DevOps Engineer (Clearance Required)

Location: Fort Meade, MD (On-Site)

Clearance Required: Active Top Secret/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph (FSP); CI Polygraph within the last 7 years - must be active prior to start

The DevOps Engineer (Development Lead) provides a reliable, highly available platform that orchestrates the microservices of a modernized operational system using cutting-edge technologies. The contractor leads sprint planning and team tasking, drives infrastructure technical direction, and owns CI/CD pipeline management and cloud infrastructure cost optimization. This is a senior individual-contributor and team-lead role requiring strong Agile execution discipline, AWS architecture depth, and the ability to communicate and collaborate across engineering and program stakeholder communities.

Key Responsibilities:

AWS Infrastructure Architecture and IaC

• Architect, build, and maintain AWS infrastructure including EC2, Lambda, S3, SNS, SQS, Event Bridge, Athena, and Step Functions using Terraform with auto-scaling

• Develop Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and scripting to automate tasks, provision managed services, and build internal tooling using Python, Ansible, and Terraform

• Apply AWS networking principles including VPCs, NAT gateways, and IP gateways to design secure, segmented environments

• Evaluate infrastructure costs iteratively; recommend and implement cost-savings measures to reduce AWS service spend and maintenance burden

Containerization and Orchestration

• Install, configure, performance-tune, and operate Kubernetes environments with focus on EKS, ECS, and/or Fargate

• Manage containerized workloads using Docker and Docker Compose across the microservices architecture

• Troubleshoot infrastructure issues and ensure system uptime and availability for mission-critical operational systems

• Collaborate with development teams to optimize application performance and reliability in containerized environments

CI/CD Pipeline Management

• Develop and manage GitLab CI/CD pipelines to automate build, test, and deployment processes

• Implement and maintain Argo CD for GitOps-based continuous delivery workflows

• Track ticket execution and drive technical direction of infrastructure to align with program and product needs

• Perform high-level functional systems analysis, design, integration, documentation, cost analysis, and complex issue resolution

Agile Team Leadership and Sprint Execution

• Decompose sprint priorities and generate tickets aligned with internal team priorities and program objectives

• Manage team tasking and sprint workloads; keep the team on task and executing in an orchestrated manner

• Participate in all Agile ceremonies: sprint planning, stand-ups, refinement, reviews, and retrospectives

• Communicate and collaborate with engineers, product owners, and program stakeholders across the program

Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college in a related discipline, or equivalent combined education and experience (12 or more years of professional experience; or 10 years with a related Master's degree).

Must Have (Required):

• Active TS/SCI clearance with Full Scope Polygraph (FSP) - must be active prior to start

• CI Polygraph within the last 7 years - must be active prior to start

• Current DoD 8140 (CWIP) certification - must be active prior to start

• Extensive experience architecting and managing AWS infrastructure using Terraform and IaC practices

• Strong background in containerization and orchestration: Kubernetes (EKS, ECS, Fargate), Docker, Docker Compose

• Experience developing and managing GitLab