Principal Engineer - Kubernetes Engineering

Description

Publix Super Markets, Inc., the largest employee‑owned company in the U.S., is driven by a dynamic technology team of 2,300+ professionals delivering innovative solutions to 1,400+ stores and 200,000+ associates across 8 states. From IT security and platform engineering to architecture, software development, and infrastructure, we offer career opportunities at every level—from internships to technical leadership. Join a company consistently ranked among Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and help us build the future of technology at Publix.

Location

Hybrid (Lakeland, FL)

Work Model

Enjoy the best of both worlds—collaborate in person and innovate remotely.

Why Join Us?

• Hybrid flexibility: work remotely when focus is needed and join us onsite for high‑impact collaboration.
• Operational efficiency: ensure technology solutions support efficient workflows and enable automation to improve operational effectiveness.
• Cutting‑edge AI projects: drive innovation in AI platforms, integrating advanced tools and frameworks to solve complex business challenges.
• Empowered culture: we value autonomy, creativity, and continuous learning—your ideas shape the future of technology in our organization.

Your Impact

• Engineer and evolve our hybrid, multi‑cloud Kubernetes platform that supports retail and enterprise operations.
• Support development teams in shipping and operating their applications on our Kubernetes platform.
• Design, build, and integrate tools to enhance developer experience when deploying to the platform.
• Aid teams in following best practices for observability and vulnerability management.
• Troubleshoot and debug cluster and application issues across multiple platforms.
• Monitor platform health to identify issues and opportunities for enhancements.
• Perform regular platform maintenance and upgrades.
• Participate in on‑call rotation.

Required Qualifications

• Must have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, an analytical discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of Kubernetes experience in a large‑scale multi‑tenant cluster environment (AKS / K3s / GKE / OpenShift).
• 6+ years building, managing, and troubleshooting Kubernetes in a multi‑cluster environment.
• 2+ years of cloud native development experience.
• Experience managing Kubernetes clusters in cloud providers such as Azure or Google Cloud.
• Experience with .NET and/or GO as the primary languages in the environment.
• Performing advanced application service debugging and follow best practices to assist application teams.
• Advanced debugging of containerized applications.
• Experience working with Git and supporting CI/CD pipelines (ArgoCD).
• Experience building tools and services that assist application teams in shipping applications to the platform.

Preferred Qualifications

• An active Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification.
• Experience with cloud native observability tools like OpenTelemetry.
• Experience deploying applications with custom Helm charts.
• Experience with OpenShift Container Platform.
• Experience with logging and monitoring applications such as Prometheus, Elasticsearch, FluentD, Kibana, and Grafana.
• Experience with Artifactory or Nexus.
• Experience with virtualization technologies such as VMWare.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes DNS interactions with external DNS servers.
• Experience collaborating with and across Agile teams to design, develop, test, implement, and support technical solutions in full‑stack development tools and technologies.

Benefits Information

• Employee stock ownership plan that contributes Publix stock to associates each year at no cost.
• Opportunity to purchase additional shares of our privately‑held stock.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Group health, dental, and vision plans.
• Paid Time Off.
• Paid Parental Leave.
• Short‑and long‑term disability insurance.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Free hot lunches (buffet‑style) at facilities with a cafeteria.
• Visit our website to see all of our benefits: https://jobs.publix.com/benefits/

Year End Bonus

As a year‑end bonus, Publix issues one month’s extra pay (prorated in the first year) each year if the associate remains employed through the issue date of the bonus check that year. This is calculated as a 13th month of pay in the Potential Annual Pay with Bonus line above.

Additional Information

Your application may have additional steps that you will need to complete in order to remain eligible for consideration. Please monitor your email, including your spam folder, on a daily basis for critical, time‑sensitive emails that could require action within 24-48 hours. Please do not use your Publix email address when applying. Once your application has been successfully submitted you will receive a confirmation email.

***Relocation/Household Good Shipment Allowance will NOT be provided.***