Kubernetes Platform Engineer📍 Location: Berkeley, CA/Remote
💰 Pay Rate: $100/hr on W2
About the TeamThe Platform Engineering team is a specialized group within a Systems & Software organization, focused on streamlining the software development lifecycle. The team builds and maintains platform systems like GitLab, Ansible, and Kubernetes, supporting both on-prem and cloud environments across Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Role OverviewWe're looking for a hands-on
Kubernetes Platform Engineer to manage and optimize Kubernetes environments across hybrid infrastructure. This role combines deep infrastructure expertise with developer enablement, supporting both on-prem clusters (K3s/RKE2) and cloud platforms (GKE/EKS).
Key Responsibilities🔧 Cluster Operations & Administration- Manage full Kubernetes lifecycle (K3s/RKE2, GKE, EKS)
- Perform upgrades, patching, scaling, and capacity planning
- Troubleshoot control plane, node, and performance issues
- Maintain etcd health, backups, and disaster recovery
- Implement security hardening aligned with CIS benchmarks
Networking & Cilium- Deploy and maintain Cilium CNI across environments
- Design secure network policies for multi-tenant clusters
- Troubleshoot DNS, service discovery, and connectivity issues
- Configure BGP peering and integrate with physical infrastructure
🚀 Developer Platform & Enablement- Support internal developer platform (Backstage-style)
- Help teams deploy and troubleshoot Kubernetes workloads
- Define secure container image practices with security teams
- Build documentation, runbooks, and self-service tools
Required Qualifications- 6-8+ years of relevant experience
- Strong hands-on Kubernetes (on-prem: K3s/RKE2 required)
- Experience with GKE and/or EKS
- Solid Linux networking knowledge (TCP/IP, DNS, routing, iptables)
- Experience with GitOps tools (ArgoCD / Flux)
- Scripting skills (Bash, Python, or Go)
- Experience with Cilium or similar CNI
- Kubernetes security (RBAC, Pod Security, secrets management)
- Cloud experience in GCP and/or AWS
Preferred Qualifications- Go programming (operators/tooling)
- CKA / CKS certification
- BGP & advanced networking knowledge
- IPv6 experience
- Terraform / Ansible (IaC)
- Experience with Backstage or similar IDP tools
- Service mesh (Istio, Linkerd)
- Familiarity with GitHub / GitLab workflows
