Principal Centralized AKS Engineer

Job description

Job Title: **Principal Centralized AKS Engineer** **Location:** Pune **Experience:** 15+ Years (10+ in Cloud/Platform Engineering with Azure Kubernetes) Role Summary The Principal Centralized AKS Engineer will lead the architecture, engineering, and governance of enterprise-grade AKS platforms within the Cloud Foundation framework. This role is responsible for building and operating a secure, centralized, multi-tenant AKS platform, enabling standardization, governance, and developer self-service at scale while balancing security and agility. Key Responsibilities - Lead the design, build, and evolution of a Centralized AKS platform aligned to Cloud Foundation strategy. - Drive standardization and reusable platform capabilities across AKS environments. - Architect and manage central AKS clusters (multi-tenant, shared services model) with strong isolation and scalability. - Define and enforce platform governance, security, and compliance standards. - Implement GitOps-driven platform operations using ArgoCD. - Drive automation using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/Bicep). - Integrate AKS with enterprise-grade services: - Azure Networking (Hub-Spoke, Private Link, Azure Firewall). - Identity & Access (Azure AD, RBAC, Managed Identities). - Observability (Dynatrace, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Prometheus, Grafana). - Enable secure workload onboarding into central AKS clusters. - Implement policy enforcement and security controls (Azure Policy, OPA/Gatekeeper, Secrets Management). - Lead secrets management and encryption strategies (Azure Key Vault, CSI drivers). - Support CI/CD integrations (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Helm, ArgoCD pipelines) - Lead platform reliability engineering, incident management, and performance optimization - Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural governance Qualifications - Education & Experience - Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience). - 10+ years of experience in Cloud Engineering, Infrastructure, or Platform Operations with 15+ years of total work experience in Technology Infrastructure. - Strong experience in Cloud Foundation / Azure Kubernetes / Platform Engineering models - Technical Skills **Central AKS & Kubernetes Expertise** - Deep hands-on experience in Centralized AKS platform design and operations - Experience managing shared / multi-tenant AKS clusters - Strong understanding of: - Cluster architecture (node pools, scaling, upgrades) - Ingress controllers (NGINX, AGIC) - Workload isolation and namespace strategies - Networking (CNI, private clusters, service endpoints) **Automation & GitOps** - Strong experience with: - ArgoCD (mandatory) for GitOps-based deployments and lifecycle management. - Helm charts and deployment standardization. - Git-based release workflows and environment promotion strategies. **Cloud & Platform Skills** - Azure Networking (VNet, Hub-Spoke, NSG, Firewall). - Identity & Security (Azure AD, RBAC, Key Vault). - Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred). - DevOps and CI/CD practices. **Governance & Security** - Strong experience in policy enforcement and compliance frameworks. - Kubernetes security, secrets management, and workload protection. Soft Skills - Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities - Effective cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder engagement - Excellent communication and presentation skills - Proven mentoring and leadership capabilities - Ability to influence outcomes without direct authority - Strong ownership mindset with focus on platform stability and customer experience Preferred Qualifications - Experience with multi-cloud environments (AWS/EKS) - Exposure to service mesh - Certifications: - Azure Solutions Architect Expert - Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) / CKAD - Exposure to FinOps and cost optimization practices Leadership Expectations - Act as the technical authority for centralized AKS platforms - Drive adoption of a platform-first, centralized engineering model - Champion Cloud Foundation standardization and governance - Promote GitOps and automation-first culture - Enable enterprise-wide AKS platform adoption and modernization Success Measures - Successful implementation and adoption of a centralized AKS platform - Increased developer productivity via self-service and GitOps (ArgoCD) - Strong platform stability, scalability, and security posture - High levels of automation and reduced operational overhead - Ability to balance governance requirements with developer productivity - Reduced incidents and improved platform reliability (MTTR, availability) Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.