AI Platform Engineer - Chantilly, VA - TS/SCI CI Polygraph Required

AI Platform Engineer needed for a Long-Term Contract opportunity with SOC’s client to work onsite in Chantilly, VA. *Candidate must have an active TS/SCI CI Polygraph clearance to be considered for this role. JOB SUMMARYAs a key member of the infrastructure support team, the Mid-Level AI Platform Engineer will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining highly available, scalable infrastructure platforms. This position plays a critical role in supporting engineers responsible for leveraging next-generation infrastructure to drive innovation in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field. You will act as the bridge between platform infrastructure and software engineering teams, delivering standard "paved roads" and internal developer platforms for secure, high-tempo AI workloads.KEY RESPONSIBILITIESCluster Management: Design, deploy, secure, maintain, and upgrade highly available, scalable Kubernetes clusters (e.g., EKS, AKS, GKE, OpenShift, or self-managed environments).Pipeline Design & Implementation: Design, implement, and maintain robust, automated CI/CD pipelines for deploying containerized applications to Kubernetes, adhering to modern GitOps workflows.Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Provision and manage distributed cloud infrastructure declaratively using standard IaC frameworks and toolsets.Automation & Custom Tooling: Write robust custom scripts and tooling to automate routine operations tasks, eliminate engineering bottlenecks, and integrate diverse infrastructure components.Performance Tuning & Optimization: Diagnose and resolve complex performance issues across the entire Kubernetes stack, optimize multi-tenant resource utilization, and perform regular cluster tuning.Monitoring & Observability: Implement and maintain comprehensive monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions to capture real-time platform metrics and distribute tracing data.Systems Hardening & Compliance: Secure distributed platform environments by enforcing strict access boundaries, managing platform secrets, and triaging vulnerabilities in line with federal security frameworks.Field Support & Travel: Travel up to 20% of the time, as required, to perform on-site installations, maintenance, and troubleshooting activities at customer sites or data centers.TECHNICAL COMPETENCIESContainerization & Orchestration: Proficient with Docker and advanced Kubernetes primitives including Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Persistent Volumes, and Namespaces.GitOps & Continuous Delivery: Practical experience with GitOps methodologies and automated continuous delivery deployment tools like Argo CD.CI/CD Tooling: Hands-on experience with popular automation platforms such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Tekton, or Argo Workflows.Application Packaging: Experience building and managing configurations using Helm charts and Kustomize for standardized Kubernetes application packaging.Core Infrastructure Networking: Deep understanding of cluster networking concepts (CNI plugins like Calico or Cilium), network policies, service meshes (e.g., Istio, Linkerd), alongside fundamental protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, Load Balancing).Platform Security: Expertise implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Pod Security Policies/Admission Controllers, vulnerability scanning, and secure secret management (e.g., Vault, AWS Secrets Manager).Linux/Unix Systems: Strong background in Linux system administration, including networking configurations, file systems, process management, and rapid troubleshooting.LEADERSHIP & PROFESSIONAL SKILLSProblem-Solving: Excellent analytical skills to isolate, diagnose, and resolve complex technical flaws across complex distributed software stacks.Communication & Collaboration: Strong verbal and written communication skills to collaborate effectively with development teams, operations, security, and external program stakeholders.Proactive Ownership: A forward-thinking approach to identifying potential platform vulnerabilities or scaling constraints early, combined with a strong sense of ownership over the entire environment.DevOps & SRE Culture: Deep understanding of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, collaborative developer workflows via Git, and a "you build it, you run it" philosophy.EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & CERTIFICATIONSExperience Profile: Proven professional experience working within DevOps, Systems Engineering, or Platform Engineering roles with a strong cloud-native focus.Certifications (Required): Current DoD 8570 IAM Level II or IAT equivalent baseline certification (e.g., Security+, CCNA, CISSP).Certifications (Beneficial): Industry-recognized technical credentials such as CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator), CKAD, CKS, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, or Azure DevOps Engineer Expert.Specialized Knowledge: Familiarity with specific Kubernetes operators, Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), or building customized Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs).Employment Prerequisites The following requirements must be met to be eligible for this position: successful completion of a background investigation and drug urinalysis. SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability. Note: Any pay ranges displayed are estimations, which may have been provided by job boards. Actual pay is determined by an applicant’s experience, technical expertise, and other qualifications as listed in the job description. All qualified applicants are welcome to apply. Estimated Min Rate: $66.50Estimated Max Rate: $115.00 #INDSOCType: Contract To HireCategory: Engineering