Senior AWS DevOps Engineer

Title:

KBR is seeking a Senior AWS DevOps Engineer to design, automate, modernize, and operate secure, scalable, and cost-effective AWS cloud environments supporting mission-critical customer workloads. This role will advance cloud modernization, DevOps automation, platform reliability, security compliance, operational efficiency, and cost optimization across regulated and hybrid-cloud environments.

The Senior AWS DevOps Engineer will work closely with enterprise architects, solution architects, cybersecurity teams, application teams, infrastructure engineers, and customer stakeholders to migrate and modernize legacy applications, build repeatable cloud platform patterns, improve CI/CD practices, and enable secure delivery of cloud-native services. This is a hands-on senior technical role that also includes mentoring engineers, establishing standards, documenting solutions, and communicating technical recommendations to leadership and customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead migration and modernization of legacy applications and infrastructure to AWS using secure, scalable, reliable, and cost-effective cloud-native patterns.
• Design, deploy, and operate AWS environments supporting development, test, staging, and production workloads.
• Partner with enterprise and solution architects to align AWS platform designs with modernization roadmaps, business objectives, customer mission needs, security requirements, and governance standards.
• Engineer solutions using AWS services such as S3, CloudFront, EC2, EKS, ECS, Lambda, Aurora Serverless, AWS Batch, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Route 53, RDS, API Gateway, SNS/SQS, and related cloud-native capabilities.
• Support hybrid-cloud integration where AWS workloads interact with on-premises systems, networks, storage, identity services, security tooling, or enterprise services.
• Design, develop, and maintain Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, AWS CDK, CloudFormation, or comparable frameworks.
• Build reusable IaC modules, templates, guardrails, and deployment patterns that improve repeatability, auditability, security, and engineering velocity.
• Automate provisioning, configuration, monitoring, auditing, patching, and deprovisioning of cloud infrastructure using tools such as Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Python, Bash/Shell, or PowerShell.
• Design, operate, and improve CI/CD pipelines using GitLab, GitLab Runners, GitHub Actions, or comparable DevOps platforms.
• Build pipeline workflows for automated build, test, security scanning, artifact management, deployment, validation, environment promotion, and rollback.
• Implement deployment practices such as blue/green deployments, canary releases, staged rollouts, automated rollback, branch strategies, approval gates, and artifact management.
• Support containerized workloads using Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS, Helm, and related container ecosystem tools.
• Implement or support GitOps practices using tools such as ArgoCD or Flux where appropriate.
• Establish secure platform guardrails for identity management, secrets protection, encryption, logging, auditing, vulnerability management, change control, and least-privilege access.
• Design and operate AWS environments in alignment with applicable security and compliance requirements, including FedRAMP, FISMA, NIST-based controls, and customer-specific policies.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams, system owners, and auditors to support evidence collection, control mapping, remediation tracking, and continuous compliance.
• Build and maintain monitoring, logging, alerting, dashboards, runbooks, service health checks, and incident response procedures.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across AWS infrastructure, Linux systems, networking, CI/CD pipelines, containers, and application deployment workflows.
• Improve operational reliability through autoscaling, backup and recovery, disaster recovery planning, health checks, fault isolation, resilience engineering, and SLO/SLA support.
• Apply FinOps principles to improve cloud cost visibility, accountability, optimization, and operational efficiency.
• Implement tagging standards, cost allocation patterns, showback or chargeback readiness, rightsizing recommendations, scheduling, storage optimization, reserved capacity, savings plans, anomaly detection, dashboards, and recurring optimization reviews.
• Use approved Generative AI tools and automation agents to improve engineering productivity, reduce manual work, accelerate documentation, improve pipeline development, strengthen runbooks, and support incident response.
• Follow responsible AI practices, including sensitive-data handling, prompt hygiene, secret redaction, validation of AI-generated outputs, and human review of production-impacting changes.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers in AWS, DevOps, automation, cloud operations, security practices, FinOps, and engineering discipline.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, operating procedures, implementation plans, platform standards, and customer-facing technical recommendations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in cloud engineering, DevOps engineering, platform engineering, systems administration, infrastructure automation, enterprise architecture, or related technical roles.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience implementing DevOps practices, including CI/CD, automation, containerization, and infrastructure operations.
• Strong hands-on experience designing, deploying, securing, and operating production workloads in AWS.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, AWS CDK, CloudFormation, or similar tools.
• Experience with configuration management and automation tools such as Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Python, Bash/Shell, or PowerShell.
• Experience building, maintaining, and troubleshooting CI/CD pipelines using GitLab, GitLab Runners, GitHub Actions, or comparable platforms.
• Experience with Linux administration, scripting, troubleshooting, and operational support.
• Working knowledge of AWS security, networking, IAM, logging, monitoring, and cloud governance practices.
• Experience with container platforms such as Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS, or Helm.
• Experience operating in regulated, compliance-driven, or security-sensitive environments.
• Experience with FedRAMP, FISMA, NIST-based controls, or comparable security frameworks.
• Experience applying FinOps practices to improve cloud cost visibility, accountability, and optimization.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues across infrastructure, pipelines, networking, systems, and application deployment workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and work effectively across architecture, security, development, infrastructure, operations, and customer teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document technical designs and present recommendations to leadership or customers.
• Demonstrated experience using approved Generative AI tools or automation agents to improve developer efficiency, operational workflows, documentation, testing, or incident response.

