Senior Principal Platform Engineer
Clarity Innovations · Columbia, MD OR Herndon, VA
Clarity Innovations is a trusted national security partner, dedicated to safeguarding our nation’s interests and delivering innovative solutions that empower the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to transform data into actionable intelligence, ensuring mission success in an evolving world.
Our mission-first software and data engineering platform modernizes data operations, utilizing advanced workflows, CI/CD, and secure DevSecOps practices. We focus on challenges in Information Warfare, Cyber Operations, Operational Security, and Data Structuring, enabling end-to-end solutions that drive operational impact.
We are committed to delivering cutting-edge tools and capabilities that address the most complex national security challenges, empowering our partners to stay ahead of emerging threats and ensuring the success of their critical missions. At Clarity, we are people-focused and set on being a destination employer for top talent, offering an environment where innovation thrives, careers grow, and individuals are valued. Join us as we continue to lead innovation and tackle the most pressing challenges in national security.
We are hiring a Senior Principal Platform Engineer to build and run the on-prem Kubernetes platform that teams across Clarity Innovations depend on. Half of this job is software: you will own our in-house cluster provisioning tool as a product. The other half is operations: you will keep the clusters, storage, networking and hardware underneath it healthy.
Rapid Capabilities is the product development org at Clarity Innovations, home of the Aurora Enterprise and Manifest product suites. We run lean, in Extreme Programming (XP) teams, so you will pair with engineers daily and ship in small, tested increments.
What you'll do
Own the provisioning tool as a software product
- Develop and maintain our in-house automated cluster provisioning solution so every cluster is reproducible and consistent.
- Design new features, write tests, manage releases and versioning, and keep clear documentation for its users.
- Gather requirements from internal teams and turn them into a roadmap for the provisioning platform.
- Refactor and modernize the existing codebase over time, paying down technical debt while keeping clusters stable.
- Integrate the tool with CI/CD, observability, secrets management and access control.
- Build internal tools, services, APIs and CLIs in Go that automate deployment and operations.
Run on-prem Kubernetes for the whole company
- Deploy, maintain and upgrade on-prem Kubernetes clusters, including capacity planning, version upgrades and lifecycle management.
- Operate cluster-critical components: storage (Longhorn), networking (Calico or Cilium, MetalLB, ingress controllers) and internal registries (Harbor or similar).
- Build multi-tenancy so many teams can share clusters safely, using namespaces, RBAC, resource quotas, network policies and fair-share scheduling.
- Plan, run and regularly test backup, disaster recovery and etcd maintenance.
Manage the infrastructure underneath
- Manage bare-metal and virtualized infrastructure, working with data center and IT teams on hardware provisioning and replacement.
- Design and maintain infrastructure across on-prem data centers and AWS / Azure, using infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi or similar) wherever possible.
- Implement observability for metrics, logging, tracing and alerting (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry or similar).
Build security in
- Embed security and compliance into the platform: secrets management, IAM, policy-as-code and supply chain security.
- Patch OS and cluster components on a regular cadence to meet security and compliance requirements.
Work as a full member of the XP team
- Join planning, stand-ups and retrospectives, and pair with engineers on implementation every day.
Salary Range: $133,500 - $227,000
Pay Range
The posted pay range reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position and is provided to give candidates a general understanding of the compensation opportunity. The actual salary offered will be determined based on the requirements of the position and a variety of job-related factors, which may include geographic location, applicable Federal Government contract labor categories and wage rates, relevant experience, skills and competencies, education, certifications, and the scope and responsibilities of the role.
Because this position may be performed in multiple locations and may be subject to different contract requirements, the salary ultimately offered may vary based on the applicable location and contract. The posted range is not a guarantee of a specific starting salary or an indication that an offer will be made at any particular point within the range.
Total Rewards
In addition to competitive base pay, Clarity provides a Total Rewards package designed to attract and retain exceptional professionals committed to excellence. Our benefits reflect the value we place on skilled individuals who drive our impact in critical digital missions.
At Clarity, a career means joining a high-performing team advancing vital work in the digital landscape. We encourage you to consider the total value of joining us—competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and resources that support your growth and impact.
Our Total Rewards package includes performance-based bonuses, extensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k) plan with company match, substantial paid time off and holidays, flexible work arrangements where possible, and a range of income protection benefits. We are committed to supporting your well-being, professional growth, and ability to contribute to essential digital missions.
We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.