Job Description
Principal Engineer – Kubernetes & Software Engineering12-month initial contract Frimley Hybrid working (2–3 days on site per week)The OpportunityWe are seeking an experienced Principal Kubernetes Engineer to shape the introduction of containerised workloads into a core continuous integration environment. This is an architecture-led, hands-on role focused on establishing a secure, scalable and maintainable platform rather than simply deploying or administering clusters. You will work closely with engineering leadership to define the architectural approach, engineering standards and adoption roadmap for Kubernetes-based CI capabilities. The role combines immediate integration, experimentation and analysis with longer-term technical leadership across multiple delivery programmes, balancing delivery needs, cost efficiency, governance and developer experience.
- Define the end-to-end architecture for CI workloads running on Kubernetes.
- Lead hands-on work in an on-premises Kubernetes environment, including deployment, maintenance, experimentation and analysis.
- Assess the impact of integrating external infrastructure services into existing CI designs.
- Produce technical findings, design recommendations and change specifications.
- Provide technical guidance and mentor less-experienced engineers.
Key Responsibilities
- Target architecture: Define workload isolation, networking, artefact flows, autoscaling and resource-management approaches for Kubernetes-based CI workloads.
- Secure container supply chain: Design image build, scanning and promotion processes, registry architecture, environment separation, policy enforcement and secrets-management integration.
- Observability and operations: Establish logging, metrics, monitoring, platform-level visibility and alerting.
- Migration strategy: Identify candidate workloads and create a phased adoption plan with clear risk controls and rollback strategies.
- Technical delivery: Deploy and maintain on-premises clusters and lead implementation experiments, testing and impact analysis.
- Engineering leadership: Set standards, influence design decisions, communicate findings and support the technical development of team members. Essential Experience and
Skills
- Strong experience designing, building and maintaining on-premises Kubernetes clusters; around five years' relevant experience is preferred.
- Proven experience developing and deploying applications hosted on Kubernetes.
- Deep understanding of Kubernetes platform architecture, not only cluster operations.
- Experience integrating Kubernetes with CI/CD and DevSecOps tooling.
- Knowledge of container supply chain security.
- Experience with Ansible and Infrastructure as Code.
- Knowledge of IP-based network design and Linux operating systems.
- Ability to operate at engineering leadership and architecture level.
- Experience designing platforms and governance models for multiple engineering teams. Desirable
Experience
- GitOps tools such as Argo CD or Flux.
- Cloud-native build tooling such as BuildKit or Kaniko.
- Experience in complex, enterprise-scale engineering environments.
Principal Engineer Software Engineering (Specialist Softwa employer: Morson Edge
As a leading player in the Energy Sector, our company offers an exceptional work environment in Bridgwater, Somerset, where you can thrive as a Welding / NDT Field Engineer. We pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative culture that prioritises employee growth and development, alongside competitive daily rates and the potential for contract extensions until December 2026. Join us to be part of a dynamic team dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the energy industry.
