Sr Lead Engineer

Senior Lead, Platform Operations (Kubernetes & OpenShift)

Location: (Hybrid) Charlotte, NC - Phoenix, AZ - Irving, TX

About the Role

We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Lead to drive the operational reliability, governance, and performance of our Kubernetes and OpenShift platforms. In this role, you will define operational strategy, strengthen incident readiness, enhance platform stability, and lead automation initiatives that reduce toil and increase efficiency. You will also provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams supporting mission-critical environments.

Responsibilities

Operational Leadership & Governance

• Own the operational health, lifecycle management, and governance of Kubernetes and OpenShift platforms.
• Define and implement standards, procedures, and readiness frameworks across all environments.

Incident Management

• Lead major incident response, coordinating cross-team efforts to restore service quickly and effectively.
• Manage executive and stakeholder communication, drive root-cause analysis, and ensure lasting corrective actions.

Reliability & Stability Engineering

• Lead initiatives that improve platform resilience and reduce recurring issues.
• Advance automation maturity to improve reliability and consistency.

Automation & Toil Reduction

• Develop and execute automation strategy for run-operations.
• Utilize Python, GitOps practices, AI-assisted tooling, and self-service workflows to reduce manual work.

OpenShift Platform Lifecycle Management

• Oversee cluster builds, configuration, onboarding, upgrades, and decommissioning.
• Ensure environment consistency, compliance, and operational readiness.

Cross-Team Enablement

• Partner with engineering, security, and development teams to drive operational best practices and guardrails.
• Promote consistent operational patterns and readiness across the organization.

Compliance & Controls

• Ensure adherence to regulatory, security, and audit requirements.
• Maintain high-quality documentation and operational hygiene.

Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor team members and help grow technical and operational capabilities across the organization.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years in Systems Operations, Cloud Operations, SRE, or related operational roles.
• 6+ years of Kubernetes/OpenShift platform operations experience.
• 4+ years in Linux systems operations.
• Experience leading operational teams or critical platform operations.
• Demonstrated success in automation, operational excellence, and incident leadership.

Desired Qualifications

• Deep expertise in OpenShift management, ACM, Git/GitOps.
• Strong experience with observability ecosystems (Grafana, Splunk, Prometheus).
• Proven ability to drive operational strategy and large-scale stability improvements.
• Strong analytical, communication, and cross-team leadership skills.

Job Expectations

• Lead escalations and provide leadership during major incidents.
• Participate in on-call leadership rotation.
• Hybrid work required from the posted location.

Additional Notes (for job intake or recruiter reference)

• Years of Experience Required: XXX
• Top Skills: XXX
• Cultural/Soft Skills: XXX
• Software/Tools: XXX
• Education/License Requirements: XXX
• Preferred Qualifications: XXX
• Day-to-Day Operations: XXX
• Work Environment: Scrum / Agile / Waterfall (specify)
• Preferred Industry Experience: XXX