About the Hiring GroupThe Technology Solutions team at RTI International provides secure, scalable, and innovative technology platforms that enable research, analytics, and business applications across the organization. The team partners closely with researchers, application developers, infrastructure and security teams, and internal clients to deliver reliable technology solutions that support RTI's mission.
As a Senior Platform Engineer, you will play a key role in building and advancing cloud-native platform capabilities, with a focus on Kubernetes, infrastructure automation, CI/CD, observability, security, and platform reliability. You will work across teams to modernize technology environments, solve complex infrastructure challenges, and establish scalable and sustainable platform engineering practices.
What You'll DoAs a Senior Platform Engineer, you will design, implement, automate, and support enterprise platform services that enable scalable, secure, and compliant delivery of research, analytics, and business applications. You will help develop and maintain cloud-native infrastructure, Kubernetes platforms, CI/CD pipelines, observability solutions, and platform automation capabilities supporting strategic technology initiatives.
In this role, you will:- Design, implement, and support multi-tenant cloud-native platform services using AWS and Kubernetes technologies.
- Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using OpenTofu, Terraform, or similar technologies.
- Build and support CI/CD and GitOps automation pipelines using GitHub Actions, Flux CD, Helm, and related tools.
- Configure and maintain platform observability solutions, including logging, monitoring, alerting, telemetry, and operational dashboards.
- Implement and maintain platform security controls, secrets management, identity integration, and policy enforcement capabilities.
- Evaluate platform performance, availability, scalability, resiliency, and cost optimization opportunities and implement improvements.
- Support the onboarding, lifecycle management, modernization, and continuous improvement of single- and multi-tenant computing platforms.
- Partner with internal clients to design cloud solutions and platform integrations, including supporting architecture, scope, schedule, and budget planning for business development and project operations.
- Develop platform engineering standards, reference architectures, operational procedures, and technical documentation.
- Collaborate with security operations, governance, infrastructure, application development, data, and research teams to ensure platforms meet operational and regulatory requirements.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues across infrastructure, platform, networking, security, and application layers.
- Serve as a senior escalation point for complex cloud, platform infrastructure, and security issues.
- Identify opportunities to automate, modernize, and improve complex technical systems and operational processes.
- Balance operational stability and service reliability with innovation and continuous improvement initiatives.
What You'll Need- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field and 12 years of relevant experience; Master's degree and 10 years of relevant experience; Ph.D. and 6 years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Preferred Qualifications:- 4+ years of hands-on Kubernetes experience, including cluster architecture, multi-tenancy, RBAC, scheduling, and autoscaling in environments such as AWS EKS, Azure AKS, OpenShift, or bare metal.
- Deep experience with cloud-native GitOps and CI/CD workflows, including multi-dependency or multi-repository GitHub Actions workflows or equivalent technologies.
- Strong knowledge of Kubernetes networking, including CNI, service mesh technologies such as Istio and Traefik, ingress controllers such as ALB and Application Gateway, and Network Policy.
- Strong experience with Helm and/or Kustomize for application packaging and deployment.
- Experience operating storage solutions, including CSI, EFS, and NetApp Trident.
- Experience with cloud-native observability technologies such as Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki.
- Experience designing and operating solutions in highly regulated environments, including FISMA Low/Moderate and HIPAA.
- Strong experience with containerization and modernization of legacy applications and tools.
- Experience working with Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancers and firewalls.
- Experience with Kubernetes security and policy engines/controllers, including OPA or similar technologies.
- Experience with OIDC and SSO authentication flows and systems such as Microsoft Entra ID, Amazon Cognito, and Keycloak.
- Experience evaluating, troubleshooting, and supporting open-source applications at scale in production environments.
Skills and Abilities:- Ability to analyze complex technical systems and identify opportunities for automation, modernization, scalability, and operational improvement.
- Ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues across infrastructure, platform, networking, security, and application layers.
- Ability to design scalable, reliable, secure, and maintainable technology solutions that support business and research objectives.
- Ability to balance operational stability with innovation and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with infrastructure, cybersecurity, application development, data, research, and other cross-functional teams.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for diverse audiences.
- Ability to prioritize multiple initiatives and manage competing demands in a dynamic environment.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Demonstrated commitment to operational excellence, service reliability, and customer-focused support.
- Ability to work independently while contributing to cross-functional teams and organizational objectives.
- Attention to detail, accuracy, and continuous learning.
- Ability to obtain and maintain security clearances as required by contracts.
- Demonstration of RTI Values and Lead Forward behaviors.
Hiring Salary Range$160,000 - $180,000
