Kubernetes Platform Engineer (New Bailey, Manchester, United Kingdom)

Job Opportunity Review: Kubernetes Managed Service Engineer

This review provides an in-depth look at an exciting opportunity for a Kubernetes Managed Service Engineer within BT Networks. If you're passionate about cloud-native technologies and eager to shape the future of connectivity, this role presents a compelling career advancement pathway.

The Opportunity: Shaping the Future of Connectivity

BT's ambition to be the "world’s most trusted connector of people, devices, and machines" places BT Networks at the forefront of innovation. This role is pivotal in driving this vision forward by migrating core network functions to the cloud. You'll be instrumental in leveraging the scalability, flexibility, and collaborative power of cloud technologies, with Kubernetes being a central pillar of this strategic transformation.

This is a hybrid role, requiring 3 days in the office, and offers flexibility in terms of location, being based in either Manchester or London.

What You'll Be Doing: A Deep Dive into Responsibilities

This position offers a dynamic blend of design, development, automation, and operational responsibilities. You will:

• Design and Development: Collaborate within an agile team to co-design and develop a robust Kubernetes managed service tailored for telecommunications functions within a highly secure private cloud environment.
• Automation: Spearhead the automation of cluster deployment, scaling, and management. This involves extensive use of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles and leading container orchestration tools.
• Collaboration: Work closely with development teams to embed best practices in infrastructure deployment, including CI/CD pipelines and frameworks like Terraform, Jenkins, and Ansible.
• Operations: Embrace a DevOps culture, providing essential documentation and incident escalation support to ensure brilliant in-life service and effective incident management for the Kubernetes managed service.
• Integration: Develop a comprehensive understanding of diverse software components, including security, logging, monitoring, and cloud infrastructure, to create a cohesive and integrated platform solution.
• Innovation and Evaluation: Actively contribute to exploring cutting-edge technologies through proof-of-concept projects related to Kubernetes, assess their potential, and develop them into live services.

Key Skills and Experience for Success

To thrive in this role, a strong foundation in the following areas is essential:

• Communication: Exceptional communication skills are vital for fostering effective collaboration across engineering and delivery teams, and for clearly articulating complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Cloud Engineering: Proficiency in developing with Terraform, Ansible, and Python within cloud environments, with a focus on creating scalable, maintainable, and robust infrastructure.
• Kubernetes Expertise: Hands-on experience in designing, building, maintaining, and developing a Kubernetes managed service. A solid understanding of various Kubernetes distributions and at least one year of managing Kubernetes infrastructure is mandatory.
• Networking: A working knowledge of IP networking, routing, switching, and firewall principles. Experience with SDN, DPDP, and SR-IOV would be a significant advantage.
• Security: Familiarity with configuring PKI, certificates, HashiCorp Vault, and software supply chain security within cloud and Kubernetes contexts.
• CI/CD & GitOps: Expertise in integrating with GitOps workflows and implementing IaC best practices. Proficiency in setting up CI/CD pipelines for consistent and automated deployments is crucial.
• Linux & Development: Experience working with Ubuntu Linux on virtual and physical servers, alongside development experience with tools like Terraform, Metal3, KAPI, Ansible, Python, and Golang.
• On-Premises Kubernetes: Prior experience with on-premises Kubernetes distributions (e.g., RKE2, OpenShift) and Metal3/CAPI is mandatory.

Desirable, but not essential: Experience with private cloud environments, particularly OpenStack, would be a strong asset.

Career Advantages and Considerations for Candidates

This role offers a unique opportunity to:

• Impact a Strategic Vision: Be at the heart of BT's transformation, directly contributing to their goal of becoming the world's most trusted connector.
• Deepen Cloud-Native Skills: Gain extensive hands-on experience with Kubernetes, IaC, and CI/CD in a large-scale, high-security environment. This is an excellent platform to solidify and advance your expertise in modern cloud technologies.
• Drive Innovation: Be involved in evaluating and implementing cutting-edge technologies, shaping the future of telco network infrastructure.
• Hybrid Work Model: Benefit from a hybrid working model that balances office collaboration with remote flexibility.
• Comprehensive Benefits Package: Enjoy a competitive benefits package including an on-target bonus, a generous pension scheme, industry-leading family leave, enhanced women's health support, ample annual leave, virtual GP appointments, carer's leave, and opportunities for share ownership.
• World-Class Training: Access world-class training and development opportunities to support your continuous professional growth.

Key Considerations:

• Experience Threshold: The role requires a minimum of 5+ years in Networks Infrastructure IT with a strong networking focus, and 3 years of dedicated Kubernetes experience. Candidates should assess their experience against these benchmarks.
• Technical Depth: A strong understanding of networking fundamentals, coupled with practical experience in cloud engineering and container orchestration, is essential.
• DevOps Mindset: A proactive, collaborative, and automation-centric approach is key to succeeding in this role.

Why BT Networks is a Great Place to Grow Your Career

BT Group, with its rich heritage as the world's first telco, is undergoing a significant transformation. This is a period of unprecedented change and innovation, driven by massive investments in full fibre broadband and 5G. You'll be part of a company simplifying systems, structures, and processes on a grand scale, leveraging AI and technology to reimagine customer experiences. Joining BT Networks at this inflection point means becoming a driving force behind improving connectivity for millions, in an environment that values creativity, passion, and a forward-thinking approach.

BT is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. They encourage applications from candidates who may not meet every single qualification but are enthusiastic about the role and possess transferable skills. Reasonable adjustments will be made throughout the selection process if required.