Platform Engineer - Multiple Locations

Platform Engineer

Capstone Research Corporation is seeking to expand our team. Capstone Research Corporation is headquartered in Huntsville Alabama. We are a customer-oriented engineering services company providing world class research and development support across the Department of Defense (DoD): Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Capstone offers 100% Company Provided Medical and Dental Insurance, Matching 401K, and Profit Sharing as part of our top-notch benefits package. Compensation for this position will be determined, but not limited to, factors such as responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, alignment with market data, and internal equity.

We have an immediate opening for a Platform Engineer to design, build, and operate customer Internal Developer Platform (IDP) supporting both connected and air-gapped environments. This role is critical to enabling reliable, repeatable software delivery for DoW mission systems. This position can be located in San Diego, CA or Panama City, FL.

Key Responsibilities

• Platform engineering & integration - design, deploy, and maintain Kubernetes-based platforms using RKE2 on VMware vSphere/NSX-T. Operate and integrate platform services including: Rancher (cluster management), Cilium (networking), MetalLB / Traefik (ingress/load balancing), cert-manager (certificate lifecycle), BIND/DNS services, and Harbor (container registry).
• CI/CD & Developer Enablement - build and maintain GitLab-based CI/CD pipelines using trunk-based development workflows. Enforce deterministic, repeatable pipelines with automated testing, security scanning, and artifact traceability. Eliminate manual "click-ops" by implementing fully automated infrastructure and deployment workflows. Provide reusable platform services and templates to accelerate developer productivity.
• Automation & Infrastructure as Code - develop automation using Ansible (primary automation framework) and Python (supporting scripts, validation, and testing). Package and deploy applications via Helm. Maintain infrastructure and platform configurations as code with version control and peer review.
• Security & Compliance (DevSecOps) - integrate and enforce security scanning within CI/CD pipelines using SAST, IaC scanning, secret detection and tools such as Semgrep, KICS, Trivy, and pip-audit. Implement strong secret management and hygiene practices. Support identity and access integration using Keycloak/SSO. Ensure all pipeline activities produce auditable artifacts (e.g., JUnit results, SBOMs, vulnerability reports)
• Documentation & Knowledge Management - develop and maintain high-quality technical documentation using MkDocs and Architecture Decision Records. Ensure all platform components, workflows, and processes are well-documented to support team onboarding, program audits, and knowledge transfer in classified environments.
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of software development experience.
• Hands-on experience building and operating Kubernetes platforms (preferably RKE2).
• Strong experience with GitLab, Ansible, Python, and Helm.
• Experience with container ecosystems, registries (e.g., Harbor), and Kubernetes networking.
• Proven ability to implement fully automated, reproducible delivery pipelines.
• Experience supporting air-gapped or disconnected environments.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and security scanning tools. Strong understanding of Linux-based systems (preferably RHEL).
• Active SECRET clearance or eligibility to obtain one.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with load balancing and virtual IP solutions (Keepalived, VyOS, or Palo Alto platforms)
• Familiarity with RHEL patching and lifecycle management and WSUS or equivalent patching ecosystems
• Experience operating within DoD cybersecurity frameworks (e.g., NIST SP 800-171, CMMC).