Kubernetes Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

Job Summary  

The Aerospace Corporation is seeking a skilled Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff IV/V) with expertise in Kubernetes, Linux, programming, and automation. In this role, you will be responsible for maintaining both on-premise and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters, providing essential support to our engineering team.

As part of a multidisciplinary infrastructure team, you will manage multiple clusters used for technical analyses, including space launch telemetry analysis. Collaborating closely with rocket scientists and engineers, you will contribute to the development of innovative solutions to complex challenges within the space enterprise, supporting critical national space assets. This position requires a strong sense of shared responsibility and ownership, working alongside cross-functional team members to achieve our mission objectives.

The selected candidate will be required to work full-time on-site at our facility in El Segundo, CA or Chantilly, VA.

What You’ll Be Doing 

• Manage Kubernetes for on-prem and in AWS production environments with end-to-end responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, performance tuning, capacity planning & backups/DR.

• Frequent full security patching of all layers of Kubernetes infrastructure while maintaining very high uptime

• Ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services

• Identify and resolve full Kubernetes stack engineering problems independently

• Ensure successful real-time analysis of telemetry data from space launch partners, such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Blue Origin

• Provide after-hours support for Kubernetes infrastructure troubleshooting during launch events

• Support scientists and engineers running workloads and apps in Kubernetes

• Provide Linux expertise and troubleshooting

• Evaluate and test new products and technologies

• Use code to enhance and automate operations

What You Need to be Successful 

Minimum Requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff IV) include: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, STEM, or IT or equivalent experience is required

• A minimum of (5) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience supporting a high availability enterprise environment is required

• A minimum of (2) years hands-on experience managing existing Kubernetes environments, with responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, and backups is required

• Full ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services

• Be able to identify and resolve engineering problems independently

• Experience in Linux systems administration, including configuration, for an enterprise environment

• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals

• Experience automating repetitive tasks with scripting or DevOps tools

• This position requires the ability to maintain a Secret security clearance and the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance

In addition to the above, the minimum requirements for the Kubernetes Engineer (Technical and Cloud Computing Engineer Staff V) include: 

• A minimum of (7) or more years of increasingly responsible and relevant professional experience in AWS, Linux, and IaC is required

• Experience architecting and deploying secure AWS and/or Kubernetes environments from scratch is needed

• Experience performance tuning and capacity planning AWS and/or Kubernetes environments is required

How You Can Stand Out 

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