Senior GitHub Platform Engineer

Cilent is seeking a Senior GitHub Platform Engineer for a premier client based in the Washington, DC area.
In this high-impact role, you will serve as the primary architect and engineer for our enterprise-scale GitHub ecosystem, moving beyond standard administration to treat the GitHub suite as a scalable, secure, and automated internal platform.
You will design and enforce enterprise-level governance via policy-as-code, scale CI/CD infrastructure utilizing Kubernetes-driven autoscaling, lead high-visibility legacy migrations, and spearhead the rollout of GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) and GitHub Copilot to optimize developer experience across the organization.
Key Responsibilities
Platform Administration & Governance: Oversee GitHub Enterprise Cloud (EMU) and Enterprise Server architectures, establishing enterprise-level policy management, org-wide rulesets, branch protection, and identity management via SAML/SCIM SSO (Entra ID/Okta).
Infrastructure & Automation: Implement policy-as-code for platform settings using Terraform and the GitHub API; build custom automation workflows using REST/GraphQL APIs, GitHub Apps, webhook-driven services, and the GitHub CLI.
Advanced Actions Architecture: Scale and operate self-hosted runners on Kubernetes using Actions Runner Controller (ARC); curate a centralized, version-controlled reusable workflow and composite action library; manage usage, spend, and runner groups.
Supply Chain & Pipeline Security: Administer and roll out GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS)-including CodeQL, secret scanning with push protection, and Dependabot-while authoring custom CodeQL queries, tuning SAST results, and establishing remediation SLAs.
Migration & Modernization: Lead complex, enterprise-wide migrations to GitHub from legacy systems (GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Jenkins) using GitHub Enterprise Importer (gh gei) and modernize legacy pipelines into secure GitHub Actions.
Developer Experience (DevEx): Drive GitHub Copilot enablement and governance; build self-service developer "golden paths" and portal integrations (e.g., Backstage); define and report on DORA, security posture, and platform metrics via audit logs.
Qualifications

• GitHub Expertise: 3+ years of dedicated, hands-on experience administering GitHub Enterprise at scale, separate from general DevOps engineering.
• DevOps Infrastructure: 5+ years of comprehensive DevOps, Platform, or Site Reliability Engineering experience.
• Cloud & Containers: Proven experience deploying and scaling infrastructure on Kubernetes, specifically managing Actions Runner Controller (ARC) or similar autoscaling runner architectures.
• Security & Identity Integration: Deep familiarity with hardening CI/CD pipelines (OIDC keyless cloud auth, pinning actions to SHAs), identity provider routing (SAML/SCIM), and enterprise SAST tooling.
• FinOps & Spend Management: Practical knowledge of managing and optimizing GitHub's metered billing models across Actions, Packages, and GHAS.
• Location: Ability to work or hybrid-commute to the Washington, DC area as requested by the client.