Hire the Best Kubernetes Developers

More than 3,000 reviews on G2
Rating is 4.5 out of 5.
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Serge Z.

Rishon LeTsiyyon, Israel

$45/hr
5.0
27 jobs

Hey, I'm Serge — a DevOps engineer and Linux sysadmin with 16 years of hands-on experience. Top Rated Plus on Upwork, $70K+ earned, 100% Job Success Score across 24 contracts. My day-to-day involves leading DevOps work for US and Israeli companies — finance, government, tech. Through my employer, the rate is around $100–120/hr — that includes company overhead, account managers, and the usual agency markup. Here on Upwork you hire me directly. No middlemen, no account managers. That's why the rate is lower — not because the work is different. What I focus on most: **Kubernetes and container infrastructure** I've set up and migrated dozens of projects to Kubernetes — EKS, GKE, AKS, and on-prem. I handle the full stack: Helm-based deployments, Grafana + Loki for monitoring and logging, Terraform for infra as code. If your app is still running on Docker Compose and you're hitting limits, this is exactly what I do. **CI/CD pipelines** Setting up proper pipelines from scratch — GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Helm. Dev/stage/prod environments with proper Git flow so your developers aren't blocking each other. **Cloud infrastructure — AWS, GCP, Azure** Terraform for everything that can be described as code. Multi-environment setups, VPC, networking, RDS, S3, load balancers, security groups. Migrations between accounts, between clouds, and from on-prem to cloud. **AI infrastructure** More recently I've been setting up GPU-based AI infrastructure — Ollama, vLLM, LiteLLM proxy. If you're deploying local LLMs or building AI-powered apps and need the infra side sorted, that's something I can help with too. **A few practical things:** - Up to 8 hours/day — I work focused, not just "clocked in" - You work directly with me throughout the project - I write documentation so your team can actually use what I build If you have a project in mind and want to talk through the scope first, I'm happy to do a short call. Just send a message. Serge ---

  • Kubernetes
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • Linux
  • Bash
  • DevOps
  • GitLab
  • Continuous Integration
  • Infrastructure as Code
Khanjan M.

Rajkot, India

$25/hr
5.0
35 jobs

A Reliable and Detailed-oriented individual Looking for work in specifically AWS based Cloud Infrastructure, possessing good interpersonal and analytical skills, who wish to work with 100% dedication.

  • Kubernetes
  • Amazon ECS for Kubernetes
  • Containerization
  • Amazon EC2
  • AWS CloudFront
  • Docker
  • Jenkins
  • CI/CD
  • Amazon CloudWatch
  • GitHub
  • Grafana
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Terraform
  • Deployment Automation
  • Google Cloud Platform
Wahyudi W.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

$40/hr
4.9
40 jobs

Most backend engineers can write code. Fewer can architect a system that holds up at scale, survives a traffic spike, and stays observable when something breaks at 2am. That's the gap I fill. I'm a Top Rated Plus engineer on Upwork with a 100% Job Success Score across 34 contracts and 4,600+ hours — working with clients from startups to enterprises across ticketing, marketplace, gaming, and HR domains since 2011. What I actually do: I design and build production-grade backend systems in Go — from the API layer down to the infrastructure. That means event-driven microservices with Kafka or RabbitMQ, containerized deployments on Kubernetes, full CI/CD pipelines, and cloud infrastructure on AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean, or Alibaba Cloud. I don't hand you a working local demo and disappear — I deliver something that runs reliably in production, with proper observability, testing at every layer, and documentation your team can maintain. Specifically, I can help you if: — Your monolith is becoming a bottleneck and you need to decompose it into services that scale independently — You're building a new product and need a senior engineer who can own the backend architecture from day one — Your Kubernetes setup is held together with hope and tribal knowledge, and you need someone to make it solid — You need CICD that actually works — automated testing, container builds, and deployments to staging and production without manual steps Tech I work with daily: Go · PostgreSQL · Redis · Kafka · RabbitMQ · Elasticsearch · Docker · Kubernetes · Helm · Terraform · AWS · GitHub Actions · GitLab CI · gRPC · REST How I work: I ask the right questions before writing the first line of code. I communicate in plain language, not jargon. I've worked in agile teams, solo, and everything in between — I adapt to your workflow, not the other way around. And I treat your codebase like I'll be the one maintaining it, because sometimes I am. If you need a senior engineer who thinks in systems, communicates clearly, and delivers work you won't have to redo — let's talk.

