Principal Systems Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in India.

📋 Description

• Develop and construct Azure infrastructure utilizing a cloud-native methodology and managed services.

• Oversee the migration of services from an on-premises data center to Azure, incorporating dependency mapping, sequencing, and risk management during cutover.

• Manage and enhance the AKS-based platform, which includes GitOps deployment patterns, namespace isolation, and enforcing policies.

• Take ownership of and improve reusable Terraform modules that are utilized by other engineering teams.

• Establish and sustain observability across metrics, logs, and alerting systems.

• Implement policy-as-code to uphold security, compliance, and operational standards.

• Design and assess IAM patterns, focusing on workload identity, least-privilege access, and secrets management.

• Engage in business continuity and disaster recovery planning, which includes designing failover strategies, defining RTO/RPO, and conducting recovery tests.

• Contribute to the design and standards of CI/CD pipelines.

• Utilize AI-assisted engineering tools and assess responsible AI-driven platform functionalities.

• Guide junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews, pairing sessions, and technical mentoring.

• Provide technical leadership as an individual contributor without overseeing direct reports.

⛳️ Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in platform, infrastructure, or site reliability engineering roles, demonstrating Principal-level capabilities (technical leadership without formal management).

• Extensive hands-on experience with Azure, constructing cloud-native architectures using managed services rather than relying on IaaS.

• Real-world experience in operating and managing Kubernetes at scale, particularly with AKS.

• Strong expertise in GitOps (ArgoCD, Flux, or similar tools).

• Proven experience in leading or significantly contributing to a migration from a data center to the cloud, including planning for business continuity and disaster recovery.

• Working proficiency in policy-as-code tools (Kyverno, OPA/Gatekeeper, or equivalent).

• Strong background in Identity and Access Management: workload identity federation, least-privilege IAM design, and secrets management strategies that avoid static credentials.

• Experience in building and maintaining an observability stack (Prometheus, Grafana, Thanos, or similar).

• Solid experience with Terraform, including the design of reusable modules for other teams.

• Current practical experience with AI-assisted development tools in everyday engineering tasks.

• Proven ability to mentor fellow engineers without formal authority.

• Preferred: Experience in designing or operating hub-and-spoke network architectures within Azure.

• Preferred: Familiarity with CI/CD pipeline design for multi-team, multi-repo setups.

• Preferred: Exposure to evaluating or developing AI-driven operational tools.

• Preferred: Experience in presenting technical trade-offs to both engineering and business stakeholders.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Opportunities for professional development and training.

• Flexible work hours and remote work options.

• Generous vacation and paid time off policies.