Job Title: Senior Kubernetes Platform Engineer Location: Chicago, IL, Primary / Tempe, AZ - Hybrid (3 days/week onsite) Duration: 7+ Months (Temp to Perm Possibility)
Project Overview / Contractor’s Role: We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Kubernetes Platform Engineer to support and operate an enterprise VMware Tanzu Kubernetes platform consisting of 100+ Kubernetes clusters across multiple environments, including Production. This role will partner closely with the current platform owner to provide operational support, on-call backup, and platform sustainment, helping ensure platform stability, availability, and compliance for critical business applications.
This role is hands-on and production-facing, with responsibilities spanning Kubernetes operations, incident response, platform maintenance, and support of application teams running mission-critical workloads. Experience Level: 3 – Senior
Qualifications (must haves): Kubernetes Experience • Strong hands-on experience supporting Kubernetes in Production • Solid understanding of Kubernetes fundamentals, including: o Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets o Services and Ingress o Namespaces, RBAC, ConfigMaps, and Secrets • Experience troubleshooting Kubernetes networking, scheduling, and resource issues
Platform & Infrastructure • Experience operating Kubernetes on enterprise platforms (VMware Tanzu, OpenShift, AKS, EKS, or similar) • Strong Linux administration and troubleshooting skills • Familiarity with container runtimes and container images
Operational Mindset • Experience working in highly regulated, production environments • Comfortable participating in on-call rotations and handling time-sensitive issues • Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently
Nice to Have: • Experience with VMware Tanzu Kubernetes or VMware-based Kubernetes platforms • Scripting experience (Bash, Python) for operational automation • Prior experience supporting large multi-cluster Kubernetes environments
Tasks & Responsibilities: Kubernetes Platform Operations • Support day-to-day operations of an enterprise Kubernetes platform (100+ clusters, ~50% production) • Perform routine operational tasks including cluster maintenance, upgrades, patching, health checks, and capacity management • Troubleshoot and resolve Kubernetes platform issues impacting cluster or application availability • Participate in incident response, root-cause analysis, and post-incident reviews
On-Call & Backup Coverage • Act as a backup platform engineer to enable on-call rotation and reduce key-person dependency • Provide after-hours support as part of a shared on-call rotation • Serve as a secondary escalation point for critical Production issues
Application & Platform Support • Assist internal application teams with Kubernetes-related questions and issues • Support common Kubernetes constructs such as Pods, Deployments, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, and Secrets • Help teams troubleshoot networking, DNS, ingress, certificate, and resource-related issues • Review application configurations for Kubernetes best practices and platform alignment
Enterprise Tooling & Integrations • Work with integrated enterprise tools such as: o Ingress controllers (e.g., Contour / Envoy) o Logging platforms (e.g., Fluent Bit, centralized log aggregation) o Monitoring/observability tools (e.g., Dynatrace or similar) o Container registries (e.g., Harbor, JFrog, etc)
Documentation & Knowledge Sharing • Help document operational procedures, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides • Share Kubernetes knowledge and best practices with internal teams • Assist in improving platform resiliency, operational maturity, and supportability
Applicant Notices & Disclaimers
For information on benefits, equal opportunity employment, and location-specific applicant notices, click here
At SPECTRAFORCE, we are committed to maintaining a workplace that ensures fair compensation and wage transparency in adherence with all applicable state and local laws. This position’s starting pay is: $ 71.88/hr.
