Kubernetes Engineer/Administrator Azure AKS (Charlotte)

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Platform Engineer to manage, scale, and optimize our enterprise-grade Kubernetes infrastructure. In this role, you will design, deploy, and maintain multi-region production clusters supporting critical, high-availability enterprise workloads. You will drive infrastructure automation, implement GitOps pipelines, enforce rigorous cloud security standards, and leverage modern cloud-native patterns across our global infrastructure footprint.

Key Responsibilities

• Cluster Orchestration & Architecture: Design, deploy, and lifecycle-manage enterprise-scale, private AKS clusters across multiple cloud regions using blue/green deployment strategies and automated scaling patterns.
• Infrastructure as Code & GitOps: Build and maintain modular Terraform templates, automated GitHub Actions pipelines, and ArgoCD GitOps workflows for continuous infrastructure delivery.
• Security & Compliance: Implement zero-trust network policies, Azure Private Endpoints, Workload Identity (OIDC), Key Vault CSI drivers, and customer-managed encryption keys (CMK) following strict governance standards.
• Service Mesh & Observability: Deploy and maintain Linkerd service mesh for mTLS traffic encryption, continuous observability, and traffic management; configure comprehensive telemetry via Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.
• Platform Operations & Reliability: Participate in production support rotations, conduct root-cause post-incident analyses, optimize resource utilization for FinOps efficiency, and document reusable engineering patterns.

Qualifications & Requirements

Experience:

• 5+ years of hands-on, production-level Kubernetes administration and platform engineering experience.
• 2+ years of deep, dedicated experience with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
• Proven track record of managing high-availability, multi-region enterprise environments.

Tech Stack:

• Orchestration & Mesh: Kubernetes, AKS, Helm, Kustomize, Linkerd (or Istio/Cilium).
• IaC & CI/CD: Terraform (expert-level module development), ArgoCD, GitHub Actions, Git.
• Security & Networking: Azure Private Link/Endpoints, VNets, Workload Identity, RBAC, Azure Key Vault, Azure Container Registry (ACR).
• Scripting & OS: Linux System Administration, Bash, Python, or PowerShell.

Domain & Methodology:

• Solid understanding of GitOps methodologies, Policy-as-Code, zero-downtime deployment strategies, and SRE/observability best practices.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonus structure.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance coverage from day one.
• 401(k) / Retirement savings program with generous employer match.
• Flexible work arrangements (Hybrid environment) and generous PTO/parental leave policies.
• Dedicated professional development budget, including paid cloud certifications and continuous learning support.