Principal Platform Engineer

Summary/Overview

We are looking for a Principal Platform Engineer to help lead the deployment and operation of our NodeZero platform. Working closely with our platform architect, your goal will be to help bridge the gap between the our commercial platform and the new federal platform running in AWS GovCloud. Your expertise in AWS, AWS GovCloud, kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, and tools like Terraform, Ansible, and GitLab CI will be essential in creating scalable and secure systems that enable innovative experimentation. Join us in shaping the future of our platform, driving growth and empowering developers with a flexible and efficient environment.

Essential Functions

• Implement  highly scalable, secure, resilient cloud-native application platforms that host core company applications, toolings, and other services vital to enabling our product to perform in AWS GovCloud.
• Work with the core platform team to modify current "golden paths to production," to account for the changes in Federal compliance frameworks like FedRAMP, DoD Cloud Computing Security Reference Guide (CC SRG).
• Be the advocate for change in development and deployment processes that align with federal compliance to ensure the engineering organization can maintain high velocity.
• Identify gaps within the current processes and orchestrate the needed change for developers.
• Design and implement tooling for the internal platform to collect telemetry data used to gauge its effectiveness in supporting H3's engineers. This includes both technical metrics and user interviews documented in a centrally available service.
• Help create an effective documentation culture within the Systems Engineering team (Confluence, Gitlab pages).
• Participate in effective project management and work allocation (Jira, Agile Concepts).
• Help development teams convert manually built projects into automated infrastructure as code projects that meet best-in-class programming standards.
• Develop, Test, and Publish core infrastructure modules for the Systems Engineering team to implement across our cloud environments. Also help develop IAC modules for other engineering teams to consume.
• Be a champion of automation for infrastructure-as-code, platform operations, and overall CI/CD methodologies. We are leading the charge for building automated infrastructure/software pipelines for our engineering team.
• Research new technologies for automation, application hosting, and improving infrastructure provisioning.
• Provide technical leadership to the team and company, career mentorship to more junior engineers, and act as Technical Lead on various projects and initiative across the organization.

Competencies

• 15+ years of experience in DevOps, Platform, or related role.
• Ability to manage concurrent initiatives and use effective judgment in prioritization and time management.
• Creative, self-motivated, highly energetic, detail and results oriented.
• Excellent analytical/problem solving ability. 
• Strong influence, negotiation, and relationship management skills
• Strong understanding and experience with solution design and flow
• Strong technical documentation and communication 
• Subject matter expert on platform design and flow 
• Experience in FedRAMP, CC SRG, NIST 800-53, or Authority to Operate (ATO) process.

Required Education/Experience

• Bachelors in Computer Science or STEM
• MS in Computer Science preferred 
• Cloud Technologies include: 
• AWS GovCloud Core Services
• Compute (EC2, Lambda)
• Storage (S3, EBS, EFS)
• Database (AuroraRDS - Postgres)
• Networking (VPC, VPCe, TGW, RT53)
• Event-Driven Architecture (SQS, EventBus, Lambda, SNS)
• Security (IAM Roles and Policies, KMS, Cloudtrail)
• User Management (Cognito, Organizations, SSO)

Preferred Education/Experience

• Tools (7+ years with each is ideal):
• Gitlab CI/CD 
• SSO (OIDC, SAML, Okta, Social Sign-ins)
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Packer, Crossplane)
• Secret Management (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secret Manager)
• Configuration Management (Ansible)
• Scripting languages (Python, BASH)
• Programming Languages (Python, JS, GoLang)
• Container Engines (Docker)
• Kubernetes (RKE2, K3S, EKS)
• Application Performance Metrics (Datadog, Splunk)

Certifications (Within 1st year)

• CISSP or CASP with AWS Security Spec.
• HashiCorp Terraform 
• AWS Professional Level 
• CKA , CKAD or CKAS 

Other duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

Why H3

• Competitive Compensation: We offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package.
• Growth Opportunities: Be part of a dynamic and growing team with numerous career advancement opportunities.
• Innovation-Driven Culture: Work in a collaborative environment that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
• Flexible Work Environment: Enjoy the convenience and work-life balance that comes with remote work.
• Inclusive and Diverse Team: We value diversity and promote an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

Travel Required 

We are a fully remote company, and this job may require up to 5% of travel to be successful. Job-related travel expenses are reviewed and must be approved by your manager.

Compensation Disclosure:

In accordance with various State’s transparency regulations, we provide the following salary range information for this position:

• Base salary range: $275,000 - $350,000 annually. The exact salary will be determined based on the selected candidate’s location, qualifications, experience, and relevant skills.
• Additional compensation: This role may also be eligible for performance bonuses, equity options, and other benefits which will be discussed during the interview process

Work authorization/security clearance requirements

• US Citizen Required

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

Join Horizon3.AI’s team of passionate professionals and contribute to the growth of cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions while building strong customer relationships in a dynamic and remote work environment.

Horizon3.ai is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, or any other legally protected status.

We believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to our success as a company and as a community. We are committed to attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce that represents the communities in which we operate. We strive to create an inclusive work environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and supported. 

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply for open positions with our company and welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences.