Kubernetes Engineer Lead

Job title: Kubernetes Engineer Lead Location: East coast - Remote - Preferred Miami, FL due to client visits may need to go onsite eventually. Duration: 6 months (CTH) Position Summary We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Kubernetes Platform Engineer to lead the design, automation, operation, and modernization of enterprise Kubernetes platforms across hybrid cloud environments. This role is responsible for platform reliability, automation, observability, security, GitOps adoption, and cloud-native engineering practices that enable scalable and resilient application delivery. Key Responsibilities Platform Engineering & Operations Own the lifecycle management of EKS Anywhere Kubernetes platforms, including provisioning, upgrades, security, scalability, and operational excellence. Design and build internal platform services, tooling, and automation frameworks. Develop custom Kubernetes operators and controllers to simplify platform administration and application onboarding. Drive platform standardization, governance, and engineering best practices. Cloud Native Automation & GitOps Lead GitOps-based deployment and configuration management using ArgoCD and Helm. Build self-service capabilities and reusable deployment patterns for engineering teams. Automate platform operations through Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and cloud-native tooling. Support continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) practices. Observability & Reliability Engineering Design and operate monitoring, logging, and distributed tracing solutions. Implement OpenTelemetry-based observability frameworks integrated with enterprise monitoring platforms. Lead incident management, root cause analysis (RCA), and reliability improvement initiatives. Drive capacity planning, performance optimization, and operational maturity programs. Security & Secrets Management Implement secure platform architectures and Kubernetes security controls. Design and manage secrets management solutions using HashiCorp Vault and Kubernetes-native integrations. Automate credential management, rotation, and compliance-related controls. Collaborate with security teams to maintain platform governance and risk mitigation. Cloud Infrastructure & Automation Develop and manage cloud infrastructure using Terraform and AWS services. Build event-driven automation solutions using serverless and cloud-native technologies. Support multi-account cloud environments and infrastructure modernization initiatives. Champion automation-first approaches to reduce operational overhead. AI-Enabled Platform Innovatio n Develop and integrate AI-assisted operational tooling for diagnostics, troubleshooting, and productivity enhancement. Evaluate emerging technologies and automation opportunities within platform engineering. Promote innovation through intelligent operations and engineering efficiency improvements. Experience Required Qualifications Strong experience in Platform Engineering, Cloud Engineering, DevOps, or Site Reliability Engineering (SRE). Hands-on experience managing production Kubernetes environments. Proven background in infrastructure automation and cloud-native technologies. Experience supporting mission-critical enterprise platforms. Technical Skills Summary Kubernetes, EKS, EKS Anywhere AWS Cloud Services Terraform ArgoCD, GitOps Helm OpenTelemetry Datadog, Splunk, Prometheus HashiCorp Vault Go, Python, Bash Linux Administration CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code. Detailed Technical Skill Requirements EKS Anywhere Expertise Management Cluster Bootstrap Cluster Workload Cluster Cluster API (CAPI) eksctl-anywhere CLI Cluster creation/deletion/upgrade - complete cluster life cycle Worker scaling Node replacement Cluster troubleshooting Cluster configuration YAMLs Generated cluster-state YAMLs kube-vip HAProxy LoadBalancer Services StorageClass PVC PV Trust Manager Sealed Secrets Vault Integration HashiCorp Vault Image Security Policy enforcement Rafay Platform Administration (EKS setup) Rafay Organization structure Projects Clusters Cluster Blueprints Namespaces Environment Manager Addon management Multi-Cluster Management Fleet management Cluster grouping Cluster templates Blueprint lifecycle Versioning Inheritance Policy enforcement Argo CD Administration ArgoCD Architecture App of Apps Pattern ApplicationSets Projects Repositories Clusters Sync Policies Cluster Generator List Generator Matrix Generator Template Management Fleet Deployment Vault Integration Cluster Integration Harness Platform Administration Projects Organizations Connectors Secrets Environments Services Infrastructure Definitions Templates Repositories Clusters Sync Policies Cluster Generator List Generator Matrix Generator Template Management Fleet Deployment Vault Integration Cluster Integration Helm Charts Helm Architecture Charts Releases Repositories Dependencies Templates Values.yaml Overrides Environment-specific customization Secret references Resource tuning