Container Platform Architect / OpenShift Engineer (RedHat Engineer)

Overview

UICGS/Bowhead is seeking a Senior Container Platform Architect / OpenShift Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support PM MAGTF C2 and the Common Services and Applications (CSA) Agile Release Train (ART).

The position will provide senior platform engineering and architecture expertise supporting the evolution of the MAGTF C2 Common Hosting Environment (CHE) and broader Common Software Stack.

Working closely with Government Product Management and technical stakeholders, the Platform Architect will provide independent technical insight and recommendations for the architecture, implementation, integration, and evolution of containerized hosting capabilities. The position requires deep, hands-on OpenShift/Kubernetes expertise and the ability to assess actual implementations, evaluate technical approaches and tradeoffs, identify risks and alternatives, and communicate recommendations to both engineering teams and Government leadership.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and recommend OpenShift/Kubernetes architectures for tactical, regional, and enterprise hosting, including single-node and multi-node configurations.• Assess platform architecture and implementation across compute, storage, networking, workload placement, resiliency, security, observability, configuration management, and platform lifecycle.• Review implementation contractor designs, configurations, technical artifacts, test results, and engineering approaches and provide independent recommendations to Government Product Management.• Support evolution of CHE for distributed and tactical environments, including disconnected/degraded operations and regional multi-node hosting.• Assess integration of CHE with Department of the Navy RPOC-aligned CI/CD pipelines, including container build, test, security, artifact promotion, automated deployment, and release processes.• Identify architectural risks, dependencies, technical debt, alternatives, and opportunities to improve platform delivery and fielding.• Translate technical needs and findings into actionable recommendations supporting platform requirements, Features/Enablers, acceptance criteria, backlog prioritization, MVP/MVCR definition, and release planning.• Support technical experimentation, prototypes, architecture reviews, demonstrations, and evaluation of emerging platform technologies.• Communicate complex platform-engineering issues, options, and tradeoffs effectively to engineers, Product Management, and Government leadership.• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent combination of education and directly relevant technical experience.• 8+ years of progressively responsible infrastructure, systems, cloud, or platform-engineering experience.• 5+ years of significant hands-on Kubernetes and/or Red Hat OpenShift engineering or architecture experience.• Demonstrated experience designing, engineering, or evaluating production Kubernetes/OpenShift environments. • Demonstrated experience with multi-node, highly available Kubernetes/OpenShift architectures.• Strong hands-on knowledge of container orchestration, cluster architecture, workload scheduling, storage, networking, ingress/egress, service discovery, observability, security, configuration, and platform lifecycle management.• Demonstrated ability to inspect, analyze, troubleshoot, and evaluate actual Kubernetes/OpenShift configurations and implementations. Demonstrated experience in creating and modifying docker containers along with HELM charts as the basis for building pipelines, managing STIGs and deploying software.• Experience integrating Kubernetes/OpenShift platforms with CI/CD and DevSecOps delivery pipelines.• Working knowledge of container registries, artifact management, automated testing, deployment automation, Infrastructure as Code and/or GitOps approaches.• Experience evaluating architecture alternatives, identifying technical risks and dependencies, and developing technically defensible recommendations.• Ability to work directly with engineers and implementation teams while communicating technical findings, tradeoffs, and recommendations to senior technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Desired Qualifications• Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator, Red Hat Certified OpenShift Application Developer, Red Hat Certified Engineer, Red Hat Certified Architect, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), or comparable certification preferred.• Experience with Department of Defense or Department of the Navy DevSecOps environments, software factories, and/or RAISE Platform of Choice (RPOC) preferred.• Experience designing platforms supporting distributed, disconnected, degraded, intermittent, or limited-bandwidth operating environments preferred.• Experience with tactical-edge computing and deployment of containerized capabilities across geographically distributed environments preferred.• Familiarity with DoD cybersecurity, software supply-chain, container-security, and platform-accreditation requirements preferred.• Experience supporting Government acquisition organizations, Product Managers, or technical authorities in evaluating system-integrator or development-contractor implementations preferred.• Experience with shared platform services, data platforms, or distributed data architectures preferred.• Experience working in Agile product-development environments preferred.• Familiarity with Scrum, the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Features/Enablers, MVP/MVCR development, PI Planning, System Demos, and Inspect & Adapt preferred.• Experience supporting experimentation, prototyping, and technical evaluation of emerging technologies preferred.

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Must currently hold a DoW security clearance at the minimum Secret level. US Citizenship is required.

Physical Demands:• Must be able to lift up to 25 pounds• Must be able to stand and walk for prolonged amounts of time• Must be able to twist, bend and squat periodically

Targeted salary range is $220,000 to $240,000 annually based on qualifications and experience.

Please note that the salary information is a general guideline only. Bowhead considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as, market and business considerations when extending an offer.

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