Senior cloud engineer [GKE]

Purple Drive Senior cloud engineer [GKE] Share Dublin, OH PDT - 10312 10-15 Overview: Role Descriptions: We are seeking a highly experienced Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) SME Lead Contractor to guide our enterprise engineering teams through a strategic migration from Tanzu PCF to GKE. This role will serve as the primary technical expert defining standards, creating best practices, and providing hands-on support throughout the migration lifecycle. The ideal candidate brings a blend of deep Kubernetes expertise, hands-on Java Spring Boot and Python experience, and a proven track record leading complex platform migrations in large enterprise environments. Key Responsibilities Migration Leadership Architecture Lead the end-to-end migration of applications and APIs from Tanzu PCF to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Define the migration blueprint including cluster architecture, networking, security, and workload patterns Partner with engineering teams to evaluate current PCF workloads and design the optimal target state in GKE Technical Enablement Best Practices Mentor and guide teams on Kubernetes fundamentals, containerization, service mesh, CICD, and GCP-native services Create templates, reusable components, and standardized deployment patterns for GKE Conduct technical workshops, training sessions, and architecture review forums Hands-On Development Troubleshooting Provide hands-on support in refactoring Java Spring Boot and Python applications for Kubernetes Optimize container builds, resource usage, autoscaling, and observability Troubleshoot platform, networking, and service-level issues in GKE clusters Work closely with DevOps and Cloud Engineering to integrate pipelines and IaC Operational Excellence Establish logging, monitoring, and alerting best practices (Cloud Monitoring, Logging, Prometheus, etc.) Implement secure configuration practices including Workload Identity, RBAC, PSP replacements, and ingress controls Partner with InfoSec, Networking, and Infrastructure teams on governance and compliance requirements Essential Skills: 8-12 years of experience in cloud-native development, DevOps, or platform engineering Extensive experience with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Cluster creation, node pools, autoscaling strategies VPC, subnetting, Ingress Gateway, load balancing architecture Security controls Workload Identity, RBAC, Network Policies, Secrets mgmt Observability stack (Cloud Ops, Prometheus, Grafana) Strong hands-on experience with Java Spring Boot (microservices, config mgmt, API development) Python for automation, scripting, or app refactoring Proven success migrating apps from Tanzu PCF, Heroku, or similar PaaS to Kubernetes Deep understanding of CICD tools (GitHub, Jenkins, Cloud Build, ArgoCD, etc.) Strong communication skills able to influence, mentor, and simplify complex concepts Desirable Skills: Keyword: Skills: Digital: Kubernetes Experience Required: 8-10 Skills: N/A Purple Drive