Platform Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

Our enterprise software team builds the digital backbone that powers K2 Space’s satellite design, manufacturing, and mission operations. We develop tools that connect engineering, production, and mission control into a seamless ecosystem — enabling our hardware to get from concept to orbit faster than ever before. As we continue to grow, we’re looking for a Senior Platform Engineer on our Enterprise Information Systems team, you must possess strong technical skills and a sense of empathy for your fellow engineers. You will work closely with other talented engineers, architects and senior stakeholders to design, implement, and deliver on our roadmap.

Responsibilities

• Operational support for Amazon EKS self‑service functionalities maintain abstractions enabling scoped segmentation, governed namespace, automate workload scaling, multi-tenancy, adaptive ingress/egress, and traceable traffic
• Help implement observability standards so end‑to‑end request path and applied policies are visible (source, identity, route, outcome, saturation, cost) across environments
• Provide approachable docs & diagnostics (guides, diagrams, ‘why can’t this connect?’ flows) to shorten support loops
• Support code lifecycle and adoption including versioning, safe migrations, deprecations, usage telemetry, and proactive pruning of unused resources
• Build automated policies and processes to ensure good code deployment practices, code hygiene, good code test practices

Qualifications And Experience

• BS in Computer Science (or equivalent) and 2-5 years of experience building and operating distributed systems
• Proficiency in at least one language (Go, TypeScript, Python, C#) and disciplined SCM workflows (branching, reviews, automated gates)
• Working knowledge of:
  • CI/CD build pipeline with Github or Gitlab
  • Amazon EKS for feature development and operational support
  • Datadog, Splunk or OpenTelemetry

Nice To Have

• Experience with developer connectivity abstractions: K8s CRDs/operators, guardrails (admission, lint, simulation) and automated tests
• Experience with infrastructure as code and delivery: Terraform or CDK, GitOps (GH Actions, Gitlab CI), progressive/canary rollouts, policy-as-code integration
• Familiarity in observability & SLOs (metrics, tracing, structured logs)

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $123,000 $160,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.