Kubernetes Site Reliability Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators.

Join us and take your place in space. The Digital Innovation Division (DID) is accountable for integrating strategies, providing governance, and managing internal investments that form the foundation of Aerospace’s digital innovation and transformation. The DID Mission IT pillar supports engineering teams across Aerospace by delivering top-tier IT engineering and IT support services tailored to meet the unique needs of our engineering community.

Mission IT Operations is seeking a skilled Site Reliability Engineer with deep expertise in Kubernetes, Linux, programming, and automation. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining both on-premises and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters that form the core of an overall Platform as a Service (PaaS), providing essential support to our engineering team. As part of a multidisciplinary platform and infrastructure team, you will manage multiple Kubernetes clusters used for technical analyses such space launch telemetry analysis and modeling and simulation, as well as for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Large Language Model (LLM) Training and inference services.

Collaborating closely with rocket scientists and engineers, you will contribute to the development of innovative solutions to complex challenges within the space enterprise, supporting critical national space assets. This position requires a strong sense of shared responsibility and ownership, working alongside cross-functional team members to achieve our mission objectives.

Work Model:
This is a full-time position based in El Segundo, CA which requires 100% onsite work.

• Developing and sustaining advanced services for our Kubernetes-based PaaS (e.g., Coder work spaces, Kueue batching scheduling, Knative serverless, Crossplane control planes)
• Managing Kubernetes for production on-premises and cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure) with end-to-end responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, performance tuning, capacity planning, and backups/DR.
• Frequent full security patching of all layers of Kubernetes infrastructure while maintaining very high uptime.
• Ownership and engineering responsibility of production AWS and Kubernetes services.
• Identifying and resolving full Kubernetes stack engineering problems independently.
• Ensuring successful real-time analysis of telemetry data from space launch partners, such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Blue Origin.
• Providing after-hours support for Kubernetes infrastructure troubleshooting during launch events.
• Supporting scientists and engineers running applications in Kubernetes.
• Providing Linux expertise and troubleshooting.
• Evaluating and testing new products and technologies.
• Using code to enhance and automate operations.

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM, Computer Science. or other related sciences/engineering discipline.
• 8 or more years of relevant experience directly related to developing and delivering complex large-scale distributed software systems solutions and technical products.
• Minimum of 5 years experience supporting highly available enterprise environments, including maintaining system uptime and service availability targets.
• At least 2 years of hands‑on experience managing existing Kubernetes environments, with responsibilities of deployment, upgrade, patching, and backups.
• Full ownership and engineering responsibility of production Kubernetes services, both on‑premises and Cloud Service Providers such as AWS and Azure.
• Ability to identify and resolve engineering problems independently.
• Experience in Linux systems administration, including configuration, for…