Cloud Operations Engineer

Overview

The Cloud Operations Engineer is responsible for ensuring the reliability, scalability, security, and performance of our Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, and hybrid cloud infrastructure. In this role, you will move past manual configurations to treat infrastructure as code, build automated operations pipelines, and establish proactive monitoring frameworks. You will partner with cybersecurity, infrastructure, and business teams to maintain highly available cloud systems while enforcing strict federal compliance standards.

Responsibilities

Infrastructure Management & Automation

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Author, test, and deploy Azure resources using Terraform, Azure Bicep, or ARM templates to ensure consistent and repeatable environments.
• Operations Automation: Eliminate manual tasks by writing robust automation scripts utilizing PowerShell, Azure CLI, or Python.
• Configuration Management: Implement and maintain automated tooling to ensure configuration consistency across all virtual machines and services.
• FinOps & Cost Optimization: Actively track, analyze, and optimize cloud spend using Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and resource scheduling.

Cloud Networking, Governance & Monitoring

• Advanced Networking: Configure and maintain secure, high-availability hybrid networks, including VNets, Hub-Spoke topologies, Azure Firewall, ExpressRoute, and VPN Gateways.
• Observability & Alerting: Design and manage proactive monitoring dashboards, centralized logging, and automated alerting utilizing Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and KQL (Kusto Query Language).
• Cloud Governance: Define and enforce compliance boundaries across all subscriptions using Azure Policy and Blueprints.
• Identity & Access Management: Manage Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) architecture, ensuring secure access via advanced Conditional Access Policies, PIM, and Single Sign-On (SSO).

Security, Compliance & Data Protection

• Framework Compliance: Operationalize and maintain security controls to satisfy CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, and FedRAMP frameworks.
• Vulnerability & Incident Response: Review and triage alerts within Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel, executing automated or manual remediation workflows.
• Disaster Recovery Operations: Design, document, and continuously test automated backup validation and failover pipelines utilizing Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery (ASR).

Enterprise Modern Workplace Support

• Tier III Escalation: Act as the highest internal technical escalation point for complex cloud infrastructure, networking, and enterprise application failures.
• End-User Computing: Oversee and scale enterprise deployments of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Microsoft Intune (Endpoint Manager), and Exchange Online.

Qualifications

Required Experience & Skills

• Cloud Operations: 3+ years of direct experience engineering, provisioning, and maintaining enterprise Microsoft Azure environments.
• Systems Engineering: 5+ years of overall experience in IT infrastructure, networking, or systems engineering.
• Automation & Scripting: Demonstrated ability to build production-grade automation using PowerShell, Bash, or Python.
• Modern Deployment: Direct hands-on experience deploying cloud resources via IaC frameworks (Terraform, Bicep, or ARM).
• Cloud Networking: Strong proficiency in cloud routing, network security groups (NSGs), firewalls, and hybrid site-to-site connectivity.
• Security Mindset: Practical experience executing zero-trust methodologies and enforcing the Principle of Least Privilege.

Preferred Experience & Education

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or equivalent practical experience.
• Industry Context: Prior experience supporting IT operations within highly regulated environments, such as aerospace, defense, or manufacturing.
• CI/CD Pipelines: Exposure to Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions for automated deployment pipelines.

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) (Highly Preferred)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102)
• CompTIA Security+ or CISSP