Senior SRE / DevOps Engineer

Job Title: Senior SRE / DevOps Engineer – Kubernetes & VMware 8/VCF (Contract)

Number of Openings: 1

Location: Remote / Hybrid (Seattle preferred; must be available PST hours)

Remote / Hybrid (Seattle preferred; must be available PST hours). If converted to FTE long-term, the expectation would be in-office (Seattle or potentially Nashville), currently 4 days/week in-office culture

Duration: Contract — estimated start July 2026 to 6 months, to be renewed or converted

Notes from Intake Call:

Background & Context

Manager is backfilling a principal engineer and long-tenured VMware/Kubernetes expert who is retiring. That candidate built and deeply understands the Kubernetes platform (built on VMware Tanzu/VKS) from the ground up. With his departure, manager will be left with only one other team member.

Must-Have Technical Skills (Priority Order)

1. Kubernetes (VKS / VMware Tanzu) — this is the primary focus. Vanilla Kubernetes experience alone is not sufficient; candidates must have hands-on experience with the VMware flavor (Tanzu) and ideally VMware Kubernetes Service (VKS).
2. VMware/vSphere 8 foundational knowledge — the platform sits on NSX networking, so understanding of VMware''''s network virtualization layer is important. Candidates without any VMware background will be at a disadvantage.
3. GitOps mindset — strong GitHub/GitOps experience is essential. The team is rapidly maturing its GitOps practices and treats all infrastructure as code.
4. IaC tools — Terraform and Ansible are in active use. Python and Shell scripting are the primary automation languages; YAML fluency is a given in this environment. Not required: Azure Stack Local (no involvement), Pulumi (not in use).

Technical Environment Summary

• Kubernetes delivery is via VKS (VMware Tanzu) — not generic/open-source Kubernetes
• Networking layer is VMware NSX — understanding container networking in this context is important
• CI/CD tooling: GitHub Actions, Flux or Argo CD
• IaC: Terraform, Ansible
• Languages: Python, Shell (mix; no single dominant preference beyond the JD)
• Carvel ecosystem experience is a plus

Role Dynamics

• Primarily heads-down infrastructure work within the infrastructure team
• Occasional collaboration with app teams to advise on Kubernetes best practices (not a heavy collaboration role)
• No involvement with an operations team at a technical coaching level — the ops team is not at the right skill level

Remote / Location

• Remote or hybrid — Seattle office preferred for local candidates but not required
• Must be available during PST business hours regardless of location
• If converted to FTE long-term, the expectation would be in-office (Seattle or potentially Nashville), currently 4 days/week in-office culture

30-Day Success Profile

• Proactively engages — does not wait to be assigned work; asks for Jira tasks
• Shows up to all team meetings and is communicative about what they''''re delivering
• Builds working relationships with team members through 1:1s
• Resolves access/onboarding issues quickly and independently
• Demonstrates output within the first 2 weeks — hiring manager flagged past contractor issues where remote workers under-delivered and milked hours

Recruiter Guidance

• Lead with VKS / VMware Tanzu experience — this is the differentiator
• Candidates from shops running Tanzu in enterprise are ideal profiles
• Strong GitOps + IaC background is table stakes