Senior DevOps Engineer

Aireon deployed the world’s first global space-based air traffic surveillance system, providing real-time aircraft monitoring capabilities around the world, including over the poles, over the oceans and in remote areas.  

Aireon data enables safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly aviation travel, resulting in significant CO2 emission reductions. More than 20 Air Navigation Service Providers representing more than 40 countries – including NAV CANADA, NATS (UK), Air Traffic and Navigation Services (South Africa), Airports Authority of India (AAI), and ASECNA (Africa) -- rely on Aireon data to navigate aircraft in their airspaces.  

We are committed to offering an employment experience and benefits package that enables you and your family to grow with us and to share in our success. 

As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you’ll be at the forefront of revolutionizing our core Aireon service components. Dive into the requirements, design, and implementation of cutting-edge infrastructure. Be a key player in transforming our environment into a secure, efficient, scalable, and automated powerhouse.

Aireon is seeking someone to join our dynamic engineering team. In this role, you will deploy, configure, maintain, and secure network and infrastructure resources in public and government cloud environments.  Collaborating with Solutions Architect, Project Management, Engineering, and DevOps Teams. You will work closely with the Operations team to investigate production incidents to resolution using the standard Aireon incident management processes. You will be able to sharpen your skills in DevOps and cloud technologies such as Kubernetes while managing critical systems in a secure cloud environment.

The team members local to the Aireon HQ location (McLean, VA) currently go into the office on a Hybrid schedule. Hybrid team members are expected to be on-site 2-3 days a week.

What You'll Do

• Manage Aireon’s cloud web application environment using fundamental practices of deploying infrastructure
• Support a unified set of practices and tools, ensuring infrastructure changes are safe, consistent, and reusable
• Support development and operations teams as a liaison between them to ensure continuous updates and deployments (CI/CD)
• Improve automation and resolve operational issues as they arise
• Manage Aireon’s AKS clusters, nodes, and node pools
• Monitor Aireon’s products and services to support our streaming workflows
• Managing infrastructure performance enhancement and troubleshooting

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, or a related field. We will consider incumbents with associates degrees and experience.
• Five or more years of experience using Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform/AWS CloudFormation.
• Five or more years of experience deploying and maintaining Kubernetes clusters (AKS preferred).
• Ability to make sound technical decisions in ambiguous situations and communicate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Understanding the importance of security while implementing infrastructure.
• Knowledge of deploying highly scalable, mission-critical, zero-downtime solutions.
• Experience with networking and security configurations for cloud and hybrid systems.
• Proficiency in at least one high-level scripting language (PowerShell, Python, Bash, etc.) and one programming language (Python, Go, JavaScript, Node.js).
• Hands-on experience with application performance monitoring tools such as Azure Monitor, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, and others.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems.
• Working experience in troubleshooting Microsoft Azure services.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience using Microsoft ARM templates.
• Experience in multi-cloud environments with Azure (preferred) and Amazon Web Services.
• Participation in migration projects from on-premises to cloud.
• Experience deploying data streaming solutions using tools like Kafka, Pulsar, NATS.io, or Solace PubSub.
• Experience working in regulated, safety-critical environments.
• Working experience with cybersecurity standards and practices such as NIST.

About You

You are a self-starter. Sitting and waiting isn’t an option. You take the initiative to make things happen.

You love solving problems. Getting stuck waiting for someone is not an option; you love researching and figuring things out independently.

You are collaborative. You're a team player who puts the team's interest above your own. You display a positive attitude, are open, and enjoy contributing.

Technology is your passion. It doesn’t just provide a paycheck; you are genuinely interested in what you do and its impact on others.

1-3-6-12 Month Plan

In the first month we'll expect you to...

• Get onboarded and meet with the direct manager
• Get acclimated into the role
• Understand the environment, tools and different stakeholders
• Meet the project team and understand current project status
• Define annual goals

At 3 months we'll expect you to...

• Participate in ongoing project meetings
• Have read the technical requirements and start working on implementation plans and Proof-of-Concepts
• Conduct Demos as needed

At 6 months we'll expect you to...

• Continue developing infrastructure as code scripts
• Conduct infra-implementation testing
• Troubleshoot issues with components and overall infrastructure
• Support test phases
• Work on security hardening plans

At 12 months we'll expect you to...

• Continue infrastructure as code implementation and testing
• Find and implement automation opportunities
• Continue to improve system security posture
• Continue supporting troubleshooting testing initiatives
• Support architects in planning resource/performance optimizations
• Conduct Demos for stakeholders.

About the Team

• The Product Development Team primarily develops and operates secure and reliable products for internal and external customers. The team shares responsibility for customer satisfaction, faster delivery, and profitability.
• The team comprises product development and product engineering.
• You will play a critical role in the product development team.
• This team is responsible for translating customer requirements and business objectives into product and sprint backlogs, designing a robust architecture to support the product goals, creating technical roadmaps, planning product releases, and improving the efficiency of people and processes, leading to faster and reliable deployment.
• We follow the Scrum methodology and work on a 2-week sprint basis.
• We leverage collaboration tools to connect remotely with team members and stakeholders.
• Most team members are in the Washington, DC area, with external consultants in Canada.

Perks and Benefits

• Premium medical, dental and vision plan

• Life Insurance and AD&D

• Short Term and Long Term Disability

• Health Savings Account (HSA)

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• Retirement 401K plan with Employer Matching

• Education Assistance and Tuition Reimbursement

• Paid Time Off, Sick Leave, Floating Holidays

• Paid Parental Leave

• Company Sponsored Events

• Employee Referral Program

Aireon is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or status as a protected veteran. EOE of Minorities/Females/Vets/Disability and other protected categories.