OpenShift Platform Engineer

About Kestrel Eight:

Kestrel Eight provides agile automation solutions for Government and Enterprise clients. We are a team of seasoned IT professionals with over 20 years of experience on the front lines of significant technology programs. Our approach is to be a true strategic partner, combining the depth of enterprise expertise with the responsiveness and innovation of a focused team to align technology with our clients' ultimate strategic goals - their "true north." We foster a collaborative, positive, and high-performing environment where quality outcomes are paramount. 

The Opportunity:

We're looking for a highly skilled and motivated OpenShift Platform Engineer to join our team. You'll be responsible for the design, deployment, and management of our Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform clusters, ensuring they are scalable, secure, and highly available. You'll work closely with development and operations teams to automate workflows, build CI/CD pipelines, and provide technical guidance on best practices for containerization and application delivery. A strong background in Linux, infrastructure as code (IaC), and a Red Hat certification are essential for success in this role.

Key Responsibilities:

• Platform Management: Design, deploy, and administer Red Hat OpenShift clusters in various environments (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid). This includes installation, upgrades, patching, and ongoing maintenance.
• Automation: Develop and maintain automation scripts and IaC using tools like Ansible and Terraform for provisioning, configuration, and management of the OpenShift environment.
• Drive the adoption and implementation of a GitOps workflow using tools like Argo CD or Flux, ensuring that all infrastructure and application changes are declarative, version-controlled, and managed through a "pull-based" delivery model.
• CI/CD Integration: Build and support automated CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab, or Tekton to streamline application deployments.
• Troubleshooting & Support: Provide expert-level support for OpenShift platform issues, including container, networking, and security problems. Collaborate with development teams to resolve issues and optimize application performance.
• Security & Compliance: Implement and manage security policies, access controls (RBAC), and container security solutions to ensure the platform and applications adhere to security and compliance standards.
• Monitoring & Optimization: Configure and use monitoring and logging tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and ELK Stack to ensure platform health, performance, and capacity planning.
• Collaboration: Work with cross-functional teams, including developers, network engineers, and security professionals, to ensure the platform meets organizational needs and supports a seamless developer experience.
• Documentation: Create and maintain technical documentation related to cluster design, configuration, processes, and best practices.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• Experience: Minimum of 3 years of hands-on experience in a platform, DevOps, or systems engineering role, with a focus on Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes.
• Certification: Must possess a valid Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration (EX280) or equivalent certification.
• Containerization: Strong expertise with containerization technologies (Docker, Podman) and a deep understanding of Kubernetes concepts (pods, deployments, services, namespaces).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Proven experience with automation tools like Ansible, Terraform, or similar.
• CI/CD: Hands-on experience building and managing automated pipelines.
• GitOps: Experience with GitOps principles and tools such as Argo CD or Flux for continuous delivery and cluster state management.
• Linux: Advanced proficiency in Linux administration (preferably Red Hat Enterprise Linux) and shell scripting.
• Networking: Solid understanding of networking concepts related to container platforms, including routing, DNS, and network policies.
• Communication: Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with OpenShift Virtualization (formerly KubeVirt) is a plus.
• Experience with public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Familiarity with container security tools and practices.
• Knowledge of application development and microservices architecture.
• Experience with OpenShift operators and managing a multi-cluster environment.

What We Offer:

A competitive remuneration package with an attractive commission structure.

An agile, flexible, and supportive company culture that values partnership and high-quality outcomes.

The chance to represent a company at the forefront of modern automation technologies.