Staff Engineer

Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions. We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. With headquarters in McLean, VA, our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

About the role:

As a Staff Engineer, you will provide hands-on technical leadership for secure, scalable platform infrastructure supporting mission-critical applications across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. You will define architecture and engineering standards while leading initiatives involving Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, GitOps, observability, and platform security.

What You Will Do

• Architect, secure, and operate production Kubernetes platforms across AWS and hybrid environments.
• Design reusable Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Ansible, or similar tools.
• Lead development of secure CI/CD and GitOps workflows using GitLab, Argo CD, Flux, or equivalent technologies.
• Deploy and support highly available, multi-tenant platform services across multiple impact levels.
• Establish standards for Kubernetes, networking, automation, observability, reliability, and software delivery.
• Implement security controls for identity, access, networking, secrets, vulnerabilities, and the software supply chain.
• Lead troubleshooting, incident response, root-cause analysis, and platform reliability improvements.
• Mentor engineers, lead design reviews, and communicate technical risks and tradeoffs to customers and leadership.

What we are looking for: 

• 8+ years of experience in DevOps, DevSecOps, Platform Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, or related fields.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience operating and securing production Kubernetes environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex platform or infrastructure initiatives.
• Expert knowledge of Kubernetes architecture, Helm, networking, storage, security, and workload management.
• Experience with AWS, hybrid infrastructure, and highly available or multi-tenant platforms.
• Advanced experience with Terraform, Ansible, GitLab CI/CD, GitLab Runners, and GitOps tooling.
• Experience with Calico, Cilium, Istio, or similar networking and service-mesh technologies.
• Experience with Prometheus, Grafana, Fluent Bit, Loki, Kibana, OpenTelemetry, or similar observability tools.
• Experience with artifact repositories, container registries, vulnerability scanning, SBOMs, and policy enforcement.
• Proficiency in Python, Go, or another automation language.
• Strong technical leadership, troubleshooting, communication, and documentation skills.
• Experience supporting DoD, federal, or other regulated environments.
• Ability to obtain Security+ certification within 90 days.

Clearance Requirements:

• Ability to obtain and maintain an active Secret security clearance

Salary Range: $180,000.00 - $190,000.00

Work Type:

• Remote

What we will offer you: 

• Highly competitive salary
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Generous Referral Bonuses
• And More!

Our Vision Statement: 

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission. 

Our Customer Obsession: 

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there? 

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm. 

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.