Job Description

The Federal Pension Service is working on the development of an Internal Developer Platform (IDP), including the associated platform services, with the goal of supporting development teams by providing them with a modern, efficient, and secure development environment. This platform is set up according to the “platform-as-a-product” principle and is a strategic initiative within Enterprise IT Services (EITS).

Purpose of the Position

As a Platform Engineer, you are part of the team responsible for the further development of the IDP and related platform services. You contribute to the design, implementation, and maintenance of a platform where self-service, automation, and an optimal developer experience are central. In this role, you work closely with developers, security, operations, and architects to realize a robust and scalable environment.

Assignment Description

The assignment has three equally important objectives:

• Expanding and professionalizing the OpenShift platform into a stable, scalable, and reusable platform capability.
• Increasing Kubernetes maturity within application teams through enablement, guidance, and providing clear platform mechanisms.
• Embedding platform engineering principles in daily operations, both technically and organizationally, in close collaboration with architecture and product management.

The assignment is product- and capability-driven.

Core Tasks and Responsibilities

Development and operationalization of the OpenShift platform

As a Senior Platform Engineer, you are responsible for:

• The design, implementation, and refinement of the OpenShift cluster architecture, including multi-environment, security, networking, storage, and lifecycle management.
• Building reusable platform building blocks, such as standard namespaces, policies, base Helm charts/operators, and standardized deployment and runtime patterns.
• Developing a GitOps-first approach using Argo CD for platform and application configuration.
• Ensuring the stability, maintainability, and evolvability of the platform, including upgrades, version management, and lifecycle management.
• Collaborating with EITS domains (such as networking, security, observability, databases) to properly integrate platform capabilities.

Platform enablement and maturity improvement of application teams

In this role, you guide application teams with:

• Containerization-related questions and Kubernetes deployments.
• Proper integration with platform services, such as CI/CD, IAM, observability, and secrets.
• The evolution of teams from ‘containers as infrastructure detail’ to ‘Kubernetes as standardized runtime’.
• Co-developing golden paths and opinionated defaults that are guiding, but do not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Contributing to documentation, templates, and self-service flows via Backstage and Git.
• Coaching teams on ownership thinking (“you build it, you run it”) within the boundaries of the platform.

Platform engineering culture and collaboration

As a Senior Platform Engineer:

• You work together with platform engineering, product management, and architecture.
• You act according to the platform-as-a-product principle.
• You collect user feedback and focus on scalability and repeatability, avoiding customization per team.
• You break down silos between infrastructure, platform, and application development.
• You contribute to clear responsibilities, realistic expectations, and strengthening trust in the platform.

Expected Results

• A more stable and consistent OpenShift platform with clear standards.
• Application teams that can work more independently on Kubernetes concepts.
• Fewer ad-hoc solutions and more reuse within the platform.
• Platform mechanisms that are well documented, discoverable, and repeatable.
• Increased trust between platform, infrastructure, and application development.

Profile

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in IT, or equivalent through experience.
• Demonstrable experience with platform engineering, DevOps.
• Thorough knowledge of container technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience with CI/CD tools (GitLab CI, Jenkins, ArgoCD, etc.).
• Knowledge of cloud-native technologies such as Helm, Prometheus, and Grafana.
• Experience with scripting and automation (for example Bash, Python, Terraform).
• You are a team player with a product mindset and focus on developer experience and change management.
• Proficiency in Dutch or French, with passive knowledge of the second national language and English.

Add to your application a presentation or document in which you explain how, as a senior platform engineer, you would approach the evolution, standardization, and adoption of the platform within the Federal Pension Service.

Assets

• Certification in platform engineering.
• Experience working in a government context or regulated environment.

Location & Modalities

• Location: Brussels (with the possibility of hybrid work).
• Duration: until 31/12/2026, possibly extendable.
• Evaluation via CV screening and an interview based on the requirements stated in the vacancy.