Branch Manager (Cloud, K8s, and DevSecOp)

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), is NASA's science operations center for missions including the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. STScI leads observation planning, data analysis, public engagement, and data archiving for flagship missions. Our staff spans astronomy, engineering, education, IT, communications, and administration; working together to bring space science to the world. This position operates in a hybrid model, with occasional on-site presence (about once or twice per quarter). Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market. (MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV). Relocation assistance can be provided. This position requires US Citizenship or Permanent Residence to meet ITAR requirements.
The Science Operations and Engineering (SCOPE) Division is seeking a Cloud, K8s, and DevSecOp Branch Manager to support development teams with cloud infrastructure, containerization and Kubernetes support, and consistent DevSecOp automation. This position provides leadership, supervision, technical direction and mentorship of a diverse team of cloud and DevSecOp engineers.

Cloud, K8s, and DevSecOp Branch Manager Role
The manager is responsible for leading a branch focused on modern cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes platforms, and DevSecOp enablement. This leader will drive the organization's cloud-first and Kubernetes-first engineering practices, ensuring scalable, secure, observable, and cost-efficient platforms that empower product and engineering teams across STScI.

Key Responsibilities:
• Manage and support operational excellence, readiness and reliability for cloud infrastructure, establishing measurable KPIs, resiliency standards, and performance baselines to support mission-critical and Science Operations Center services on cloud, aligned to required NASA mission assurance and NIST controls
• Help drive cloud-first, Kubernetes-first development principles across engineering teams
• Provide hands-on guidance while empowering senior engineers and tech leads in an Agile environment
• Manage and support cloud environments using Well-Architected, Zero-Trust, and DevSecOp practices, including continuous security posture management (CSPM), centralized application security scanning, and automated vulnerability remediation
• Support Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) and collaborate with CCoE leadership to enable institute-wide cloud adoption, standardization, and secure modernization aligned with the Institute's mission and scientific objectives
• Define SLOs, reliability practices, and proactive monitoring for mission critical workloads through full-stack observability (metrics, traces, logs)
• Promote secure, standardized authentication and authorization patterns across services and environments
• Provide project management including backlog prioritization coordination, detail planning, direction, and reporting
• Partner with other areas of the organization to drive cost transparency and optimization through tooling within Kubernetes and AWS
• Provide functional management including recruitment, coaching, mentorship, and training
• Collaborate across Engineering, Security, Science, Missions, IT and external groups to align roadmap priorities
• Analyze technology and resource needs to plan and assess the feasibility of projects
• Participate in the development of standards and procedures for the engineering and technical work performed at STScI and educate and influence application teams in their adoption

Experience, Skills & Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field
• 7+ years in cloud infrastructure and DevOps engineering
• 5+ years in engineering management or technical leadership
• Proven success maturing cloud-native and Kubernetes adoption across multiple teams
• Collaborative mindset with a focus on enablement rather than control
• Extensive experience provisioning AWS cloud-native services using Terraform
• Strong knowledge of AWS networking, IAM, VPC design, and multi-account strategies
• Advanced knowledge of Kubernetes architecture, networking, RBAC, and cluster operations with tools such as EKS, Rancher, OpenShift, VMware based K8s
• Demonstrated project management experience
• Experience with Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), and automation including static code analysis, artifact/container scanning through tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Sonar, JFrog
• Experience implementing distributed tracing, centralized logging, and metrics dashboards through Open Telemetry and Datadog

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience in cloud engineering and infrastructure operations, including hands-on architecture, automation, and security implementation within regulated environments aligned with NASA and NIST operational frameworks or similar (FedRAMP, CMMC, SOC 2, etc.)
• Cloud (AWS) certification(s) (SA, Developer, CloudOps, DevOps)
• Background in hybrid or multi-cloud environments
• Experience with modern authn/z standards and solutions (OIDC, SAML, Okta, Auth0, AWS Cognito)
• Familiarity with policy-as-code and compliance automation

Our excellent benefits include:

• Employer retirement contribution - direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day
• 12 days sick leave, up to 24 days' vacation, and 10 paid holidays
• Flexible work schedule with healthy work/life balance
• Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more!

The annual salary range for this role is $180 - $210K. The posted salary range represents a general guideline; however, STScI considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers, such as internal pay equity, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's experience, education, and skill, and current market conditions.

Application link - Cloud, K8s, and DevSecOp Branch Manager Role

Applications received by 04/06/2026 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be considered until the position is filled. Reference #:0015722

Individuals needing assistance with the employment process can contact us at careers@stsci.edu.

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