Staff Platform Engineer

2k · Austin, Texas, United States

<h2 data-path-to-node="0">Who We Are</h2> At 2K, we create some of the most iconic and culture-shaping video games in entertainment, including NBA® 2K, one of the top-selling franchises in the world, and legendary titles like BioShock®, Borderlands®, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization®, and XCOM®, as well as fan favorites WWE® 2K, TopSpin®, and PGA TOUR® 2K. We build unforgettable experiences by pushing the boundaries of creativity, authenticity and innovation across every genre. Our portfolio is brought to life by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Visual Concepts, Firaxis Games, Hangar 13, Cat Daddy Games, 31st Union, Cloud Chamber, Gearbox, HB Studios, and 2K SportsLab create world-class experiences across platforms. But what truly powers 2K is our people. We believe the best ideas come from teams that feel empowered, supported, and inspired. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace where people are encouraged to come as they are and do their best work. <h2 data-path-to-node="5">What We Need</h2> The Staff Platform Engineer is a principal-level technical leader at 2K, serving as the architect and champion of our internal developer ecosystems. This role is dedicated to treating the platform as a product, with the primary goal of optimizing the experience for internal Game Service Developers. By building robust "paved paths," self-service infrastructure, and sophisticated automation, the Staff Platform Engineer enables our development teams to deploy and scale services with maximum velocity and minimal friction. This role operates at a high level of technical influence, shaping the long-term roadmap for platform engineering and mentoring senior talent across the organization. <h2 data-path-to-node="7">Responsibilities & Requirements</h2> <h3 data-path-to-node="8">Duties</h3> <ul data-path-to-node="9"> <li> Platform Product Ownership: Lead the design, development, and delivery of scalable Kubernetes infrastructure, ensuring seamless integration into the Internal Developer Platform (IDP) to provide Game Service Developers with intuitive, self-service infrastructure capabilities. </li> <li> AI Strategy & Execution: Utilize AI and LLM-backed agentic workflows to automate environment bootstrapping, infrastructure provisioning, security vulnerabilities, and context-aware troubleshooting. </li> <li> Developer Experience (DevEx) Strategy: Identify bottlenecks in the software development lifecycle and build automated solutions to improve developer velocity and autonomy. </li> <li> Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Architect and maintain modular, reusable IaC libraries (e.g., Terraform) to standardize environment provisioning across multi-cloud and terrestrial data centers. </li> <li> Standardization & Governance: Define and implement organization-wide standards for container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, and service discovery within the Kubernetes ecosystem. </li> <li> Advanced Troubleshooting: Provide Tier 3 support for complex platform-level issues, conducting deep-dive root cause analysis and implementing architectural changes to prevent systemic recurrence. </li> <li> Technical Leadership: Serve as a primary consultant to Product Engineering teams, ensuring their services are architected to leverage the platform and Kubernetes patterns effectively. </li> <li> On-Call Leadership: Participate in and lead the escalation path for the platform engineering on-call rotation, ensuring platform availability for internal customers. </li> </ul> <h3 data-path-to-node="10">Must-Haves</h3> <ul data-path-to-node="11"> <li> Behavioral: Strong "customer-first" mindset with a focus on internal developer needs; ability to influence without authority across different studios and time zones. </li> <li> Functional / Technical: Expert-level mastery of Kubernetes architecture, cloud-native ecosystems, and the "Platform-as-a-Product" philosophy. </li> <li> Strategic Influence: Ability to translate long-term business goals into technical roadmaps for the platform team. </li> <li> Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. </li> <li> Experience: 10+ years of experience in Infrastructure, DevOps, or Platform Engineering, with at least 4+ years specifically focused on building internal developer platforms or Kubernetes-based tooling. </li> <li> Cloud Expertise: Deep expert-level experience with AWS and/or GCP, specifically managing highly elastic, mission-critical production workloads. </li> <li> Orchestration & Containers: Expert knowledge of Kubernetes internals (operators, controllers, CRDs) and container security at scale. </li> <li> AI & Agentic Engineering Skills: Proven foundational knowledge or hands-on experience incorporating Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI agents into automated engineering workflows, APIs, or platform tools. </li> <li> Programming: Advanced proficiency in Go, Python, or Java, with a focus on building automation tools, Kubernetes operators, and APIs. </li> <li> CI/CD & Tooling: Mastery of Git, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions, and configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet) alongside Terraform. </li> <li> Architecture: Proven ability to architect multi-region, high-availability systems that support global user bases. </li> <li> Availability: Willingness and ability to participate in a 24/7 rotational on-call schedule to support platform stability. </li> </ul> <h3 data-path-to-node="12">Nice-to-Haves</h3> <ul data-path-to-node="13"> <li> Prior experience in the gaming industry, specifically supporting large-scale multiplayer backend services. </li> <li> Experience contributing to open-source projects related to platform engineering (e.g., Backstage, Crossplane). </li> <li> Deep understanding of networking protocols and global traffic management. </li> </ul> As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation. Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts. Please note that 2K Publishing is unable to provide visa sponsorship or assistance for this position. All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring current or future employer sponsorship.   #LI-Hybrid