Senior Cloud Systems Engineer
Lunar Outpost · Golden, CO
- On site
- Full-time
- $150,000 / year
- Golden, CO
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Subject: Interested in the Senior Cloud Systems Engineer role at Lunar Outpost
Hi Riley — I came across the Senior Cloud Systems Engineer opening and wanted to reach out directly. I've spent the last few years doing exactly this kind of work, and Lunar Outpost stood out because…
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Job highlights
- Manage Stargate production releases and deployments.
- Ensure 99.99% to 99.999% system uptime.
- Design and maintain Helm charts for infrastructure.
- Implement progressive deployment strategies.
- Collaborate on operational best practices and reliability.
About the role
About Lunar Outpost
Are you passionate about shaping the future of humanity's presence in space? Lunar Outpost, an industry leader in space robotics and planetary vehicles, invites you to join our team! Lunar Outpost is dedicated to creating a permanent presence in space, while also driving positive impacts here on Earth. Currently, we are seeking a Senior Cloud Systems Engineer to contribute to our mission in a dynamic startup environment.
About Stargate and the Pegasus LTV Program
The main responsibilities of this role include managing Stargate deployments in production, ensuring high availability and uptime, executing reliable releases, and driving operational excellence through comprehensive monitoring, metrics, and infrastructure management. Stargate is a next-generation Command and Control (C2) platform—the ground software that enables and empowers all Lunar Outpost missions, including the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) program. As mission-agnostic software used by all operators in mission control, Stargate's reliability and uptime are critical to mission success.
Take the #NextLeap with Lunar Outpost and work on the Pegasus LTV, which will carry NASA astronauts farther than they've ever been before on the lunar surface!
Key Responsibilities
- Own and manage Stargate production releases and deployment pipelines using GitOps practices
- Drive operational excellence initiatives including metrics collection, log aggregation, uptime monitoring, KPI tracking, and SIM Integration
- Maintain and achieve 99.99% (four nines) to 99.999% (five nines) uptime SLAs
- Design, develop, and maintain Helm charts for Stargate and related infrastructure components
- Implement and manage progressive deployment strategies including canary deployments and blue-green deployments
- Oversee critical Kubernetes infrastructure including volume management, DNS configuration, load balancer provisioning, and secret monitoring/management
- Manage and optimize Kubernetes deployments and related AWS services
- Implement and maintain observability stack using OpenTelemetry for comprehensive monitoring and alerting
- Collaborate with engineering teams to establish and enforce operational best practices and reliability standards
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of production DevOps/SRE experience with demonstrable track record of maintaining high-availability systems
- Kubernetes administration experience with elevated cluster access in production environments
- Strong proficiency writing and maintaining Helm charts for complex, multi-component applications
- Hands-on experience implementing canary deployments, blue-green deployments, and other progressive delivery patterns
- Deep knowledge of Kubernetes infrastructure management: persistent volumes, DNS/networking, load balancers, and secrets management
- Production experience with GitOps workflows and Flux CD
- Proven track record maintaining 99.99%+ uptime in production environments
- Excellent judgment and decision-making skills when working with production systems
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with AWS cloud services, particularly EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service), Secrets Manager, VPC networking, IAM, and AWS Load Balancers
- Experience with Karpenter for Kubernetes node autoscaling and cluster optimization
- Experience with OpenTelemetry instrumentation and observability platforms
- Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD, or CKS)
- Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, etc.)
- Knowledge of infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, CDK)
- Experience implementing SRE practices including SLIs, SLOs, and error budgets
Compensation & Benefits
Compensation level and base salary are competitively structured and thoughtfully determined based on factors such as relevant skills, experience, education, and the scope of the role.
- Comprehensive health coverage: Medical, dental, and vision benefits, with 70% of premiums covered by the employer
- Paid time off: Three (3) weeks per year of vacation
- Retirement plan: Up to 4% employer match on 401(k) contributions
- Paid holidays: 11 company-recognized holidays
- Parental leave
- Educational reimbursement opportunities to support company objectives, continued learning, and career development
Equal Opportunity Employer
Lunar Outpost Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Lunar Outpost Inc. does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. All employees, including executives and human resources personnel, are expected to conduct themselves with professionalism and treat others with dignity and respect in accordance with this policy.
Key skills/competency
- Senior Cloud Systems Engineer
- DevOps
- SRE
- Kubernetes
- Helm
- GitOps
- AWS
- Observability
- CI/CD
- High Availability
Skills & topics
- Senior Cloud Systems Engineer
- DevOps
- SRE
- Kubernetes
- Helm
- GitOps
- AWS
- Observability
- CI/CD
- High Availability
- Cloud Engineering
- Systems Engineering
- Release Management
- Site Reliability Engineering
- Cloud Native
- EKS
- Flux CD
- OpenTelemetry
- Progressive Delivery
- Infrastructure Management
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your 5+ years of DevOps/SRE experience, Kubernetes administration, and Helm chart proficiency.
- Showcase GitOps and CI/CD skills: Emphasize your experience with GitOps workflows, Flux CD, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Quantify achievements: Provide examples of maintaining 99.99%+ uptime and designing complex applications.
- Demonstrate AWS and Kubernetes expertise: Detail your hands-on experience with EKS, Secrets Manager, and Kubernetes infrastructure.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps, and SRE principles.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary focus of the Senior Cloud Systems Engineer role at Lunar Outpost?
- The primary focus is managing and ensuring the high availability and reliability of the Stargate Command and Control platform through DevOps and SRE practices, including deployment, monitoring, and infrastructure management within a Kubernetes and AWS environment.
- What are the key technologies used in this Senior Cloud Systems Engineer position?
- Key technologies include Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps (Flux CD), AWS services (EKS, Secrets Manager, VPC, IAM, Load Balancers), OpenTelemetry, and CI/CD tools.
- What level of uptime is expected for the Stargate platform?
- The role is expected to maintain and achieve uptime SLAs ranging from 99.99% (four nines) to 99.999% (five nines).
- What experience is most crucial for a Senior Cloud Systems Engineer candidate at Lunar Outpost?
- Crucial experience includes 5+ years in production DevOps/SRE, extensive Kubernetes administration in production, strong Helm chart development, experience with progressive deployment strategies, and GitOps workflows.
- Does Lunar Outpost offer opportunities for professional development for this Senior Cloud Systems Engineer role?
- Yes, Lunar Outpost offers educational reimbursement opportunities to support company objectives, continued learning, and career development for its employees.
- What are the benefits offered to a Senior Cloud Systems Engineer at Lunar Outpost?
- Benefits include comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, vision with 70% premium coverage), paid time off, a 401(k) with employer match, paid holidays, parental leave, and educational reimbursement.
- What does Lunar Outpost aim to achieve with its space missions?
- Lunar Outpost is dedicated to creating a permanent presence in space and driving positive impacts on Earth, with a specific mention of the Pegasus LTV program carrying astronauts on the lunar surface.
- Is experience with infrastructure-as-code important for this role?
- While not strictly required, experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or CDK is preferred and can be a significant advantage for this Senior Cloud Systems Engineer position.
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