Kubernetes Platform Engineer, Task and Technical Lead

Requisition Id15519

Overview:

The National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS) at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), which hosts several of the world's most powerful computer systems, is seeking highly qualified individuals to play a key role in improving the security, performance, and reliability of theNCCS computing infrastructure which supports multiple highly ranked Top500 Supercomputers, including the world's first exaflop system, Frontier.

The Team:

As a Task and Technical Lead for the Platform team, you will work within the Platforms group to support all activities of our supercomputer center. Our primary platform is the OLCF Slate Service, built on Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift, which provides a container orchestration service for running critical operation applications and user-managed persistent applications that run alongside our OLCF Supercomputer systems and other OLCF managed HPC clusters.

The Role:

As a Platform Engineer Task and Technical Lead, you will operate, implement, and maintain the infrastructure underpinning our on-premises Kubernetes clusters, with a strong focus on scalability, reliability, and maintainability. You will assist in leading the technical direction of our platform engineering initiatives, evaluate and integrate key technologies, provide daily task management for team members on large and medium sized projects, and mentor a team of engineers to deliver a robust internal platform that powers development across the organization.

Key Technologies & Tools:

• Languages: Go, Python, Bash
• CI/CD: GitLab CI, ArgoCD
• IaC/Config Management: Puppet, Helm
• Kubernetes & Ecosystem: On-prem K8s, Custom Operators, Service Mesh
• Operating Systems: Linux-based OS management at the hardware level

What Sets This Role Apart:

• Deep involvement in operating, managing, and designing on-prem Kubernetes infrastructure, with full ownership from OS/hardware layer up to service-level automation.
• A platform-first approach to engineering that balances security, developer experience, and operational scalability.
• Strong mentorship and team enablement focus-guiding engineers while staying hands-on with operations, architecture, and implementation.

Major Duties/Responsibilities:

Platform Operations & Implementation

• Assist in managing operations for on-premises and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters.
• Select, evaluate, and integrate critical components for networking, CI/CD tooling, OS management, service mesh, and Kubernetes operators-excluding observability, which is handled by a dedicated SRE sub-team.
• Build test environments to evaluate tooling based on performance, feature set, and maintainability-especially for components that must work reliably with on-premise hardware and OS requirements.
• Own upgrades, security hardening, monitoring integration, and scalability of all cluster infrastructure.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & Tooling

• Write and maintain infrastructure and deployment code using tools such as ArgoCD (GitOps), Puppet (OS management), Go, Python, Bash, and GitLab CI.
• Support the use and understanding of in-house Kubernetes operators and serve as a secondary maintainer for those controllers.

Internal Developer Platform & Enablement

• Collaborate on building a next-generation internal developer platform inspired by tools like Backstage or AWS Proton, focused on increasing development efficiency and security.
• Work with the cybersecurity team to define secure image baselines and automate the patching pipeline for container images and golden base layers.
• Engage with development teams to understand platform needs and tailor the cluster experience to meet evolving requirements.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Provide technical guidance, code reviews, and pair programming support to a team of 8-12 engineers.
• Contribute to onboarding, team documentation, and process improvement initiatives.
• Act as a go-to technical expert for all Kubernetes platform questions across the engineering organization.

Collaboration

• Partner closely with internal cybersecurity and development teams to ensure the platform meets security, compliance, and usability expectations.
• Participate in cross-functional projects related to platform enhancements and cluster lifecycle automation.
• Be able to represent the Platforms team with vendors and both internal and external collaborators and partners.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS degree in computer science or closely related field and a minimum of 8 years as a Platforms engineer.
• At least 5 years of Kubernetes experience.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills, and the ability to work as part of a team.
• Strong working knowledge of Unix system fundamentals and common network protocols.
• Experience managing Linux/UNIX operating systems in a heterogeneous environment.
• Solid understanding of networked computing environment concepts.
• Excellent understanding of networking, particularly Linux and Kubernetes networking
• Experience with instrumenting bare metal and VMWare infrastructure
• Ability to develop and maintain programs and scripts that aid in the operation and automation using various shell (primarily bash) and high-level languages (Python or Go).
• Ability to proactively identify performance issues, problems, and areas for improvement.
• Ability to identify requirements and to define, plan, and implement requisite solutions.
• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize tasks, and complete assigned projects with minimal supervision.
• Experience with continuous integration and continuous deployment software methodologies.
• An understanding of code review and familiarity with tools like GitHub and GitLab.
• Experience using tools such as Nagios, Grafana and Prometheus to monitor systems, metrics, and create dashboards.
• Experience designing and implementing highly available systems/services utilizing virtual machines and Kubernetes resources.
• Experience participating in an opensource community with patches accepted upstream.
• Experience deploying and maintaining automated configuration management software such as Puppet or Ansible.
• Experience implementing systems-level security technologies like SELinux and following security best practices.

Special Requirement:

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a clearance from the Department of Energy. As such, this position is a Workplace Substance Abuse program (WSAP) testing designed position which requires passing a pre-placement drug test and participation in an ongoing random drug testing program in which employees are subject to being randomly selected for testing. The occupant of this position will also be subject to an ongoing requirement to report to ORNL any drug-related arrest or conviction or receipt of a positive drug test result.

Hybrid Eligibility:

This position is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and requires onsite presence. We offer a flexible work environment that supports both the organization and the employee. A hybrid/onsite working arrangement may be available with this position, which provides flexibility to work periodically from your home, while reporting onsite to the Oak Ridge, Tennessee location on a weekly and regular basis.

Benefits at ORNL:

Other benefits include the following: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Contributory Pension Plan, Life Insurance, Disability Benefits, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

If you have difficulty using the online application system or need an accommodation to apply due to a disability, please email:ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply. UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.