Senior Platform Engineer

As a Senior Platform Engineer at Chargezoom, your key responsibilities will include implementing technical solutions that align with our immediate and future business goals, automating infrastructure provisioning using Terraform and Terragrunt, building and maintaining our Kubernetes infrastructure, and optimizing performance across our cloud footprint. You'll collaborate with the engineering teams to facilitate rapid service deployment and system monitoring, ensuring the platform is robust and reliable.

To excel in the Senior Platform Engineer role at Chargezoom, you should have 5-7 years of cloud infrastructure experience, particularly with infrastructure automation tools like Terraform. You should also be proficient in software engineering with at least one programming language such as Python, and have experience managing distributed microservices environments. Strong communication skills and a solid understanding of cloud platforms, particularly GCP, are essential.

A Senior Platform Engineer at Chargezoom should be familiar with technologies such as Kubernetes, Docker, GCP, and CI/CD tools like Bitbucket Pipelines and ArgoCD. Experience with relational databases like MySQL or Postgres and networking concepts is also important. Familiarity with infrastructure as code tools like Terraform and automation tools will set you apart as a candidate.

Chargezoom offers substantial growth opportunities for a Senior Platform Engineer, allowing you to shape the company's infrastructure strategy while developing your technical skills. Working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment means your contributions are valued and recognized, and you'll have ample opportunity to expand your expertise with new technologies as we evolve.

At Chargezoom, a Senior Platform Engineer can expect competitive salary and equity options, a beautiful office environment at Millrock Park in Cottonwood Heights, and a range of benefits, including 15 days of personal time off and company-paid healthcare and dental plans. Our strong culture emphasizes results while providing an enjoyable workplace, complete with games, catered lunches, and team-building activities.

When managing infrastructure automation in a cloud environment, I leverage tools like Terraform to streamline provisioning and configuration management. It’s crucial to define clear modules for different resources and utilize version control for infrastructure code. Additionally, I prioritize continuous integration and continuous deployment strategies to ensure that our infrastructure can adapt quickly to changing business needs.

Absolutely! I have extensive experience with Kubernetes, specifically in setting up, deploying, and managing containerized applications. I’m adept at creating custom Helm charts for application deployment and leveraging Kubernetes' features such as namespaces and service accounts to secure environments. My experience also includes troubleshooting issues in cluster configuration and optimizing resource allocation to improve application performance.

In my last position, I faced a challenge in migrating legacy applications to a microservices architecture. I approached this by first assessing the entire application landscape and identifying dependencies. Then, I broke the migration into manageable phases, refactoring components to ensure minimal downtime. I also collaborated closely with the development team to implement CI/CD practices, which enhanced our overall deployment velocity and reduced risks.

For CI/CD, I commonly use Bitbucket Pipelines due to its seamless integration with our version control system. It allows for easy configuration of build, test, and deployment workflows. Additionally, I combine this with ArgoCD for managing Kubernetes deployments, enabling streamlined rollout processes and providing rollback capabilities in case of issues.

Ensuring security and compliance within cloud infrastructures starts with implementing a strong access management policy and using tools such as Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles to limit permissions. I also incorporate security scanning during the development process and conduct regular audits. Staying updated with compliance frameworks like GDPR or HIPAA is key, and I ensure that our infrastructure adheres to these requirements through rigorous monitoring and logging.

I have significant experience working with relational databases such as MySQL and Postgres in cloud environments. My work includes database design and optimization for performance, replication for high availability, and implementing backup strategies using cloud-native services. I also leverage monitoring tools to gain insights into database performance and health.

When building and maintaining Kubernetes clusters, I prioritize creating a reliable and scalable architecture, employing managed services such as GKE to reduce operational overhead. I routinely assess resource allocation and cluster performance, ensuring proper scaling and using tools like Helm to manage deployments efficiently. Keeping infrastructure code in version control is also essential for consistency.

I possess a strong conceptual understanding of networking and the OSI model, which guides my approach to designing scalable and efficient infrastructure. Understanding the layers of the OSI model helps me troubleshoot issues effectively and optimize application communication. I’m well-versed in configuring network policies in Kubernetes to manage traffic flows securely.

When implementing an infrastructure provisioning strategy, I consider factors such as scalability, flexibility, and future-proofing. I ensure that automation tools like Terraform are utilized for provisioning to maintain consistency and efficiency. Assessing current and anticipated workloads is also crucial to allocate resources effectively, while monitoring performance helps in optimizing the infrastructure over time.

For someone new to the platform engineering field, I recommend gaining hands-on experience with key cloud providers, mastering infrastructure as code practices, and exploring container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. Joining communities, contributing to open-source projects, and continuously learning from real-world applications will also provide significant insights to enhance your skill set.