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AWS Golden AMI / Platform Engineer (Can work nearby client office in US)

HyreUHouston, TX🇺🇸United States

Quick overview

SeniorityMid Senior
Work modeHybrid
LocationHouston, TX, United States
PackerGitAWSEncryptionBashPowerShellPythonTerraformKubernetesCI/CDLinuxWindows ServerIAM

Job description

AWS Golden AMI / Platform Engineer

JOB PROFILE | CLOUD PLATFORM ENGINEERING

Role purpose Build and operate a reliable, automated Golden AMI capability that delivers secure, standardized and tested base images for enterprise AWS workloads.

Role Overview

We are looking for a strong hands-on engineer with a software engineering and automation mindset to design, develop, automate, test and maintain enterprise-grade AWS Golden AMIs for Linux and Windows workloads. The engineer will create repeatable image engineering pipelines using AWS EC2 Image Builder and/or HashiCorp Packer, with image definitions and configuration managed as version-controlled code.

The role is responsible for the complete AMI lifecycle: build, configure, patch, test, security validate, approve, distribute, promote and deprecate. The objective is to provide application teams with reliable base images that can be consumed consistently across AWS accounts, regions and environments.

Key Responsibilities

·    Design, build and maintain standardized base / Golden AMIs for Linux and Windows workloads.

·    Develop automated image build pipelines using AWS EC2 Image Builder and/or Packer, CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code.

·    Maintain AMI build definitions, configuration and automation as version-controlled code with clear release and change practices.

·    Automate the installation and configuration of operating system components, security tooling, monitoring agents, middleware and required enterprise software.

·    Implement automated functional, configuration, security and compliance validation before an AMI is released.

·    Automate operating system patching, vulnerability remediation and recurring image rebuilds to keep base images current.

·    Integrate vulnerability scanning, hardening standards and compliance controls into the image pipeline.

·    Manage AMI versioning, promotion, distribution, rollback, deprecation and lifecycle management across multiple AWS accounts and regions.

·    Troubleshoot complex image build, deployment, operating system, networking, security and integration issues.

·    Continuously improve engineering quality, lead time and reliability through automation, standardization and removal of manual activities.

·    Work closely with cloud platform, infrastructure, security and application teams to translate enterprise requirements into reusable base images.

·    Design, build and maintain custom EKS AMIs aligned with organizational security and compliance standards.

·    Ensure EKS worker node AMIs are compatible with Kubernetes and AWS EKS upgrades.

·    Troubleshoot node provisioning and AMI-related issues in EKS environments.

Required Skills & Experience

·    Strong hands-on AWS engineering experience, particularly with Amazon EC2, AMIs, IAM and related platform services.

·    Strong experience building machine images with AWS EC2 Image Builder and/or HashiCorp Packer.

·    Strong development and automation skills using Python, PowerShell and/or Bash.

·    Strong CI/CD engineering experience, including designing pipelines, quality gates and automated release processes.

·    Strong Infrastructure as Code experience, preferably Terraform.

·    Hands-on Linux and Windows Server engineering experience, including OS configuration, hardening and patching.

·    Experience creating automated tests and validation for infrastructure or machine images.

·    Good understanding of AWS networking, IAM, encryption, security controls, vulnerability management and compliance.

·    Proficiency with Git and modern version-control practices, including code reviews and controlled changes.

·    Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills in complex cloud environments.

·    Ability to write clean, maintainable automation rather than relying on manual server configuration.

·    Experience with Kubernetes administration and container technologies.

·    Experience with AWS EKS environments.

Preferred Experience

·    Operating a Golden AMI or image factory capability at enterprise scale across multiple AWS accounts and regions.

·    AWS Organizations, multi-account platform design and centralized governance.

·    Integrating endpoint security, vulnerability scanning, observability and logging agents into enterprise base images.

·    Automated compliance validation against organizational or industry hardening standards.

·    AWS certification relevant to cloud architecture, development, DevOps or operations.

Engineering Principles

Principle

What it means

Everything as code

AMI definitions, configuration and pipelines are versioned, reviewable and reproducible.

Automate by default

Builds, tests, patching, security checks, distribution and lifecycle activities should require minimal manual intervention.

Test before promotion

Images are automatically validated before they become available for consumption.

Immutable and repeatable

Changes result in a new versioned image rather than manual modification of existing servers.

Secure by design

Security, vulnerability remediation and compliance are built into the engineering lifecycle.

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