Required Certification

Candidate must meet one of the following requirements:

• Hold an active AWS Professional-level certification at time of hire, such as:
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
  • AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional

OR

• Obtain an AWS Professional-level certification within 6 months of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• AWS Specialty certification, such as AWS Certified Security - Specialty, AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty, AWS Certified Database - Specialty, or another relevant AWS Specialty certification.
• HashiCorp Terraform Associate certification.
• Experience engineering and deploying public sector, federal, or compliance-driven cloud solutions.
• Experience with FedRAMP Moderate, FedRAMP High, FISMA, NIST 800-53, or comparable security and compliance frameworks.
• Hands-on experience administering GitLab Runners and operating GitLab-based CI/CD at scale.
• Experience with GitOps tools such as ArgoCD or Flux.
• Experience with observability, logging, monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, and disaster recovery tooling.
• Experience modernizing legacy applications through rehosting, replatforming, refactoring, containerization, microservices adoption, or cloud-native service adoption.
• Experience with hybrid-cloud architectures and integration between AWS and on-premises environments.
• Experience with service mesh, WAF integrations, secure microservices delivery, or advanced Kubernetes platform patterns.
• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related technical field.

Representative Technologies

AWS and Cloud Platforms: AWS, hybrid cloud, S3, CloudFront, EC2, EKS, ECS, Lambda, Aurora Serverless, AWS Batch, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Route 53, RDS, API Gateway, SNS/SQS

DevOps and Automation: Terraform, AWS CDK, CloudFormation, Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Python, Bash/Shell, PowerShell, Git, GitLab, GitLab Runners, GitHub Actions

Containers and Deployment: Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS, Helm, ArgoCD, Flux, GitOps, blue/green deployments, canary releases, staged deployments, automated rollback

Security and Compliance: IAM, least privilege, encryption, secrets management, logging, auditing, vulnerability management, change control, FedRAMP, FISMA, NIST-based controls, compliance evidence support

Operations and FinOps: Monitoring, alerting, observability, runbooks, incident response, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, SLO/SLA support, tagging, showback, rightsizing, cost dashboards, anomaly detection

AI-Augmented Engineering: Approved code assistants, pipeline automation agents, documentation assistants, runbook support tools, automated test generation support, and incident response knowledge agents

Key Success Outcomes

• Deliver secure, repeatable, and scalable AWS platform capabilities that accelerate cloud modernization.
• Improve deployment reliability and engineering velocity through standardized CI/CD, IaC, automation, and GitOps practices.
• Strengthen compliance readiness through secure cloud patterns, pipeline guardrails, logging, auditing, and evidence support.
• Reduce operational toil through automation, observability, runbooks, and AI-augmented engineering workflows.
• Improve cloud cost visibility and reduce waste through practical FinOps practices.
• Mentor engineers and raise the maturity of AWS, DevOps, security, operations, and modernization practices across the team.

Why Join KBR

At KBR, we deliver science, technology, and engineering solutions that support important national missions and customer outcomes. As a Senior AWS DevOps Engineer, you will help modernize mission-critical systems, strengthen secure cloud platforms, improve operational excellence, and advance responsible innovation.

You will work in a collaborative environment where technical depth, mission focus, cloud modernization, security, cost accountability, and continuous learning are valued. This role provides the opportunity to influence cloud platform standards, mentor engineers, improve delivery practices, and apply emerging technologies such as Generative AI to meaningful engineering challenges.

***Must be a U.S. Citizen***

Equivalent education and/or experience will be considered.

KBR Benefits

KBR offers a selection of competitive lifestyle benefits which could include 401K plan with company match, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off, or flexible work schedule. We support career advancement through professional training and development.

Click here to learn more: KBR Benefits

KBR partners with several other companies to fulfill its requirements as a government contractor. The selected subcontracting companies align their benefits as closely as possible to those above.

Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR

At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture. These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company. That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver - Together.

KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.