Platform Engineer - Kubernetes / Azure

About This Role We are looking for an experienced contractor to support the design, delivery, and operation of enterprise cloud-native services. The role will focus on Kubernetes-based platforms running on Microsoft Azure, including service mesh, application deployment, observability, security, and production support. Key responsibilities: * Build, configure, and support Kubernetes environments on Azure, including AKS. * Deploy and manage Spring Boot applications in containerized environments. * Work with Istio or similar service mesh technologies for traffic management, security, and observability. * Support CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code practices. * Troubleshoot platform, networking, deployment, and application runtime issues. * Collaborate with enterprise architecture, security, and operations teams to meet governance and compliance requirements. * Contribute to documentation, operational runbooks, and knowledge transfer. Required experience: * Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes and Azure cloud services. * Experience with Istio, ingress, service discovery, and cloud-native networking. * Good understanding of Spring Boot application deployment and runtime considerations. * Familiarity with enterprise IT environments, including change control, security standards, incident management, and stakeholder governance. * Experience with CI/CD tooling, container registries, monitoring, logging, and secrets management. * Ability to work independently and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Desirable experience: * Terraform, Helm, GitOps, Azure DevOps, or GitHub Actions. * Observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, or Azure Monitor. * Financial services or other regulated enterprise environments