Job Title: Senior Platform & Automation Engineer (Kubernetes / IaC)
Job Type: 10-month contract
Location: Toronto, ON (downtown; 100% onsite)
Shift Schedule: Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
Hours per week: 40
Rate: $75/hr T4 OR 90/hr Inc
Role Summary
Our client is seeking a Senior Platform & Automation Engineer who brings a strong blend of Kubernetes platform engineering expertise and enterprise automation leadership. This role is responsible for designing, building, and evolving scalable, secure, and highly automated infrastructure platforms across hybrid cloud environments. You will play a key role in advancing our client’s transition toward a Platform Engineering and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) operating model, combining hands-on technical execution with strategic influence. This includes developing self-service infrastructure capabilities, implementing CI/CD pipelines, and embedding automation, security, and compliance into every stage of the platform lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities:
Platform Engineering & Kubernetes
- Design, build, and manage enterprise Kubernetes platforms (OpenShift, Rancher, EKS, GKE, etc.) across development, test, and production environments
- Architect resilient, scalable, and secure containerized solutions using modern design patterns (microservices, service mesh, loosely coupled architectures)
- Implement and maintain container lifecycle management, backup/recovery, and deployment tooling (e.g., Argo, Portworx, Kasten)
- Partner with architecture and security teams on data protection, failover, and disaster recovery strategies
Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Lead the design and implementation of enterprise-wide Infrastructure as Code frameworks using Terraform and Ansible
- Build standardized, reusable modules and automated provisioning pipelines across hybrid cloud (on-prem, AWS, OpenShift)
- Develop self-service infrastructure platforms and “golden pipelines” to accelerate delivery and reduce manual effort
- Implement Policy-as-Code (e.g., OPA, Sentinel) to enforce security and compliance controls
CI/CD, DevOps & SRE Practices
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines using tools such as GitLab, Jenkins, or Tekton
- Integrate infrastructure automation into application delivery workflows for end-to-end deployment automation
- Apply SRE principles (monitoring, SLOs, reliability engineering) to improve system performance and uptime
- Enhance observability using tools like Splunk, Datadog, Dynatrace, Grafana
Leadership & Strategy
- Act as a technical leader and automation champion, driving adoption of DevOps and platform engineering practices across teams
- Mentor engineers on best practices in automation, modular design, and cloud-native development
- Collaborate with senior stakeholders to align platform and automation strategies with business objectives
- Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend innovations to reduce operational complexity and technical debt
- Contribute to building a center of excellence for platform engineering and automation
Operations & Support
- Provide production support, including participation in an on-call rotation
- Troubleshoot complex platform and infrastructure issues across distributed systems
- Work with vendors and internal teams to resolve incidents and optimize performance
Required Skills & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
- 7–10+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps, SRE, or systems engineering roles
- Hands-on expertise with Kubernetes platforms (OpenShift, EKS, GKE, Rancher, Tanzu)
- Strong experience with Terraform and Ansible for infrastructure automation
- Proven experience designing and operating CI/CD pipelines and container-based applications
- Strong scripting/programming skills (Python, Bash, or Go)
- Experience with Git-based source control and versioning workflows
- Deep understanding of cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and hybrid infrastructure environments
- Strong knowledge of networking fundamentals and distributed systems
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering best practices
Nice-to-Have Qualifications
- Experience with Policy-as-Code, secrets management (Vault, CyberArk), and compliance automation
- Familiarity with service mesh architectures and advanced Kubernetes operators
- Experience automating complex networking (e.g., AWS VPC, Cisco ACI, F5)
- Knowledge of financial services regulatory environments (auditability, compliance)
- Certifications such as:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect
- Terraform Associate / Professional
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Red Hat Ansible Certification