Senior Platform Engineer (OpAI)

Job ID: 2616649

Location: San Diego, CA, US

Date Posted: 2026-09-09

Category: Software

Subcategory: SW Engineer

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes - 10% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required: Top_Secret

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: TS/SCI

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_ON_SITE

Description

SAIC is seeking a Senior Platform Engineer. As a Senior Platform Engineer supporting Naval Operational Architecture, you will play a critical role in operationalizing AI for next-generation naval platforms and systems. You'll focus on building and managing secure, scalable cloud-based environments to support advanced analytics, AI/ML workloads, and autonomous systems. This position involves hands-on engineering with cutting-edge technologies, close collaboration with cross-functional teams, and direct support of mission-critical DoD capabilities. Your work will directly enhance the warfighter's ability to execute distributed maritime operations and maintain tactical superiority.

In this role, you'll contribute to Naval Operational Architecture, working alongside engineers and operators to deliver resilient, forward-leaning solutions in support of national defense.

THIS IS AN ONSITE ROLE IN SAN DIEGO, CA WITH UP TO 15% OF TRAVEL INVOLVED

JOB DUTIES:

• Design, build, and maintain secure cloud infrastructure within AWS GovCloud environments.
• Configure and manage container orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes and OpenShift.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Ansible, Terraform, or CloudFormation.
• Support secure data flow across multiple systems, ensuring compliance with DoD cybersecurity standards and STIG requirements.
• Collaborate with DevSecOps teams to streamline deployment pipelines and container management.
• Optimize cloud resources for performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues within cloud, networking, and containerized environments.
• Partner with AI/ML engineers and software developers to deploy and integrate advanced analytics platforms and tools.
• Maintain detailed technical documentation to support system operations and compliance.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers and team members.

Qualifications

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelors in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related STEM field and fourteen (14) years or more experience; Masters and twelve (12) years or more experience; PhD or JD and nine (9) years or more experience
• Must have an Active Top Secret Clearance to start
• Must be able to obtain a TS/SCI after start
• Experience working as a cloud engineer, cloud administrator, cloud architecture, DevOps engineer, IT Specialist, platform engineer, site reliability engineer, release engineer, systems administrator, systems engineer, or similar role.
• Strong knowledge of either cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) or containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Some proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash) for automation tasks.
• Some experience with Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible) for configuration management.
• Some proficiency with Linux system administration.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate in a team environment.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity principles and best practices for platform security.
  Ability to transport/move heavy equipment (50lbs) on planes and ships.

DESIRED SKILLS:

• Knowledge of advanced networking topics, e.g, VPCs, TCP/IP, TLS, etc.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins.
• Experience with monitoring and logging tools for platform health and performance, e.g,. CloudWatch,
• Grafana, or Elasticsearch.
• OpenShift or Kubernetes
• Airflow
• Kafka
• RabbitMQ
• Apache
• Kibana
• Adapting open-source products to work with GovCloud
• Domino Data Labs
• Tobias
• Fiddler
• Experience with monitoring/logging tools such as CloudWatch or Grafana
• Experience supporting government or military organizations
• Relevant certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect, Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), or Security+ strongly preferred.

Target salary range: $160,001 - $200,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.


SAIC is a premier technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC is Redefining Ingenuity through its deep customer and domain knowledge to enable the delivery of systems engineering and integration offerings for large, complex projects. SAIC's approximately 15,000 employees are driven by integrity and mission focus to serve customers in the U.S. federal government. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see .