Staff Platform Engineer

Summary

Join Raft, a customer-obsessed company specializing in distributed data systems and complex application development, as a Staff Platform Engineer. This U.S.-based position requires senior software engineering experience building and operating hybrid-infrastructure developer platforms. You will architect, develop, and implement end-to-end cluster and application lifecycles, work with clients on Kubernetes/Docker solutions, and develop CI/CD pipelines. The role demands extensive experience with Kubernetes, cloud and on-premises infrastructure, and platform services. A successful candidate will possess strong communication skills and mentoring abilities. The position offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in platform engineering or a related technical field
• In-depth experience creating and maintaining Kubernetes clusters through both managed services (e.g., AKS, EKS, or GKE) and self-managed installers (e.g., EKS-A, RKE2, or kubeadm)
• Extensive experience managing compute resources for Kubernetes clusters (CSI solutions, ResourceQuotas, etc.)
• Working experience managing network resources for Kubernetes clusters (CNI solutions, NetworkPolicies, etc.)
• Proven experience managing and troubleshooting Kubernetes workloads at an enterprise scale
• Experience deploying and maintaining platform services (e.g., Istio, Keycloak, Vault, Harbor, ArgoCD, CertManager, Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, FluentBit, FluentD)
• Experience configuring metrics scraping and monitoring dashboards (e.g., Prometheus and Grafana configurations)
• Experiencing configuring log forwarding, filtering, and aggregation (e.g., Loki, FluentBit, or FluentD)
• Experience hardening Kubernetes clusters via RBAC, Audit Policies, admission controllers (e.g., OPA Gatekeeper or Kyverno), image scanning (e.g., Trivy, Sysdig, or NeuVector), NetworkPolicies, CIS benchmark, and CISA/NSA Hardening Guidance
• Relevant experience deploying, maintaining and monitoring cloud-based computeresources (e.g., AWS EC2 and EBS, Azure Virtual Machines and premium storage, etc.)
• Relevant experience deploying, maintaining and monitoring on-premises compute infrastructure (e.g., blade servers, edge devices, VMware virtual machines, etc.)
• Relevant experience deploying, maintaining and monitoring cloud-based network resources (e.g., AWS VPCs, Subnets and Security Groups, Azure Virtual Networks and Network Security Groups, etc.)
• Able to obtain a Security+ certification within the first 90 days of employment with Raft
• Active Secret clearance

Responsibilities

• Architect, develop and implement end-to-end cluster and application lifecycles
• Work with clients architecting, developing and implementing Kubernetes or Docker solutions both in the Cloud and on-premises
• Develop and implement CI/CD pipelines
• Implement GitOps for Software Delivery
• Mentor junior developers and engineers

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant experience deploying and managing storage arrays and/or distributed filesystems (e.g., SANs, Rook Ceph, etc.)
• Relevant experience deploying and managing physical network infrastructure (e.g., firewalls, routers, switches, etc.)
• Relevant experience deploying, maintaining and monitoring managed network resources (e.g., AWS Outposts rack Local Gateway, AWS Snowball Edge Virtual Network Interfaces, etc.)
• Experience hardening operating systems (e.g., applying DoD STIGs)
• Experience hardening network infrastructure (e.g., applying DoD STIGs)
• Current Security+ CE (or equivalent DoD 8570.01/8140.03 certification)
• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator
• Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist
• Relevant AWS and/or Azure Certifications

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Annual budget for your tech/gadgets needs
• Monthly box of yummy snacks to eat while doing meaningful work
• Remote, hybrid, and flexible work options
• Team off-site in fun places!
• Generous Referral Bonuses