Platform Engineer

EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION REQUIRES U.S. CITIZENSHIP.

Role Description:

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Platform Engineer to support the deployment and maintenance of UDS within a secure, bare-metal environment. You will serve as a bridge between application teams and the platform, advocating best practices and helping ensure that the platform is reliable, secure, and scalable. The ideal candidate is a strong problem-solver with hands-on experience in Kubernetes, bare-metal or on-premises infrastructure, and deploying applications onto Kubernetes-based platforms.

Responsibilities:

The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.

Support the architecture, deployment, configuration, and testing of bare-metal infrastructure, including GPU compute, storage, and networking

Deploy, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot UDS and Kubernetes-based platform services

Develop and manage infrastructure as code (IaC) and configuration to enable consistent, repeatable deployments

Support secure software delivery, including container images, registries, packages, and deployment artifacts

Collaborate with mission stakeholders, partner organizations, and Defense Unicorns engineering teams to identify technical requirements and resolve deployment challenges

Collaborate with mission stakeholders, partner organizations, and Defense Unicorns engineering teams to identify technical requirements and resolve platform challenges

Travel Expectations/Requirements: 10%-15%

Preferred Experience and Qualifications:

Active Secret/Top Secret Security Clearance

Experience deploying and operating Kubernetes or containerized platforms in bare-metal or on-premises environments (deploying, managing, and troubleshooting clusters and workloads)

Experience with infrastructure as code tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi, or similar)

Proficiency with CI/CD tooling, particularly GitLab CI or equivalent pipeline platforms

Working knowledge of Linux/Unix operating systems and command-line administration

Experience with cloud platforms, preferably AWS (EC2, EKS, IAM, S3, VPC)

Experience supporting GPU-enabled infrastructure or workloads

Ability to read and write YAML fluently for Kubernetes manifests, CRDs, Helm charts, and pipeline configurations

Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to work effectively with partner engineering teams

Possess or ability to obtain a DoD 8570 IAT II certification (e.g., Security+ CE)

Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States.

Remote - USA

$123,250—$166,750 USD