KH.
Kubernetes Platform Engineering

Service

Kubernetes Platform Engineering

Production-ready clusters — built to last, not just to demo.

Running Kubernetes in production is not the same as running it on your laptop. The distance between a working cluster and a reliable platform is measured in RBAC policies, network policies, pod disruption budgets, autoscaling configurations, secrets management, certificate renewal, GitOps workflows, and a hundred small decisions that don't show up in tutorials. I design and build Kubernetes platforms that engineering teams can actually operate — with runbooks, alerts that mean something, and infrastructure that doesn't require a specialist to keep alive.

Start a projectBook a call first

Who this is for

  • Startups moving from Docker Compose or bare EC2 to Kubernetes for the first time
  • Engineering teams with a Kubernetes cluster that grew organically and now needs a proper foundation
  • Companies preparing for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or enterprise customer security reviews
  • Teams that have an incident every time they touch the cluster
  • CTOs who want Kubernetes but don't have the bandwidth to build it right internally

What you get

Cluster architecture document

Node groups, networking model (CNI choice), storage classes, ingress strategy, and upgrade plan — documented before a single resource is provisioned.

GitOps-driven provisioning

All cluster state declared in Git via Helm + ArgoCD (or Flux). No manual kubectl apply in production. Full audit trail on every change.

RBAC and namespace strategy

Least-privilege service accounts, namespace isolation, and network policies so teams can deploy without stepping on each other.

Autoscaling configuration

Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, Vertical Pod Autoscaler (where appropriate), and Cluster Autoscaler or Karpenter — tuned for your workload patterns.

Secrets and certificate management

External Secrets Operator pulling from AWS Secrets Manager or HashiCorp Vault. cert-manager for automatic TLS certificate rotation.

Observability integration

Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki deployed and pre-configured with kubernetes-specific dashboards and alert rules.

Runbooks and handover docs

Written documentation covering day-2 operations: upgrades, node replacements, disaster recovery, and common failure modes.

How it works

01

Discovery & audit

3–5 days

We map your current infrastructure, workload requirements, team structure, and compliance constraints. If you already have a cluster, I audit what exists.

02

Architecture design

3–5 days

I produce an architecture document covering cluster topology, networking, storage, security boundaries, and tooling choices. We align on this before any provisioning.

03

Cluster provisioning

1–2 weeks

EKS, GKE, or AKS provisioned via Terraform. Core platform components installed: ingress controller, cert-manager, external-secrets, ArgoCD, monitoring stack.

04

Application migration

1–2 weeks

Workloads containerised (if needed) and migrated with Helm charts. Health checks, resource requests/limits, and pod disruption budgets configured for each service.

05

Hardening & testing

3–5 days

Network policies applied, RBAC reviewed, Trivy/Falco for image and runtime security scanning. Load testing and chaos engineering to verify resilience.

06

Handover & documentation

2–3 days + 30-day window

Runbooks written, team walkthroughs delivered, and a 30-day support window for questions as your team gets comfortable.

Pricing

Greenfield cluster builds are quoted as fixed-price projects — typically £4,000–£12,000 depending on complexity, number of workloads, and compliance requirements. Existing cluster remediation or ongoing platform engineering retainers are available at a day rate. I provide a detailed scope document before any work begins so there are no surprises.

Get a quoteBook a scoping call

Free resource

Production Kubernetes Checklist (47 items)

Everything your cluster needs before it touches production.

Download PDF →

Frequently asked questions

Which Kubernetes distribution do you recommend?+
For most startups on AWS, EKS is the right choice — managed control plane, tight IAM integration, and a large support ecosystem. GKE is excellent if you're already on GCP. AKS if Azure is your primary cloud. I'll recommend based on your existing cloud footprint and team familiarity, not on a preference.
Do I need Kubernetes? My team is small and we're on Docker Compose.+
Probably not yet. I'll tell you honestly if Kubernetes is premature for your scale. The threshold I use: if you're running more than 8–10 services, need zero-downtime deploys, or have auto-scaling requirements, Kubernetes starts to pay for itself. Below that, ECS Fargate or a well-structured Docker Compose setup on EC2 is often simpler and cheaper.
How long does a Kubernetes platform build take?+
A greenfield EKS cluster with a standard platform stack (ArgoCD, cert-manager, external-secrets, Prometheus/Grafana, ingress controller) takes 2–4 weeks end-to-end. Migrating existing workloads adds time depending on how containerized they already are.
Will my team be able to operate it after you leave?+
That's the goal. I write runbooks covering the most common day-2 operations: upgrading the cluster, replacing nodes, rolling back a bad deploy, investigating a crash-loop. I also do a handover session where I walk your team through the architecture and tooling. The 30-day support window means questions don't get answered by a stack trace.
Do you provide ongoing support after the build?+
Yes. I offer monthly retainers covering on-call escalation, cluster upgrades, and ongoing platform improvements. I also do one-off engagements for specific problems — upgrading a stuck cluster, adding a new tool, fixing a production issue.
Can you work with our existing Terraform/Helm setup?+
Always. I'd rather improve what you have than rewrite it. I'll audit the existing code, identify risks, and refactor incrementally rather than doing a big-bang replacement.