DevOps Engineer III- AKS Admin

Category/Area of Expertise: IT & Technology
Job Requisition: 450514
Address: USA-IL-Chicago-300 South Riverside Plaza
Store Code: Devops (5158195)
Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands, which includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands - Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Our associates support the brands with a wide range of services, including Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Commercial, Digital and E-commerce, Technology and more.
Primary Purpose
The primary purpose of this position is to deliver a great consumer experience online through the development of software and maintenance of the mission critical ADUSA eCommerce core platform. The role drives the continued Azure cloud adoption and enablement of our engineering teams. With expert-level skills and the ability to lead complex, high-impact projects, this engineer will play a critical role in establishing and optimizing cloud infrastructure. This includes ensuring that our engineering teams leverage fully automated, scalable, and cost-efficient solutions while adhering to best practices in monitoring, logging, and operational culture. By collaborating with key stakeholders, this engineer will help define and execute the roadmap for a more efficient cloud adoption, advancing our strategic goals and enabling seamless, secure deployments across the organization. Their leadership will foster innovation and guide teams in implementing robust, cutting-edge cloud solutions that drive business transformation. They will help guard and maintain the software through architecture and design reviews and ensure that software is being built to address the scale and business needs to come.
Our flexible/ hybrid work schedule includes 3 in-person days at one of our core locations and 2 remote days. Our core office locations include Salisbury, NC , Chicago, IL, Quincy, MA, Carlisle, PA, Scarborough, ME, and Hyattsville, MD.
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as a subject matter expert specifically for Kubernetes and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), while also contributing expertise in related technologies such as Service Mesh, Azure APIM, and GitHub Actions.
• Lead the design, upgrade, optimization, and proactive management of Kubernetes clusters, focusing on workload optimization, cost efficiency, and security.
• Automate operational routines and improve CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), with an emphasis on scalable and resilient AKS environments.
• Contribute and enforce best practices for Kubernetes resource management, node/pod right-sizing, network policies, RBAC, and namespace segmentation.
• Enhance observability and monitoring strategies for AKS clusters, ensuring robust logging, alerting, and tracing for high-availability workloads.
• Translate evolving business and technical requirements into secure, efficient solutions leveraging Azure-native integrations and new AKS features.
• Collaborate closely with development teams to provide guidance on containerized application deployment, continuous delivery, and operational excellence on Kubernetes.
• Lead efforts to address Kubernetes-related technical debt and drive continuous improvement in developer experience and platform reliability.
• Stay ahead of changes in the Kubernetes and cloud-native ecosystem, evaluating and integrating new features and tools.
• Facilitate cross-team communication and resolve complex technical challenges, always promoting a proactive, collaborative, and inclusive culture.

Qualifications

• BS/MS or equivalent experience in Computer Science or a related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in software or systems engineering, with a strong background in cloud-native operations.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience architecting, configuring, and managing Azure resources, with a deep focus on AKS and related Azure services.
• Demonstrated expertise in Kubernetes (production-grade clusters), including upgrades, security, resource management, and troubleshooting.
• Proficiency with CI/CD automation tools (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions).
• Experience with configuration management (Salt, Ansible, or Chef), containerization (Docker), and Service Mesh (e.g., Istio).
• Experience writing automation scripts (Python, Bash, PowerShell, etc.).
• Proven ability to implement and manage monitoring, logging, and observability solutions for Kubernetes environments.
• Strong communication skills-able to translate complex technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Commitment to openness, diversity, and inclusive decision-making.
• High integrity, accountability, and resilience; ability to thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Passion for learning new technologies and staying ahead in the Kubernetes and cloud-native space.
• Ability to manage priorities and deliver results in line with ambitious timelines and budgets.
• Experience working in Agile development environments.
• Deep technical credibility to earn the trust of highly skilled software engineering teams.

Actual compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on their unique qualifications and experience, internal equity, and market conditions. Final compensation decisions will be made in accordance with company policies and applicable laws.
Salary Range: $125,040 - $187,560
#LI-KK1 #LI-Hybrid
At Ahold Delhaize USA, we provide services to one of the largest portfolios of grocery companies in the nation, and we're actively seeking top talent.
Our team shares a common motivation to drive change, take ownership and enable our brands to better care for their customers. We thrive on supporting great local grocery brands and their strategies.
Our associates are the heartbeat of our organization. We are committed to offering a welcoming work environment where all associates can succeed and thrive. Guided by our values of courage, care, teamwork, integrity (and even a little humor), we are dedicated to being a great place to work.
We believe in collaboration, curiosity, and continuous learning in all that we think, create and do. While building a culture where personal and professional growth are just as important as business growth, we invest in our people, empowering them to learn, grow and deliver at all levels of the business.