Senior AWS Platform Software Engineer

Senior AWS Platform Engineer – Federal Government

📍 Location: Australia-wide – ACT, NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS & NT (Hybrid)

⏳ Contract Duration: 12 months + 2 x 12-month extension options

💼 Industry: Federal Government ICT Projects

🔒 Security Requirement: Must be an Australian citizen and hold or be eligible to obtain Baseline Security Clearance

About the Opportunity

Hatchit Studios is seeking an experienced Senior AWS Platform Engineer to support a major Australian Federal Government initiative focused on delivering secure, reliable and scalable cloud infrastructure.

The successful candidate will play a key role in maintaining and enhancing a business-critical AWS environment supporting enterprise identity and access management services.

This position requires strong hands-on expertise in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Kubernetes administration, infrastructure automation and cloud security, with a focus on operational resilience, platform optimisation and continuous improvement.

Working alongside technical specialists, cybersecurity teams and delivery stakeholders, you will contribute to platform enhancements, application deployments and the ongoing stability of essential government services.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage, maintain and optimise AWS cloud infrastructure to ensure high availability, security, reliability and performance.
• Administer Amazon EKS and Kubernetes environments, including cluster upgrades, node group management, patching and vulnerability remediation.
• Develop and implement infrastructure automation to streamline operations, including automated patching, backups and routine maintenance.
• Monitor and optimise platform performance, scalability, capacity and AWS resource utilisation to improve efficiency and manage costs.
• Maintain monitoring, logging and observability solutions using Prometheus, Grafana, Amazon CloudWatch and Dynatrace.
• Implement and maintain AWS security controls, including IAM, IRSA, RBAC, WAF, secrets management and vulnerability management.
• Maintain and enhance CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, ArgoCD and related deployment technologies.
• Investigate and resolve production incidents, infrastructure defects and performance issues, conducting root cause analysis and implementing preventative measures.
• Collaborate with engineering, cybersecurity and delivery teams to support secure platform releases and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills & Experience Required

• Minimum 3 years of hands-on experience in AWS cloud infrastructure engineering and operational support within enterprise or production environments.
• Strong practical expertise in Amazon EKS and Kubernetes, including cluster administration, upgrades, troubleshooting, patching and performance optimisation.
• Demonstrated experience in infrastructure automation, preferably using Terraform, AWS CloudFormation or similar Infrastructure as Code (IaC) technologies.
• Sound understanding of AWS security architecture, including IAM, IRSA, RBAC, WAF, secrets management and vulnerability remediation.
• Experience implementing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, ArgoCD or comparable technologies.
• Proficiency with monitoring and observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Amazon CloudWatch or Dynatrace.
• Strong production troubleshooting, incident management and root cause analysis capabilities.
• Excellent communication, problem-solving and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary technical teams.

Highly Desirable:

• Previous experience supporting cloud platforms within Australian Federal Government or similarly regulated environments.
• Knowledge of GitOps practices and automated deployment methodologies.
• Familiarity with Australian Government cybersecurity frameworks, including the Information Security Manual (ISM) and Essential Eight.
• Relevant AWS or Kubernetes certifications, including AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).
• Experience supporting major platform releases, security remediation and infrastructure improvement initiatives.

Why Apply?

• Opportunity to contribute to a high-impact Federal Government digital transformation initiative.
• Competitive contractor rates based on skills and experience.
• Initial 12-month contract with two potential 12-month extensions.
• Hybrid working arrangements across Australia, subject to client requirements.
• Exposure to modern AWS cloud technologies and enterprise Kubernetes environments.
• Work alongside experienced technical specialists supporting business-critical government infrastructure.