Linux Engineer with Rancher SME

Key Responsibilities

Kubernetes & Rancher Architecture

• Design, deploy, and manage Rancher-based Kubernetes platforms using RKE, RKE2, K3s, EKS, AKS, and GKE.
• Architect and implement highly available (HA) Rancher environments.
• Define and manage multi-cluster and multi-tenant strategies using Rancher projects, namespaces, and RBAC.
• Integrate Kubernetes platforms with VMware, bare-metal infrastructure, and major cloud providers.
• Develop standardized Kubernetes cluster blueprints and reference architectures.

Operations & Production Support

• Serve as the L3 escalation point for Rancher and Kubernetes-related incidents.
• Troubleshoot and resolve:
• Kubernetes control plane failures
• etcd performance, stability, and corruption issues
• Pod scheduling and node resource pressure problems
• CNI networking issues (Calico, Cilium)
• CSI/storage failures involving Ceph, Longhorn, EBS, Azure Disk, and NFS
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) and recommend preventive and corrective measures.

Rancher Administration

• Install, upgrade, patch, and maintain Rancher Server environments.
• Manage Kubernetes cluster lifecycles through Rancher UI and APIs.
• Configure and maintain:
• Rancher RBAC
• Authentication and SSO integrations (AD, LDAP, Azure AD, SAML/OIDC)
• Global and cluster-level governance policies
• Maintain Rancher backup, disaster recovery, and restoration procedures.

Security & DevOps Enablement

• Implement Kubernetes security best practices, including:
• Pod Security Standards (PSS)
• Network Policies
• Secrets management
• Integrate Kubernetes environments with CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and Argo CD.
• Enable GitOps workflows for both infrastructure and application deployments.
• Support Helm chart development, deployment, and lifecycle management.
• Collaborate with development teams on deployment strategies, scaling, and resource optimization.
• Troubleshoot and resolve application deployment and runtime issues within Kubernetes environments.

Required Experience & Skills

• 6–10 years of experience in Linux, Infrastructure, or Cloud Engineering.
• 3–5 years of hands-on production experience with Kubernetes.
• Strong expertise with Rancher technologies including RKE, RKE2, and K3s.
• Deep understanding of:
• Kubernetes architecture and control plane components
• etcd administration and troubleshooting
• Container networking and CNIs
• CSI-based storage architectures
• Strong troubleshooting and performance tuning skills in enterprise Kubernetes environments.
• Experience with hybrid cloud and on-prem infrastructure deployments.