DevOps Engineer

The Capital Area Division (CAD) of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) in Alexandria, VA is seeking a DevOps Engineer to deploy, orchestrate, and manage containerized software and services for DHS applications. We are looking for a candidate with a strong passion, background, and experience in deploying and managing containerized applications in a Kubernetes environment, leveraging Helm templates to assist in deployments, upgrades, downgrades, and deletions, and automating tasks with Ansible and Jenkins (or similar).

This work will place you with a team focused on an analytic environment in DHS, which enables users throughout the department to access and collaborate on their analysis projects. As a valued contributor to the team, your responsibilities will include (1) collaborative design, problem solving, and solution building with an integrated development and operations team, (2) deploying, upgrading, and managing containerized applications on distributed systems using Kubernetes and Helm, and (3) managing container/pod/service communication within a Kubernetes environment by managing ingresses and leveraging service meshing tools like Hashicorp’s Consul.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong IT Background
• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field with 2-4 years of experience OR Master’s degree in related technical field with 0-2 years of experience
• Must be a US Citizen
• Candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance
• Strong containerization experience (Docker or similar)
• Strong container orchestration, management, and templating experience (Kubernetes, Helm, or similar)

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with server automation and pipelines (Ansible, Jenkins, or similar)
• Familiar with application communication and networking in containerized environments

Company Information:

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs over 1200 professionals. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site characterization, pavement analysis, and robotics.

As an employee of ARA, you will have opportunities for career advancement and continued learning outside of your primary job functions. We strive to identify cross-training opportunities and encourage staff to interject new ideas into our longstanding operational programs. At ARA, we foster an environment where technical staff are empowered to research and develop their own ideas – with resources and support from a strong internal technical team and external partners. Day-to-day, you can expect flexibility in choosing the level of autonomy suited to you while enjoying a challenging technical career with great opportunity for personal growth.

At ARA, employees are our greatest assets. The corporation realizes that employee ownership fosters greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. ARA gives its employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take more active roles as owners. The culture is challenging; innovation and experimentation are the norm. Employees are eligible for contributions which not only add to the company’s success, but also their own through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The motto, “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” sums up the ARA experience. For additional information and an opportunity to join this unique workplace, please visit our website at www.ara.com.

Please apply at www.careers.ara.com for this position.

Experience

• 2 - 4 years: Relevant work experience

Education

• Bachelors or better in Computer Science or related field

• Masters or better in Computer Science or related field

Behaviors

• Innovative: Consistently introduces new ideas and demonstrates original thinking
• Enthusiastic: Shows intense and eager enjoyment and interest
• Detail Oriented: Capable of carrying out a given task with all details necessary to get the task done well

Motivations

• Work-Life Balance: Inspired to perform well by having ample time to pursue work and interests outside of work
• Self-Starter: Inspired to perform without outside help
• Growth Opportunities: Inspired to perform well by the chance to take on more responsibility

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)