  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Golang
  • DevOps
  • API Development
  • Software Architecture & Design
  • Apache Kafka
  • CI/CD
  • Redis
  • PostgreSQL
  • Terraform
  • Elasticsearch
  • DigitalOcean
  • Linux
  • Microservice
  • Alibaba Cloud
  • Cloud Computing
  • Ansible
  • REST API
Teddy A.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

$17/hr
5.0
9 jobs

I build infrastructure that stays up when it matters. Government platforms for 2M+ citizens, banking systems for 1M+ users, and AI rendering stacks on GPU Kubernetes clusters. Shipped on time, documented for the team that inherits it. 5+ years owning the full stack: physical hardware, hypervisors, Kubernetes, service mesh, cloud networking, CI/CD, observability, and GPU AI workloads. Across government, fintech, SaaS, and deep-tech startups. Government Scale — OpenG2P Ethiopia, 3 Ministries Leading platform engineering for Ethiopia's national OpenG2P welfare system across ATI, MoWSA, and EDRMC. Serving 2M+ beneficiaries on RKE2 with Rancher, Istio mTLS, Keycloak SSO, WireGuard site-to-site VPN, XCP-ng hypervisor with Hardware RAID 1+0, and a full Prometheus + Grafana + Alertmanager + Loki observability stack. Currently executing a large-scale ODK to OpenG2P data migration with schema mapping, validation pipelines, audit trails, and phased rollback. AWS Serverless Architecture — WeTruck Architect and operator of WeTruck's serverless logistics platform. CloudFront to ALB to WAF (deny-by-default with Telebirr payment gateway IP whitelisting) to Lambda (FastAPI via Mangum). Fully Terraformed infrastructure. GitHub Actions with OIDC federation (zero long-lived credentials), RDS PostgreSQL, DynamoDB for JWT token store, SQS with dead-letter queue, Secrets Manager, AWS Amplify for three Next.js frontends (back-office, transporter, shipper), and Route 53 private/public DNS. I own production incidents end-to-end and authored the full deployment runbook and troubleshooting playbook. AWS in daily use: Lambda, EC2, EKS, CloudFront, ALB, WAF, RDS, DynamoDB, SQS, Secrets Manager, Amplify, ECR, Route 53, IAM OIDC, VPC (private subnets, NAT Gateway, VPC endpoints), CloudWatch, ACM. MPLS and AI Rendering Infrastructure — MetaPlux (Tech Lead) Tech Lead on a distributed GPU-aware AI rendering platform. MPLS networks for deterministic, low-latency routing across distributed rendering nodes with label-switched paths and traffic engineering for QoS-sensitive GPU workload traffic. BGP and OSPF routing across hybrid environments connecting on-premises GPU clusters to cloud egress points. WireGuard VPN tunnels for secure, auditable connectivity. Multi-cloud strategy across AWS and Azure for rendering workload distribution. Platform architecture for GPU-aware Kubernetes scheduling and job orchestration. This role sits at the intersection of deep networking and modern cloud infrastructure, the combination most DevOps engineers don't have. AI and GPU Infrastructure — Exponent.ch (Switzerland) Provisioned and managed NVIDIA GPU-enabled RKE2 clusters running AI and automation workloads: n8n, Langfuse LLM observability, LibreChat, and ClickHouse analytics. Standardized Helm deployments across 5+ environments using shared-stacks architecture. Integrated Teleport for zero-trust cluster access, automated secrets via Lade and 1Password. Prometheus + Grafana + Mimir observability with 99.9% metric coverage, 60% MTTR reduction, and 3 critical outages prevented through proactive alerting. Banking Infrastructure — 6 Ethiopian Banks, 1M+ Users Delivered high-availability mobile banking and USSD platforms for Siinqee Bank, Hijra Bank, Wegagen Bank, and others with 99.95% uptime across 1M+ users. Designed MPLS network architecture for multi-branch WAN connectivity with QoS for transaction data. Built Jenkins CI/CD for Maven Java apps (4 hours to 15 minutes). ELK processing 10TB+ daily logs. Proxmox and AWS hybrid cloud with ~35% cost reduction. Full Technical Stack Container Orchestration: Kubernetes (RKE2, EKS, K3s), Docker, Helm, Rancher, OpenShift Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Terragrunt, Ansible, OpenTofu CI/CD: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins Cloud: AWS (full suite), Azure, OpenStack Networking: MPLS, BGP, OSPF, WireGuard, HAProxy, NGINX, VLAN, VPC design Service Mesh: Istio (mTLS, traffic policies, ingress) Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Mimir, Alertmanager, Loki, OpenTelemetry, ELK, Zabbix, SigNoz Security and Identity: Keycloak, HashiCorp Vault, Teleport, IAM OIDC Virtualization: Proxmox, XCP-ng, VMware AI and Automation: NVIDIA GPU Kubernetes, YOLO, ONNX, TensorRT, n8n, Langfuse, LibreChat, ClickHouse Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, DynamoDB Backend: Python (FastAPI), Bash, Node.js How I work I overcommunicate early, give realistic timelines, and ship verified, not "it should work." I treat testing as the real deliverable, not a checkbox. If something is out of scope or a bad idea, I'll tell you before you spend money on it. Message me if you need: - AWS or Kubernetes infrastructure built or fixed - CI/CD pipelines developers actually trust - GPU and AI infrastructure with inference pipelines and observability - Migration from cloud to cloud, or on-prem to production cloud - MPLS, BGP, or complex network architecture across hybrid environments - Observability that catches problems before users do

