This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.
Who we are:
Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions. We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. With headquarters in McLean, VA, our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.
About the role:
As a Staff Engineer, you will provide hands-on technical leadership for secure, scalable platform infrastructure supporting mission-critical applications across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. You will define architecture and engineering standards while leading initiatives involving Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, GitOps, observability, and platform security.
What You Will Do
- Architect, secure, and operate production Kubernetes platforms across AWS and hybrid environments.
- Design reusable Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Ansible, or similar tools.
- Lead development of secure CI/CD and GitOps workflows using GitLab, Argo CD, Flux, or equivalent technologies.
- Deploy and support highly available, multi-tenant platform services across multiple impact levels.
- Establish standards for Kubernetes, networking, automation, observability, reliability, and software delivery.
- Implement security controls for identity, access, networking, secrets, vulnerabilities, and the software supply chain.
- Lead troubleshooting, incident response, root-cause analysis, and platform reliability improvements.
- Mentor engineers, lead design reviews, and communicate technical risks and tradeoffs to customers and leadership.
What we are looking for:
- 8+ years of experience in DevOps, DevSecOps, Platform Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, or related fields.
- 7+ years of hands-on experience operating and securing production Kubernetes environments.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex platform or infrastructure initiatives.
- Expert knowledge of Kubernetes architecture, Helm, networking, storage, security, and workload management.
- Experience with AWS, hybrid infrastructure, and highly available or multi-tenant platforms.
- Advanced experience with Terraform, Ansible, GitLab CI/CD, GitLab Runners, and GitOps tooling.
- Experience with Calico, Cilium, Istio, or similar networking and service-mesh technologies.
- Experience with Prometheus, Grafana, Fluent Bit, Loki, Kibana, OpenTelemetry, or similar observability tools.
- Experience with artifact repositories, container registries, vulnerability scanning, SBOMs, and policy enforcement.
- Proficiency in Python, Go, or another automation language.
- Strong technical leadership, troubleshooting, communication, and documentation skills.
- Experience supporting DoD, federal, or other regulated environments.
- Ability to obtain Security+ certification within 90 days.
Clearance Requirements:
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active Secret security clearance
Salary Range: $180,000.00 - $190,000.00
Work Type:
- Remote
What we will offer you:
- Highly competitive salary
- Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
- 401(k) and company match
- Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
- Education & training benefits
- Generous Referral Bonuses
- And More!
Our Vision Statement:
We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission.
Our Customer Obsession:
We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.
How do we get there?
Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm.
Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.
We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
Skills Required
- U.S. citizenship and ability to perform work within the continental U.S.
- 8+ years of experience in DevOps, DevSecOps, Platform Engineering, SRE, or related fields
- 7+ years hands-on experience operating and securing production Kubernetes environments
- Demonstrated experience leading complex platform or infrastructure initiatives
- Expert knowledge of Kubernetes architecture, Helm, networking, storage, security, and workload management
- Experience with AWS, hybrid infrastructure, and highly available or multi-tenant platforms
- Advanced experience with Terraform and Ansible (Infrastructure as Code)
- Advanced experience with GitLab CI/CD, GitLab Runners, and GitOps tooling (Argo CD, Flux, or equivalent)
- Experience with networking and service-mesh technologies such as Calico, Cilium, or Istio
- Experience with observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Fluent Bit, Loki, Kibana, OpenTelemetry)
- Experience with artifact repositories, container registries, vulnerability scanning, SBOMs, and policy enforcement
- Proficiency in Python, Go, or another automation language
- Strong technical leadership, troubleshooting, communication, and documentation skills
- Experience supporting DoD, federal, or other regulated environments
- Ability to obtain Security+ certification within 90 days
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active Secret security clearance (must be eligible)
What We Do
Raft is a digital consulting firm with niche expertise in the rapid delivery of modern, user-first, scalable, and data-intensive digital solutions. We accelerate the missions of our federal partners through human-centered design (HCD) and agile development practices, bringing deep technical expertise in DevSecOps, Kubernetes management, cloud-native microservice architectures, and secure, open source delivery. We put our people and our culture first. We work with some of the smartest, hardest working experts in their field. We owe it to them to make sure our team is free of meaningless restrictions and internal politics so they can focus on what they love, finding innovative solutions. We build off the Open-Source and resist vendor lock in. That way you’re not paying us to reinvent the wheel, our solutions play nice with others and are always adaptable. We know digital innovation doesn’t always operate during bank hours, so neither do we. (It's also why we don’t dress like bankers.) We aren’t afraid to go the extra mile or put in the extra time to find a solution. We get it right the first time; we won’t waste our time (and your money) trying to fix something that’s fundamentally broken. It’s kind of like making an exceptional cup of coffee, if the beans are roasted wrong, it doesn’t matter how much pumpkin spice you dump in your cup, it’s still not going to taste great. And above all else we’re up for a challenge; it’s in our DNA. Ask us about something that’s never been done, or better yet something that can’t be done, and we’ll find a way to do it. It’s just who we are. If you need a partner that’s looking toward the future and not the past, don’t go traditional, go Raft.
Why Work With Us
Raft partners with public agencies to solve hard complex problems that impact the lives of millions of Americans. We work hard to make it easy for humans to connect with data.
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