Azure AKS Support Engineer

Location:

Stellenbosch, Cape Town(Hybrid)

Employment Type:

Full-Time

Experience Required:

Minimum 5 years
of hands-on experience managing
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
or equivalent
enterprise-grade Kubernetes platforms
in
production
and
disaster recovery
environments. Proven experience operating within
hybrid cloud
or
multi-region architectures
, including integration with on-premises systems. Demonstrated track record of
incident response
,
cluster optimization
, and
root-cause analysis
in mission-critical environments.

Role Summary

The Azure AKS Support Engineer is responsible for the operation, support, and continuous improvement of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) environments deployed across production and disaster recovery regions. The role covers advanced cluster administration, high-availability design, backup and recovery management with Kasten K10, and the integration of AKS into complex Azure networking and identity frameworks. This position requires a balance of deep technical expertise, structured operational discipline, and strong collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

Cluster Operations

• Maintain, monitor, and optimise AKS clusters across production and disaster recovery regions.
• Manage node pools (system and user), including health monitoring, autoscaling, upgrades, and lifecycle management.
• Enforce workload segregation using namespaces, affinity/anti-affinity rules, taints, and tolerations.
• Support blue-green deployment strategies, ensuring minimal downtime for critical workloads.

Backup, Recovery & Business Continuity

• Own and operate Kasten K10 backup and restore solutions, including policy management, snapshot orchestration, and integration with Azure Blob storage.
• Validate backup integrity, test disaster recovery scenarios, and maintain up-to-date runbooks for cross-region failover.
• Ensure compliance with immutability, retention, and cross-region replication standards.

Security, Identity & Policy

• Implement and maintain Azure AD, OIDC, and RBAC integration for AKS and related services.
• Enforce Kubernetes security policies and Azure RBAC at cluster, namespace, and resource levels.
• Manage certificate issuance, renewal, and troubleshooting for AKS workloads and supporting services.

Networking & Connectivity

• Administer Azure VNETs, peering, subnets, private endpoints, and load balancers.
• Integrate AKS clusters into hybrid network environments, including ExpressRoute and firewall appliances.
• Troubleshoot connectivity issues across on-premises, cloud, and containerised workloads.

Monitoring, Incident Response & Reporting

• Operate monitoring and alerting stacks including Azure Monitor, Prometheus, and Grafana.
• Investigate cluster and workload incidents, performing detailed root-cause analysis and corrective action.
• Document operational procedures, share knowledge, and provide training to peers.

Required Knowledge & Experience

• 3–5 years' hands-on experience with AKS or equivalent Kubernetes platforms in production and DR environments.
• Advanced Linux administration skills (Ubuntu and/or Red Hat), covering diagnostics, patching, kernel tuning, and container runtime management.
• Strong Azure infrastructure knowledge: VNETs, NSGs, RBAC, Azure Policy, ARM/Bicep templates.
• Proven expertise in container backup and recovery solutions, particularly Kasten K10.
• Scripting proficiency in Bash, PowerShell, or Python.

Certifications (Mandatory unless noted)

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104).
• Either Ubuntu Professional/Administrator or Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA or higher).
• Advantageous:
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).
• Kasten K10 Specialist.

Preferred/Advantageous Knowledge

• Experience with blue-green deployment methodologies, Helm/YAML packaging, and container registry management (Azure ACR or equivalent).
• Familiarity with hybrid networking and security appliances (Fortinet, Palo Alto, Kemp, etc.).
• Awareness of compliance and governance requirements in regulated industries.
• Understanding of service mesh and advanced cluster governance models.

Attributes & Soft Skills

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to troubleshoot complex issues across cloud, container, and network layers.
• Excellent documentation and communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaborative and calm under pressure, capable of leading during high-impact incidents.
• Proactive in knowledge sharing, mentoring, and continuous improvement