Kubernetes Administrator.
Charlotte, NC.
12 Months.
Summary:
- We are seeking an experienced Kubernetes Engineer/Administrator.
- This role focuses on managing and scaling our enterprise-grade Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) infrastructure.
- You will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining production Kubernetes clusters that support critical enterprise workloads across multiple Azure regions.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Management.
- Design, deploy, and manage enterprise-scale AKS clusters across multiple Azure regions.
- Implement and maintain private AKS clusters with advanced networking configurations.
- Configure and manage customer-managed encryption keys (CMK) for cluster disk encryption.
- Implement blue/green deployment strategies for zero-downtime cluster upgrades.
- Manage AKS cluster lifecycle including upgrades, node pool scaling, and disaster recovery.
- Optimize cluster performance, cost, and resource utilization.
- Implement AKS Fleet Manager for multi-cluster management and orchestration.
- Configure AKS Automatic for simplified cluster operations and auto-scaling.
- Manage AKS Managed Namespaces for improved multi-tenancy and resource isolation.
Security & Compliance:
- Implement and maintain private networking architectures with Azure Private Endpoints.
- Configure and manage Workload Identity (OIDC) and user-assigned managed identities.
- Integrate Azure Policy for governance, compliance, and security enforcement.
- Implement Kubernetes RBAC and Azure RBAC integration.
- Manage secrets integration with Azure Key Vault using CSI drivers.
- Ensure secure communication between AKS and Azure PaaS services.
- Implement network policies and pod security standards.
Service Mesh & Advanced Networking:
- Deploy and manage Linked service mesh for secure service-to-service communication.
- Implement mTLS between services with automatic certificate rotation.
- Configure traffic splitting, load balancing, and observability with Linked.
- Troubleshoot service mesh networking and performance issues.
- Integrate service mesh metrics with Azure Monitor.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC):
- Develop and maintain Terraform modules for AKS and supporting Azure infrastructure.
- Build reusable, production-ready Terraform patterns following Azure best practices.
- Implement infrastructure automation and GitOps workflows.
- Manage Terraform state, version control, and module lifecycle.
- Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for infrastructure patterns.
GitOps & CI/CD:
- Design and implement GitOps workflows using ArgoCD for application deployments.
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions for Kubernetes workloads.
- Integrate AKS with Azure Container Registry (ACR) for container image management.
- Implement automated testing and validation for infrastructure and application changes.
- Manage deployment strategies (rolling updates, blue/green, canary).
- Maintain GitHub Actions workflows for infrastructure provisioning and testing.
Azure Platform Integration:
- Integrate AKS with Azure services including.
- Configure and maintain private endpoints for all Azure services.
- Implement VNet integration and subnet delegation patterns.
- Design and implement service connectivity across Azure regions.
Monitoring, Observability & Operations:
- Implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting with Azure Monitor.
- Configure Log Analytics workspaces and integrate with AKS.
- Build dashboards and alerts for cluster health, performance, and security.
- Leverage Linked metrics and distributed tracing for service observability.
- Troubleshoot complex cluster, networking, and application issues.
- Conduct capacity planning and cost optimization.
- Participate in on-call rotation for production support.
- Perform post-incident analysis and implement preventive measures.
Required Qualifications.
Technical Skills:
- Azure & Kubernetes.
- 5+ years of hands-on Kubernetes experience in production environments.
- 2+ years of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) experience required.
- Strong Terraform expertise with proven ability to build reusable, production-ready modules.
- Deep understanding of Kubernetes architecture, networking, storage, and security.
- Experience with private AKS clusters and Azure Private Link/Private Endpoints.
- Proficiency with Azure networking: VNets, subnets, NSGs, private DNS zones, VNet peering.
- Strong understanding of Azure managed identities, Workload Identity, and RBAC.
- Experience with Azure Key Vault integration (CSI driver, disk encryption sets).
- Hands-on experience with customer-managed encryption keys in Azure.
- Experience with Azure Container Registry including geo-replication and vulnerability scanning.
- Knowledge of AKS advanced features (Fleet Manager, AKS Automatic, Managed Namespaces) is a plus.
Infrastructure as Code & Automation:
- Advanced Terraform skills with module development experience.
- Git version control and branching strategies (GitHub).
- GitOps tools: ArgoCD.
- GitHub Actions for CI/CD pipelines.
- Infrastructure testing and validation practices.
Platform & Tools:
- Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell.
- kubectl, helm, kustomize.
- Linux system administration.
- Scripting: Bash, Python, or PowerShell.
- Container technologies: Docker, container.
- GitHub workflows and Actions.
Soft Skills:
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting abilities.
- Excellent documentation skills with focus on knowledge sharing.
- Collaborative team player with mentoring capabilities.
- Effective communication for both technical and business audiences.
- Self-motivated with ability to manage complex projects.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Advanced Kubernetes & Cloud Skills.
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS).
- Experience with Linked service mesh - deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting.
- Experience with AKS Fleet Manager for multi-cluster orchestration.
- Familiarity with AKS Automatic and managed namespace patterns.
- Experience with Kubernetes operators and Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs).
- Service mesh implementations (Linked preferred; Istio, Open Service Mesh).
- Advanced CNI configurations (Azure CNI, Calico, Cilium).
- Multi-cluster management and federation.
- Experience with other cloud platforms (GCP GKE, AWS EKS) is a plus.
Azure Certifications:
- Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).
- Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500).
- Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104).
Platform Engineering Experience:
- Building internal developer platforms on Kubernetes.
- Policy-as-code implementation (Azure Policy, OPA, Kyverno).
- Cost optimization and FinOps practices for Kubernetes.
- Chaos engineering and reliability testing.
- Multi-region disaster recovery patterns.