Lead Platform Engineer - Sandton at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• We are seeking a skilled Platform Engineer with extensive experience in Kubernetes to join our team. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, deploying and maintaining Kubernetes clusters and associated tools both on-premises and in AWS cloud. You will work collaboratively with other engineers and stakeholders to ensure high-availability, reliability, scalability and security of our Kubernetes platform.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters on-premises and in AWS cloud using industry best practices.
• Develop and maintain infrastructure as code to automate deployment, scaling, and management of Kubernetes clusters using GitOps practices.
• Collaborate with software development teams to ensure seamless integration of the Kubernetes platform with their applications.
• Continuously monitor and improve the performance, reliability, and security of the Kubernetes platform.
• Provide technical guidance and support to other members of the team and stakeholders in the areas of Kubernetes architecture, deployment and management.
• Troubleshoot and resolve any issues related to the Kubernetes platform.
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and advancements in Kubernetes technology to ensure the platform is optimised for performance, cost-effectiveness, and security.
• The ability to own your deliverable from end-to-end with minimal guidance on the process and best practice.
• Guide team members through both technical and behavioural aspects of the job.
• Provide 1-on-1 mentorship with juniors and intermediates in the area.
• Facilitate a thoughtful and inclusive environment for all fellows to learn and grow in their technical skills to achieve great results.
• Support, guide and assist in troubleshooting application teams issues as part of support duties on a rotational basis.

Requirements:

• A bachelor's degree in Computer science or Informatics would be preferable but Candidates with suitable and relevant experience will be acknowledged.
• At least 3 years of experience in designing, deploying and managing Kubernetes clusters.
• Strong understanding of Kubernetes architecture, deployment, and management.
• Experience in infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Familiarity with AWS services and best practices for Kubernetes deployment in AWS.
• Knowledge of networking concepts and security best practices in Kubernetes.
• Strong knowledge of scripting languages such as Python and Bash.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Ideal Certifications and experience:

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) and Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist CKS).
• Terraform Associate
• AWS certified cloud practitioner or AWS Associate level certifications.
• Experience with monitoring and logging tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, and ELK stack.
• Experience with Golang ( the Kubernetes operator model is highly desirable)
• Experience with Helm, Kustomize, Argo CD, Flux or related deployment tools.
• Experience with GitOps

What would make you a good fit?

• Want to learn or expand your Kubernetes knowledge?
• Want experience with DevOps tooling?
• Have a light-hearted sense of humour?
• Enjoy learning new technologies?
• Can deal with the large cognitive load that platform engineering presents?
• Love problem solving?
• Want to solve technical problems for technical peers instead business problems for business owners?
• Have a positive can-do attitude with matching enthusiasm?
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Can work within a team and communicate effectively.
• Able to work within an autonomous self-organising team.
• Do you have any standards or ways of working you could contribute that the team currently does not have?

What you can look forward to:

• Remote work (anywhere in South Africa, based in JHB or CPT is a benefit though)
• Flexible working hours
• Free access to Enterprise grade training and certification ( AWS, Kubernetes, ACloudGuru, Udemy )
• Access to cool tools and tech (Miro, Slack, JetBrains, Rancher etc)
• No uniform or corporate wear

Education

• Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology