Senior Azure / Platform Engineer - Talent Pool

We are looking for an experienced Azure / Platform Engineer to design, standardize, automate, and operate Kubernetes-based infrastructure in Microsoft Azure.

The engineer will focus on building and evolving a secure, repeatable cloud platform supporting multiple application and service instances, with a strong emphasis on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Infrastructure as Code, networking, secrets management, security hardening, and deployment automation.

The environment supports workloads subject to stringent security and compliance requirements. Experience with Azure Government, FedRAMP, DISA STIGs, or similar regulated environments is highly valued but not mandatory.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, operate, and standardize Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) environments, including Kubernetes control-plane configuration and supporting Azure infrastructure.
• Build reusable patterns for multi-instance / multi-environment Kubernetes deployments, reducing manual configuration and improving consistency between environments.
• Develop and maintain Helm charts for application and infrastructure deployments, including upgrades, configuration management, and release standardization.
• Design and maintain Azure networking, including:
• VNets and subnets
• NSGs and routing
• Private connectivity / Private Endpoints
• DNS
• ingress and egress controls
• load balancing and Kubernetes networking
• Integrate and operate Azure Key Vault (AKV) for secrets, certificates, keys, and workload access.
• Implement and maintain infrastructure using Terraform, including reusable modules, environment configuration, state management, and CI/CD integration.
• Work with Crossplane or similar Kubernetes-native infrastructure provisioning technologies to automate cloud resource lifecycle management.
• Implement and troubleshoot mTLS-based service communication, certificate management, trust chains, and secure service-to-service connectivity.
• Support automated provisioning and lifecycle management of multiple platform and application instances.
• Develop infrastructure and deployment automation supporting repeatable provisioning, upgrades, configuration changes, and operational processes.
• Implement cloud and Kubernetes security controls required by regulated environments.
• Identify and remediate infrastructure vulnerabilities and Kubernetes/cloud configuration issues.
• Support remediation of DISA STIG findings and other security-hardening requirements.
• Contribute to FedRAMP readiness, including implementation of technical controls, evidence generation, remediation activities, and infrastructure standardization.
• Collaborate with application, security, DevOps/SRE, and architecture teams to establish common platform standards.
• Support operational capabilities including monitoring, incident response, backup/restore, reliability, platform upgrades, vulnerability remediation, and production troubleshooting.

Required Skills

• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure.
• Production experience with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Kubernetes administration.
• Strong experience with Helm and Helm chart development.
• Strong Terraform experience, preferably building reusable modules rather than only consuming existing Terraform code.
• Solid understanding of Azure networking, including VNets, routing, DNS, Private Endpoints, network security, ingress/egress, and connectivity troubleshooting.
• Experience with Azure Key Vault, managed identities, certificates, and secrets management.
• Good understanding of TLS/mTLS, PKI, certificate lifecycle, and secure application/service communication.
• Experience implementing CI/CD and infrastructure automation.
• Experience with Kubernetes and cloud security hardening.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex infrastructure issues across Azure, Kubernetes, networking, DNS, TLS, and application connectivity.
• Strong Linux and scripting skills, preferably Bash and/or PowerShell.
• Experience working with Git-based infrastructure and deployment workflows.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Azure Government / Azure Government Cloud.
• Experience delivering or operating environments under FedRAMP Moderate or comparable compliance frameworks.
• Knowledge of DISA STIGs and practical experience resolving STIG findings.
• Experience with NIST SP 800-53 security controls.
• Experience with Crossplane and Kubernetes-native infrastructure management.
• Experience operating infrastructure supporting multiple isolated application/customer instances.
• Experience with vulnerability management and security remediation for Kubernetes and Azure environments.
• Experience with GitOps tooling such as Argo CD or Flux.
• Experience with observability and SRE practices, including monitoring, alerting, incident response, backup/restore validation, and operational readiness.
• Exposure to Defense Industrial Base or other highly regulated environments.

Core

Azure · AKS · Kubernetes · Helm · Terraform · Azure Networking · Azure Key Vault · TLS/mTLS · Git · CI/CD · Linux

Additional / preferred

Azure Government · FedRAMP · DISA STIG · NIST 800-53 · Crossplane · GitOps · PKI · SRE / Platform Engineering

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on senior Azure engineer with a strong Kubernetes and Infrastructure-as-Code background, rather than a purely architectural or compliance-focused profile.

The strongest candidate would be comfortable moving between Terraform code, Helm charts, AKS configuration, Azure networking, Key Vault/certificates, mTLS troubleshooting, and security remediation. Prior Azure Government or FedRAMP experience would significantly shorten onboarding, but strong commercial Azure/AKS expertise combined with experience in regulated or security-sensitive environments should also be sufficient.