Software Engineer (Kubernetes)

COMPANY OVERVIEW

XCEL Engineering Inc. is an award-winning small business that provides trusted information technology engineering consulting and project management solutions and services to federal agencies and organizations. Originally founded in 1971 by professional engineers at the University of Tennessee XCEL was acquired in 2003 by U.S. Army and Navy veterans and in 2023 became a MartinFed company.

XCEL Engineering is a part of IT Lab Partners (ITLP) which was created to support a leading research facility in the East Tennessee region in recruiting the best and the brightest technical talent. Considering joining our impressive team today!

JOB OVERVIEW

XCEL Engineering is seeking a qualified applicant for a Software Engineer (Kubernetes) to design and develop custom Kubernetes Operators that extend the orchestration of high-performance workloads and secure data workflows at scale. These roles are central to enabling American Science Clouds AI and HPC platforms ensuring that containerized research applications run seamlessly across heterogeneous compute and data environments.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Custom Kubernetes operator development
• Design implement maintain modify and test custom Kubernetes operators written in Go and/or Ansible
• Enhance existing software development processes practices and standards. test environments to evaluate tooling based on performance feature set and maintainability-especially for components that must work reliably with on-premise hardware and OS requirements.
• Support the use and understanding of in-house Kubernetes operators and serve as a maintainer for those controllers.
• Architecture & Infrastructure as Code and Tooling
• Develop and implement an Architecture as Code process for the Slate platform
• Write and maintain infrastructure and deployment code using tools such as ArgoCD (GitOps) Puppet (OS management) Go Python Bash Ansible Terraform and GitLab CI.
• Engage with development teams to understand platform needs and tailor the cluster experience to meet evolving requirements.
• Technical Leadership for Software Engineering
• Provide software development guidance code reviews and pair programming support to a team of 11 engineers.
• Contribute to onboarding team documentation and process improvement initiatives.
• Act as a go-to technical expert for all Kubernetes custom operator questions across the engineering organization.
• Collaboration
• Partner closely with internal cybersecurity and development teams to ensure the platform custom operators meets security compliance and usability expectations.
• Participate in cross-functional projects related to platform enhancements cluster lifecycle automation and infrastructure provisioning.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• United States citizen with the ability to obtain a security clearance.
• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Information Technology or a related technical field.
• Experience with the following key technologies and tools:
  • Languages: Go Python Bash
  • CI/CD: GitLab CI ArgoCD
  • IaC/Config Management: Puppet Helm Ansible
• Kubernetes & Ecosystem: On-prem K8s Custom Operators Service Mesh k8s architecture
• Operating Systems: Linux-based OS management at the hardware level strong Linux sysadmin skills

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior Istio operator development or service mesh integration experience.
• Familiarity with WebAssembly plugin development for Istio or Kubernetes.
• Background in HPC platforms GPU-based AI training environments or large-scale distributed systems.
• Exposure to DOE computing ecosystems (ALCF OLCF NERSC ESnet HPDF).
• Experience with containerized scientific workflows and secure data-sharing architectures.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

• Inside office environment.
• Working on a computer for long periods of time.
• May involve long period of sitting at a desk.
• The work environment is fast-paced and sometimes involves extreme deadline pressures.

OTHER DUTIES

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Xcel Engineering is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race color religion religious creed gender sexual orientation gender identity gender expression transgender pregnancy marital status national origin ancestry citizenship status age disability protected Veteran Status genetics or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal state or local law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or disabled veteran you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access Xcel Engineerings current openings as a result of your disability. You can request reasonable accommodations by calling 855.212.1810. Thank you for your interest in Xcel Engineering.

All positions at Xcel Engineering Inc. are contingent upon passing both a background check and drug screening prior to a start date and are subject to random drug screenings during the employment addition Xcel Engineering is an E-Verify employer.

Required Experience:

IC