Living
• Resources

• 4+ years of Experience with Terraform
• Hands-on experience with Helm for Kubernetes application deployment and management
• Proficiency in CI/CD pipelines and automation tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab, CircleCI, Terraform, Ansible, Spinnaker)
• Experience with multi-region cloud environments
• 5+ years of Experience with AWS
• Expertise in managing and securing Istio for service mesh, including traffic management, security, and observability features
• Experience with monitoring, logging, and alerting tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, and ELK Stack
• Proven experience with AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFormation, IAM, etc.) and solid understanding of cloud-native architectures
• Strong expertise in Kubernetes platform creation, management, and optimisation (e.g., setting up highly available clusters, networking, and storage)
• 4+ years of experience with Kubernetes/Helm
• Strong scripting and automation skills in Python, Bash, or Go for infrastructure management and platform automation
• Practical experience with Karpenter for dynamic scaling of Kubernetes clusters and optimising resource usage
• Requires in-person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment
• This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire
• Understanding of security best practices for cloud platforms and Kubernetes (e.g., role-based access control (RBAC), encryption, and compliance frameworks)
• Familiarity with Docker and containerization principles
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent professional experience)
• Certifications (Preferred): CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator), CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer), or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer are highly desirable