  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • NGINX
  • Automation
  • CI/CD
  • GitLab
  • Linux System Administration
  • Amazon Web Services
  • AWS Amplify
  • AWS Lambda
  • Terraform
  • OpenStack
  • Rancher
  • n8n
  • Prometheus
MD RIAZ UDDIN BHUYANE S.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

$50/hr
5.0
203 jobs

Most clients find me after wasting weeks on engineers who deploy fast but leave security gaps, brittle scripts, and zero documentation behind. Well, I do the opposite. I'm a DevSecOps engineer with 7+ years building cloud infrastructure that is production-hardened from day one, not secured as an afterthought. AWS, Kubernetes, CI/CD, secrets management, container security, GDPR-compliant workflows, all of it built clean and documented properly. I'm also one of the few engineers who builds AND secures AI agent systems. LangChain, CrewAI, RAG pipelines, MCP servers, I understand the attack surface of modern AI infrastructure that most security engineers have never touched. 🔐 Security & DevSecOps 🔹 Linux Hardening: firewalls, iptables, SSH lockdown, fail2ban, SSL/TLS 🔹 Secrets Management: HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, GCP Secret Manager 🔹 Container Security: Docker Hardening, Kubernetes RBAC, Network Policies, Pod Security Standards 🔹 Server Management: WHM, cPanel, Plesk, Webmin, Virtualmin 🔹 GDPR-ready Workflows: encrypted APIs, secure backups, access control 🔹 CI/CD Security: secrets scanning, signed images, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins ☁️ Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps 🔹 AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean: deployment, scaling, cost optimization 🔹 Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Pulumi, Ansible 🔹 CI/CD pipelines: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI 🔹 Container orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes, Helm 🔹 GitOps: ArgoCD, Flux 🤖 AI Infrastructure & Automation 🔹 Multi-agent systems: LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen 🔹 Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration 🔹 RAG pipelines & vector search: Pinecone, Qdrant, Weaviate, ChromaDB 🔹 LLM app builders: Dify.ai, Flowise 🔹 Multi-model routing: OpenRouter 🔹 AI agents: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock 🔹 Local LLMs: Ollama, Mistral, Llama on Linux servers 🔹 Workflow automation: n8n, Make, Zapier, APIs & webhooks 💻 Full Stack & WordPress 🔹 Backend: Laravel, Node.js, Java, NestJS, Python, Go 🔹 Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis 🔹 WordPress: Elementor, Divi, Bricks, Oxygen, WP-CLI, Gutenberg, Headless WordPress 📊 Monitoring & Reliability 🔹 Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, ELK Stack, Sentry, CloudWatch 🔹 Automated backups: Rclone, AWS S3, GCP buckets 💼 You're a great fit if you are: 🔹 A startup that needs infrastructure secured from day one 🔹 An agency that wants one reliable long-term technical partner 🔹 A business running AI agents that needs someone who understands both the build side and the security risks Tell me what you're building. I'll make it secure, automated, and production-ready.

