Kubernetes to Azure AKS Migration Specialist
- Location: Toronto, ON – Remote
- Pay Rate: $80/hr
- Contract Length: 6 Months
We at Raise are hiring a Kubernetes to Azure AKS Migration Specialist for one of our top clients. After establishing themselves as an industry leader, they’re now expanding their team to meet rising demand. We’re hiring right now; if you’re interested, apply below for your chance to join a great place to work.
Responsibilities:
Migration Planning and Execution
• Assess the existing on-premises Kubernetes environment including workloads, namespaces, manifests, config maps, secrets, volumes, and networking configurations.
• Create a comprehensive migration plan, including dependency mapping, resource sizing, downtime estimation, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Re-architect Kubernetes manifests (Deployments, StatefulSets, Services, Ingress, CronJobs, etc.) for compatibility with AKS.
• Transform and optimize YAML manifests for AKS-specific capabilities, limits, and constraints.
• Application and middleware knowledge required for migration and VM to Container re-platforming like Tomcat, Php, Java, WordPress etc..
Persistent Storage and Volume Migration
• Design and implement persistent storage strategies using Azure Disks, Azure Files, or third-party CSI drivers.
• Migrate PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) and associated data from on-prem storage backends (e.g., Portworx, NFS, Ceph) to supported Azure storage classes.
• Ensure data integrity and support backup/restore use cases.
Networking and Pod Scheduling
• Configure and troubleshoot pod networking using Calico CNI in AKS (including IP Pool management, NetworkPolicies, and IPAM).
• Redesign and apply Pod Affinity, Anti-affinity rules, Taints & Tolerations, and NodeSelectors to align with AKS node pool strategy.
• Integrate workloads with Azure VNET, DNS, and Load Balancer configurations.
Security and Configuration Management
• Migrate and manage ConfigMaps, Secrets, and RBAC policies to ensure secure access and configuration.
• Integrate AKS workloads with Azure Key Vault, Azure AD Pod Identity, and AAD RBAC where appropriate.
• Apply best practices for pod security policies, OPA/Gatekeeper, and network policies.
Observability, CI/CD & Governance
• Configure monitoring and logging using Azure Monitor, Container Insights, and Log Analytics.
• Collaborate with DevOps teams to onboard workloads into CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or ArgoCD.
• Document architecture, configurations, and migration processes clearly for audit and reuse.
Required Skills & Expertise:
• 3–4 years of hands-on experience with Kubernetes and at least 2 years with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
• Strong understanding of Kubernetes manifests (Deployments, Services, Volumes, Ingress, CronJobs).
• Expertise in migrating workloads from on-prem Kubernetes to AKS.
• Deep understanding of CNI plugins, especially Calico, and network policy management.
• Practical experience with persistent storage migration and storage class optimization in AKS.
• Hands-on knowledge of Pod scheduling mechanisms – Affinity/Anti-affinity, Taints/Tolerations, NodeSelectors.
• Experience with Kubernetes-native security constructs – Secrets, ConfigMaps, RBAC, PSP, Admission Controllers.
• Proven experience with Terraform, Helm, Velero, Kustomize, or Kubevious for deployment/migration templating and visibility.
• Knowledge of Azure services like Azure AD, Azure Files/Disks, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Key Vault.
• Familiarity with backup/restore and DR practices in Kubernetes and AKS.
• Hands-on knowledge with Elastic search, Prometheus and graphana running in containerized environments and related configuration deployment tasks
Preferred Qualifications:
• Azure Certification (e.g., AZ-104, AZ-305, or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) – Terraform, Bicep, or ARM templates.
• Experience with service mesh technologies (e.g., Istio, Linkerd) in AKS is a plus.
• Exposure to multi-region AKS deployment, disaster recovery, and high availability designs.
Educational Qualification:
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
Looking for meaningful work? We can help!
Raise is an established hiring firm with over 65 years of experience. We believe strongly in making the world a better place through work, which is why we’re a certified B Corporation and donate 10% of our profits to charity.
We strive to build teams that reflect the diversity of the communities we work in. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including people from traditionally underrepresented groups such as women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, people identifying as LGBTQ2SI, veterans, and people with visible/nonvisible disabilities.
We have a dedicated webpage for accommodations where you can learn more about what we offer and request accommodations: https://raise.jobs/accommodations/
In order to submit candidates for roles, our clients will sometimes require personal information to confirm the identity of applicants and their legal status to work. Raise will never ask you for personal or banking information unless you have been selected for a job. If you are ever unsure about the legitimacy of this or another job posting by Raise (or have any other questions), please contact us at +1 800-567-9675 or hello@raiserecruiting.com