System Administrator(Kubernetes Admin)

Gokool Digital; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital solutions provider in Charlotte, NC, is seeking a Senior Kubernetes Administrator to manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters. The ideal candidate will ensure the security, scaling, and troubleshooting of clusters while collaborating with DevOps and application teams. This role requires solid experience with Kubernetes, Azure, and Terraform, focusing on automation and operational efficiency. A passion for cloud technologies and a proactive approach to problem-solving will be key to your success.

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience in administering Kubernetes in production environments.
• Proven experience with Terraform for infrastructure provisioning.
• Experience managing Linux-based systems.

Responsibilities

• Administer and maintain production-grade AKS clusters.
• Perform cluster lifecycle management: provisioning, upgrades, and scaling.
• Troubleshoot cluster-level and workload-level issues.

Skills

Kubernetes administration

Microsoft Azure

Terraform

Troubleshooting

Linux systems management

Tools

Azure Kubernetes Service

Terraform

CI/CD tools

Job description

Location: Charlotte, NC

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Kubernetes Administrator with deep, hands‑on experience in administering and operating Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters in production environments. The ideal candidate will be responsible for designing, deploying, securing, scaling, and troubleshooting AKS clusters, leveraging Azure‑native services and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform). This role requires strong operational ownership, an automation mindset, and close collaboration with DevOps, SRE, and application teams.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Mandatory

• Strong hands‑on experience administering Kubernetes in production.
• Solid experience with Microsoft Azure (compute, networking, security).
• Proven experience with Terraform for infrastructure provisioning.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across Kubernetes, networking, and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience managing Linux‑based systems.

Key Responsibilities:

• Administer, operate, and maintain production‑grade AKS clusters (single and multi‑region).
• Perform cluster lifecycle management: provisioning, upgrades, patching, scaling, and decommissioning.
• Configure and manage node pools, autoscaling (HPA/Cluster Autoscaler), taints, tolerations, and resource quotas.
• Implement and manage Kubernetes networking (Azure CNI, ingress controllers, services, DNS).
• Troubleshoot cluster‑level and workload‑level issues (pods, nodes, networking, storage, performance).
• Design and manage AKS integrations with Azure services such as:
• Ensure high availability, resilience, and disaster recovery for Kubernetes workloads.
• Manage Azure IAM, RBAC, and managed identities for secure access.

Infrastructure as Code & Automation

• Use Terraform to provision and manage
• Networking (VNETs, subnets)
• Maintain reusable, modular Terraform code following best practices.
• Automate cluster operations and maintenance activities wherever possible.

Security & Compliance

• Implement Kubernetes security best practices:
• RBAC, Network Policies, Pod Security Standards
• Secrets management (Key Vault integration)
• Ensure secure container runtime and image practices.
• Support compliance, audit, and governance requirements.
• Set up and manage monitoring, logging, and alerting for AKS and workloads.
• Perform capacity planning and cost optimization.
• Participate in incident response, root cause analysis, and preventive actions.
• Work closely with DevOps, SRE, and application teams to support deployments.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior engineers.
• Contribute to operational documentation, runbooks, and best practices.

Preferred / Nice to Have

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, GitLab).
• Knowledge of Helm, Kustomize, or similar Kubernetes packaging tools.
• Exposure to SRE practices and reliability engineering.
• Kubernetes certifications (CKA/CKAD) or Azure certifications (AZ‑104, AZ‑305).
• Experience with multi‑cluster or hybrid Kubernetes environments.