  • Kubernetes
  • DevOps
  • CI/CD
  • Cloud Engineering
  • Terraform
  • Jenkins
  • Ansible
  • DevOps Engineering
  • Migration
  • Cloudflare
  • Prometheus
  • System Hardening
  • Azure DevOps
  • Azure DevOps Server
  • AI Implementation
  • WordPress
  • Amazon Web Services
  • AI Agent Development
  • Security Engineering
  • Security Infrastructure
Caner C.

Mudanya, Turkey

$20/hr
5.0
17 jobs

hire.cansu.dev I help businesses build fast, reliable APIs and automate infrastructure so deployments are smooth and systems scale without downtime. With experience in Go, Python, and Linux server management, I can set up everything for you. Core Services - Backend Development: Fast & reliable APIs (Go, Python, FastAPI, ASP.NET, Typescript). - DevOps & Automation: Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code. - Web Scraping & Automation: Playwright, Puppeteer, Python, Go. - Cloud & Servers: AWS, Linux Provisioning, PostgreSQL, Redis, Cloudflare. - Monitoring & Reliability: Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, OpenTelemetry.

  • Kubernetes
  • DevOps
  • Docker
  • Linux System Administration
  • Golang
  • PostgreSQL
  • Python
  • FastAPI
  • GitLab
  • CI/CD
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Amazon EC2
  • Amazon ECS
  • Amazon CloudWatch
  • ASP.NET Core

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Kubernetes Developers Hiring FAQs

What is a Kubernetes developer?

Organizations often have a need for containerization, the practice of packaging up code with all its dependencies into standardized units of software that can run quickly and reliably in multiple environments. Upwork offers a variety of Kubernetes developers who can help clients manage their containers with Google’s container orchestration solution Kubernetes.

How do you hire a Kubernetes developer?

You can source Kubernetes developer talent on Upwork by following these three steps:

  • Write a project description. You’ll want to determine your scope of work and the skills and requirements you are looking for in a Kubernetes developer.
  • Post it on Upwork. Once you’ve written a project description, post it to Upwork. Simply follow the prompts to help you input the information you collected to scope out your project.
  • Shortlist and interview Kubernetes developers. Once the proposals start coming in, create a shortlist of the professionals you want to interview. 

Of these three steps, your project description is where you will determine your scope of work and the specific type of Kubernetes developer] you need to complete your project.

How much does it cost to hire a Kubernetes developer?

Rates can vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions.

  • An experienced Kubernetes developer may command higher fees but also work faster, have more-specialized areas of expertise, and deliver higher-quality work.
  • A contractor who is still in the process of building a client base may price their Kubernetes freelancing services more competitively. 

Which one is right for you will depend on the specifics of your project. 

How do you write a Kubernetes developer job post?

Your job post is your chance to describe your project scope, budget, and talent needs. Although you don’t need a full job description as you would when hiring an employee, aim to provide enough detail for a contractor to know if they’re the right fit for the project.

Job post title

Create a simple title that describes exactly what you’re looking for. The idea is to target the keywords that your ideal candidate is likely to type into a job search bar to find your project. Here are some sample Kubernetes developer job post titles:

  • Need experienced Kubernetes platform manager
  • Kubernetes-Container architect needed to manage greenfield implementation for bank
  • Looking for Kubernetes subject matter expert to train staff on containerization

Project description

An effective Kubernetes developer job post should include: 

  • Scope of work: From managing Docker development to training staff, list all the deliverables you’ll need. 
  • Project length: Your job post should indicate whether this is a smaller or larger project. 
  • Background: If you prefer experience with certain industries, software, or environments, mention this here. 
  • Budget: Set a budget and note your preference for hourly rates vs. fixed-price contracts.

Kubernetes developer job responsibilities

Here are some examples of Kubernetes developer job responsibilities:

  • Deploy and maintaining distributed, failure-resistant architectures in software development environment
  • Automating the development and deployment of products and services
  • Help build automation tools and components that will aid in governed, self-serve installation of code 

Kubernetes developer job requirements and qualifications

Be sure to include any requirements and qualifications you’re looking for in Kubernetes developer. Here are some examples:

  • Must hold a Cloud Native Computing Foundation certificate
  • Minimum 3 years of experience working in a Linux-based environment 
  • Successful track record of training and mentoring staff on containerization