Location: Singapore, Singapore

Thales is a global technology leader trusted by governments, institutions, and enterprises to tackle their most demanding challenges. From quantum applications and artificial intelligence to cybersecurity and 6G innovation, our solutions empower critical decisions rooted in human intelligence. Operating at the forefront of aerospace and space, cybersecurity and digital identity, we’re driven by a mission to build a future we can all trust.

In Singapore, Thales has been a trusted partner since 1973, originally focused on aerospace activities in the Asia-Pacific region. With 2,000 employees across three local sites, we deliver cutting-edge solutions across aerospace (including air traffic management), defence and security, and digital identity and cybersecurity sectors. Together, we’re shaping the future by enabling customers to make pivotal decisions that safeguard communities and power progress.

Whom We Are Looking For

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated DevOps engineer specializing in Kubernetes to join our team, to design, implement and manage our container orchestration (aka OpenSky) platforms for the next generation of Air Traffic Management Systems. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in Kubernetes internals, automation and observability, and is passionate about enabling development teams to deliver applications reliably and securely at scale.

The candidate would be working in an agile squad, in software delivery, led by the OpenSky Architect.

Responsibilities:

• Cluster Management and Operations
  • Deploy, upgrade and manage Kubernetes clusters across an Azure based cloud and on-prem environments.
  • Ensure high-availability and disaster recovery of Kubernetes workloads
  • Manage cluster lifecycle using tools like Cluster API, kubeadm or managed services.
• Workload Deployment & Automation
  • Define and manage Helm charts, kustomize overlays, or GitOps pipelines (ArgoCD, FluxCD).
  • Automate application deployments, scaling and rollbacks with Kubernetes native patterns.
  • Design CI/CD pipelines that integrate seamlessly with Kubernetes
• Networking & Security
  • Configure Kubernetes networking (CNI plugins like Cillium, Calico, Multus).
  • Implement Ingress, Service Mesh (Istio, Linkerd) and API gateway solutions.
  • Apply security best practices including RBAC, Pod Security Standards, network policies, and secrets management (e.g., Vault, Sealed Secrets)
• Observability and Reliability
  • Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, OpenTelemetry)
  • Conduct Performance tuning and capacity planning for clusters and workloads
  • Establish SLOs, SLIs, and error budgets in collaboration with development teams, Release Train Engineers, Product Owners
• Infrastructure as Code & Automation
  • Provision Kubernetes clusters and underlying infrastructure using Terraform/OpenTofu, Pulumi
  • Manage configuration drift with GitOps practices
  • Automate cluster upgrades, patching and compliance enforcement
• Collaboration & Culture
  • Partner with developers to design cloud-native applications aligned with Kubernetes bet practices
  • Support Agile Release Trains and DevSecOps culture by promoting self-service platforms.
  • Provide guidance and mentorship on Kubernetes to engineers across the organization.

Requirements:

Education

• Bachelors in Computer Science or Information Technology
• Recognized Engineering degree

Essential Skills/Experience

• Proven hands-on experience with Kubernetes (2+ years in production)
• Strong knowledge of containerization (Docker, OCI images) and registries.
• Experience with cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) or hybrid Kubernetes environments
• Proficiency in IaC tools (Terraform, Helm, ArgoCD).
• Solid understanding of Linux systems, networking and security.

Desirable Skills/Experience

If you have the following desirable skills and relevant experiences, it would be an added advantage!

• Relevant certifications such as Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKSS), Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).
• Experience with Service Meshes (Istio, Linkerd, Consul).
• Familiarity with multi-cluster, multi-tenant or edge Kubernetes deployments.
• Knowledge of FinOps and cost optimization for Kubernetes workloads.

Essential / Desirable Traits

• Possess learning agility, flexibility and pro-activity
• Comfortable with agile teamwork and user engagement

At Thales, we’re committed to fostering a workplace where respect, trust, collaboration, and passion drive everything we do. Here, you’ll feel empowered to bring your best self, thrive in a supportive culture, and love the work you do. Join us, and be part of a team reimagining technology to create solutions that truly make a difference – for a safer, greener, and more inclusive world.