Everforth ECS is seeking an experienced Cloud Platforms Engineer specializing in Containerization and Orchestration to work in our Fairfax, VA office in a hybrid capacity.
Everforth ECS is seeking a Cloud Platforms Engineer specializing in Containerization and Orchestration to deploy and support Azure cloud environments for multiple coalition Mission Partner Network enclaves in support of the DoW community. This role is hands-on and focused on platforms containerization and orchestration in Microsoft Azure, building and operating containers and Kubernetes, including authoring Dockerfiles, Helm/Kustomize configurations, GitLab CI/CD pipelines, and Terraform code. This includes writing infrastructure code, improving deployment pipelines, and helping teams operate more efficiently in the cloud.
The position works closely with engineering and security teams to deliver consistent, repeatable infrastructure and deployment patterns. The focus is on doing the work, solving problems, and improving how cloud environments are built and maintained over time.
Responsibilities include:
- Build and operate containerized platforms and Kubernetes environments in Microsoft Azure.
- Develop, maintain, and optimize Dockerfiles for application containerization.
- Author and maintain Helm charts and Kustomize configurations for Kubernetes deployments.
- Build and improve GitLab CI/CD pipelines to automate application and infrastructure deployments.
- Develop and maintain Terraform Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Azure resources and platform services.
- Automate infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and deployment processes.
- Improve deployment pipelines to increase reliability, repeatability, and operational efficiency.
- Support the ongoing operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of container and Kubernetes platforms.
- Other duties, as assigned.
Salary Range: $180,000-210,000
General Description of Benefits
Please note, Salary is commensurate with skillset, qualifications, experience, and educational background.
Preferred Qualifications- U.S. Citizen.
- Active DoD Secret security clearance.
- Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of related work experience.
- Ability to obtain a DoD 8140 IAT Level II Security+ (or higher) within 60 days of hire.
- Ability to work in a hybrid capacity in Fairfax, VA (up to 3 days in office).
- Ability to travel <20% throughout the lifespan of the Program to CONUS / OCONUS customer sites and government installations.
- Containers: Author Dockerfiles from scratch, including multi-stage/hardened builds, non-root containers, proper ENTRYPOINT/CMD, and deterministic dependency installation.
- Container Registries: Experience with image tagging/versioning, immutable tags, authentication, pull secrets, and image scanning/remediation.
- Kubernetes: Strong knowledge of Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, Secrets, PVCs, ServiceAccounts, RBAC, NetworkPolicies, and scheduling.
- Kubernetes Troubleshooting: Diagnose workload failures using kubectl, logs, events, describe, exec, resource status, and evidence-based troubleshooting rather than trial and error.
- Reliability & Security: Resource requests/limits, probes, PDBs, rollout strategies, security contexts, non-root execution, node affinity/taints, and storage concepts.
- Helm: Author and maintain charts, templates, values, subcharts, overrides, and environment-specific configurations; use helm template, --dry-run, upgrades, and rollbacks.
- Kustomize: Build bases and overlays; use patches, image transformations, namespaces, and generators; understand when to use Helm versus Kustomize.
- GitLab CI/CD: Author .gitlab-ci.yml pipelines with stages, needs, rules, reusable templates, artifacts, caching, variables/secrets, approvals, environments, and quality gates.
- CI Image Builds: Build and scan container images in restricted CI environments using Kaniko, BuildKit, or equivalent tools.
- GitOps: Hands-on experience with Flux or Argo CD, including reconciliation, deployments, drift, health status, and troubleshooting failed reconciliations.
- Terraform: Author Terraform code from scratch, including resources, variables, outputs, modules, data sources, dependencies, for_each/count, provider configuration, and remote state. Understand plans, state, dependency graphs, unknown values, and reusable module design.
- Git/YAML: Strong Git and YAML skills, including branching, merging/rebasing, troubleshooting, and maintainable configuration.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities, with a proven ability to weigh the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and identify the most appropriate solution.
- Highly developed interpersonal and oral/written communication skills, with the ability to effectively and professionally interact with a diverse set of stakeholders (from peers to end-users to executive management).
Skills Required
- Ability to work in a hybrid capacity in Fairfax, VA (up to 3 days in office).
- Build and operate containerized platforms and Kubernetes environments in Microsoft Azure.
- Develop, maintain, and optimize Dockerfiles including multi-stage/hardened builds and non-root containers.
- Experience with container registries, image tagging/versioning, pull secrets, and image scanning/remediation.
- Strong knowledge of Kubernetes resources (Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, Secrets, PVCs, RBAC, NetworkPolicies, scheduling).
- Kubernetes troubleshooting using kubectl, logs, events, describe, exec, and evidence-based debugging.
- Implement reliability and security best practices (resource requests/limits, probes, PDBs, rollout strategies, security contexts, node affinity/taints).
- Author and maintain Helm charts, templates, values, and environment-specific configurations.
- Build Kustomize bases and overlays; use patches, image transformations, and generators.
- Author GitLab CI/CD pipelines (.gitlab-ci.yml) with stages, rules, variables, artifacts, caching, and approvals.
- Build and scan container images in restricted CI using Kaniko, BuildKit, or equivalent.
- Hands-on GitOps experience with Flux or Argo CD, including reconciliation and troubleshooting failed reconciliations.
- Author Terraform code from scratch, including modules, remote state, for_each/count, provider configuration, and reusable module design.
- Strong Git and YAML skills, including branching, merging/rebasing, and maintainable configuration.
- Strong problem-solving, decision-making, and interpersonal communication skills.
- U. S. Citizen.
- Active DoD Secret security clearance.
- Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of related work experience.
- Ability to obtain DoD 8140 IAT Level II Security+ (or higher) within 60 days of hire.
- Ability to travel <20% to CONUS/OCONUS customer sites and government installations.
ECS Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about ECS and has not been reviewed or approved by ECS.
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Healthcare Strength — ECS advertises multiple national-network medical plan options with HSA eligibility alongside dental and vision coverage. Coverage generally begins quickly and is paired with company-paid short- and long-term disability, adding stability to the health package.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with Safe Harbor and immediate vesting on employer contributions is emphasized, with an employer match available. Access to an employee stock purchase plan via the parent company provides an additional savings avenue.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave up to 30 days, adoption assistance, and other family-oriented leaves are highlighted. Feedback suggests these offerings add meaningful value beyond base pay for many roles.
ECS Insights
What We Do
ECS, a segment of ASGN (NYSE: ASGN), delivers advanced solutions and services in cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), application and IT modernization, and science and engineering. The company solves critical, complex challenges for customers across the U.S. public sector, defense, intelligence and commercial industries. ECS maintains partnerships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and holds specialized certifications in their technologies. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, ECS has more than 3,400 employees throughout the U.S. and has been recognized as a Top Workplace by The Washington Post for the last five years.
