diff --git a/.changeset/many-pugs-change.md b/.changeset/many-pugs-change.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..318c571891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/many-pugs-change.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend': patch
+---
+
+The purpose of this patch is to add a new login method which is `googleServiceAccount` configuring the kubernetes properties in the app-config.yaml file with authProvider key
diff --git a/docs/features/kubernetes/configuration.md b/docs/features/kubernetes/configuration.md
index 0d66341c40..331883be35 100644
--- a/docs/features/kubernetes/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/features/kubernetes/configuration.md
@@ -393,6 +393,7 @@ For example:
 - type: 'gke'
   projectId: 'gke-clusters'
   region: 'europe-west1' # optional
+  authProvider: 'google' # optional
   skipTLSVerify: false # optional
   skipMetricsLookup: false # optional
   exposeDashboard: false # optional
@@ -417,6 +418,18 @@ The Google Cloud project to look for Kubernetes clusters in.
 The Google Cloud region to look for Kubernetes clusters in. Defaults to all
 regions.
 
+##### `authProvider` (optional)
+
+Set the authentication method for discovering clusters and gathering information
+about resources.
+
+Defaults to `google` which leverages the logged in user's Google OAuth credentials.
+
+Set to `googleServiceAccount` to leverage
+Application Default Credentials (https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/application-default-credentials).
+To use a service account JSON key (not recommended), set the `GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS` environment variable
+on the Backstage backend to the path of the service account key file.
+
 ##### `skipTLSVerify` (optional)
 
 This determines whether the Kubernetes client verifies the TLS certificate
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/config.d.ts b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/config.d.ts
index 9c5417a00e..de7f79b66c 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/config.d.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/config.d.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ export interface Config {
           /** @visibility frontend */
           region?: string;
           /** @visibility frontend */
+          authProvider?: string;
+          /** @visibility frontend */
           skipTLSVerify?: boolean;
           /** @visibility frontend */
           skipMetricsLookup?: boolean;
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.test.ts b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.test.ts
index f919561490..849a7839e2 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.test.ts
@@ -382,5 +382,108 @@ describe('GkeClusterLocator', () => {
         parent: 'projects/some-project/locations/some-region',
       });
     });
+    it('return google login when no authProvider is specified', async () => {
+      mockedListClusters.mockReturnValueOnce([
+        {
+          clusters: [
+            {
+              name: 'some-cluster',
+              endpoint: '1.2.3.4',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ]);
+
+      const config: Config = new ConfigReader({
+        type: 'gke',
+        projectId: 'some-project',
+      });
+
+      const sut = GkeClusterLocator.fromConfigWithClient(config, {
+        listClusters: mockedListClusters,
+      } as any);
+
+      const result = await sut.getClusters();
+
+      expect(result).toStrictEqual([
+        {
+          name: 'some-cluster',
+          url: 'https://1.2.3.4',
+          authMetadata: { [ANNOTATION_KUBERNETES_AUTH_PROVIDER]: 'google' },
+          skipTLSVerify: false,
+          skipMetricsLookup: false,
+        },
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('return googleServiceAccount login when authProvider is specified', async () => {
+      mockedListClusters.mockReturnValueOnce([
+        {
+          clusters: [
+            {
+              name: 'some-cluster',
+              endpoint: '1.2.3.4',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ]);
+
+      const config: Config = new ConfigReader({
+        type: 'gke',
+        projectId: 'some-project',
+        authProvider: 'googleServiceAccount',
+      });
+
+      const sut = GkeClusterLocator.fromConfigWithClient(config, {
+        listClusters: mockedListClusters,
+      } as any);
+
+      const result = await sut.getClusters();
+
+      expect(result).toStrictEqual([
+        {
+          name: 'some-cluster',
+          url: 'https://1.2.3.4',
+          authMetadata: {
+            [ANNOTATION_KUBERNETES_AUTH_PROVIDER]: 'googleServiceAccount',
+          },
+          skipTLSVerify: false,
+          skipMetricsLookup: false,
+        },
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('return google login when authProvider property has invalid value', async () => {
+      mockedListClusters.mockReturnValueOnce([
+        {
+          clusters: [
+            {
+              name: 'some-cluster',
+              endpoint: '1.2.3.4',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+      ]);
+
+      const config: Config = new ConfigReader({
+        type: 'gke',
+        projectId: 'some-project',
+        authProvider: 'differentValue',
+      });
+
+      const sut = GkeClusterLocator.fromConfigWithClient(config, {
+        listClusters: mockedListClusters,
+      } as any);
+
+      const result = await sut.getClusters();
+
+      expect(result).toStrictEqual([
+        {
+          name: 'some-cluster',
+          url: 'https://1.2.3.4',
+          authMetadata: { [ANNOTATION_KUBERNETES_AUTH_PROVIDER]: 'google' },
+          skipTLSVerify: false,
+          skipMetricsLookup: false,
+        },
+      ]);
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.ts b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.ts
index 74e7ebc9af..03f5bda103 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes-backend/src/cluster-locator/GkeClusterLocator.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ interface MatchResourceLabelEntry {
 
 type GkeClusterLocatorOptions = {
   projectId: string;
+  authProvider: string;
   region?: string;
   skipTLSVerify?: boolean;
   skipMetricsLookup?: boolean;
@@ -54,8 +55,14 @@ export class GkeClusterLocator implements KubernetesClustersSupplier {
         return { key: mrl.getString('key'), value: mrl.getString('value') };
       }) ?? [];
 
+    const storeAuthProviderString =
+      config.getOptionalString('authProvider') === 'googleServiceAccount'
+        ? 'googleServiceAccount'
+        : 'google';
+
     const options = {
       projectId: config.getString('projectId'),
+      authProvider: storeAuthProviderString,
       region: config.getOptionalString('region') ?? '-',
       skipTLSVerify: config.getOptionalBoolean('skipTLSVerify') ?? false,
       skipMetricsLookup:
@@ -97,6 +104,7 @@ export class GkeClusterLocator implements KubernetesClustersSupplier {
     const {
       projectId,
       region,
+      authProvider,
       skipTLSVerify,
       skipMetricsLookup,
       exposeDashboard,
@@ -121,7 +129,7 @@ export class GkeClusterLocator implements KubernetesClustersSupplier {
           // TODO filter out clusters which don't have name or endpoint
           name: r.name ?? 'unknown',
           url: `https://${r.endpoint ?? ''}`,
-          authMetadata: { [ANNOTATION_KUBERNETES_AUTH_PROVIDER]: 'google' },
+          authMetadata: { [ANNOTATION_KUBERNETES_AUTH_PROVIDER]: authProvider },
           skipTLSVerify,
           skipMetricsLookup,
           ...(exposeDashboard