A system comprising: a memory; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute a federated operator component that is configured to: receive an application programming interface, API, declaration specifying a compute service, a first compute resource requirement for the compute service, and a second compute resource requirement for the compute service; send a first request to provision a first compute resource according to the first compute resource requirement to a first operator component executing on a first container orchestration framework of a first cluster of compute nodes, wherein the first cluster of compute nodes is associated with a first hierarchical level of a computing network; send a second request to provision a second compute resource according to the second compute resource requirement to a second operator component executing on a second container orchestration framework of a second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the second cluster of compute nodes is associated with a second hierarchical level of the computing network that is different from the first hierarchical level; and characterised in that the federated operator component sends a signed security certificate to the first cluster of compute nodes and to the second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the signed security certificate enables encrypted communication between the first cluster of compute nodes and the second cluster of compute nodes. a memory; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute a federated operator component that is configured to: receive an application programming interface, API, declaration specifying a compute service, a first compute resource requirement for the compute service, and a second compute resource requirement for the compute service; send a first request to provision a first compute resource according to the first compute resource requirement to a first operator component executing on a first container orchestration framework of a first cluster of compute nodes, wherein the first cluster of compute nodes is associated with a first hierarchical level of a computing network; send a second request to provision a second compute resource according to the second compute resource requirement to a second operator component executing on a second container orchestration framework of a second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the second cluster of compute nodes is associated with a second hierarchical level of the computing network that is different from the first hierarchical level; and characterised in that the federated operator component sends a signed security certificate to the first cluster of compute nodes and to the second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the signed security certificate enables encrypted communication between the first cluster of compute nodes and the second cluster of compute nodes. receive an application programming interface, API, declaration specifying a compute service, a first compute resource requirement for the compute service, and a second compute resource requirement for the compute service; send a first request to provision a first compute resource according to the first compute resource requirement to a first operator component executing on a first container orchestration framework of a first cluster of compute nodes, wherein the first cluster of compute nodes is associated with a first hierarchical level of a computing network; send a second request to provision a second compute resource according to the second compute resource requirement to a second operator component executing on a second container orchestration framework of a second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the second cluster of compute nodes is associated with a second hierarchical level of the computing network that is different from the first hierarchical level; and characterised in that the federated operator component sends a signed security certificate to the first cluster of compute nodes and to the second cluster of compute nodes, wherein the signed security certificate enables encrypted communication between the first cluster of compute nodes and the second cluster of compute nodes.