ANY CANDIDATE REPRESENTED BY THEIR EMPLOYER OR CONSULTANT WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IMMEDIATELY!!!

Overview: We are seeking a Cloud Engineer to implement and manage cloud infrastructure and services in support of OCIO operations. The role focuses on leveraging Microsoft Azure technologies to build scalable, reliable, and secure solutions that enable the organization to operate efficiently and effectively. This position emphasizes practical implementation, operational management, and teamwork rather than high-level architectural design.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 2+ years of experience in a cloud engineering role, with hands-on experience in Microsoft Azure.
• Strong understanding of Azure services, including Virtual Machines, AKS, Azure SQL, Blob Storage, and Networking.
• Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as ARM Templates, Terraform, or Bicep.
• Experience with Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipeline creation and management.
• Scripting skills in PowerShell, Python, or similar languages for task automation.
• Basic understanding of networking concepts, including TCP/IP, DNS, and VPNs.
• Strong problem-solving, troubleshooting, and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities, with a focus on teamwork.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Certifications: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104), Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500), or Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-305).
• Familiarity with integrating Microsoft 365 services with Azure.
• Knowledge of database systems, including SQL and NoSQL.
• Experience with DevOps practices and tools.
• Awareness of security protocols and compliance standards.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE SHOULD POSSESS SKILLS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

• System and Application Health Management
• Monitoring your application health is an important signal for managing your VMs. Azure Virtual Machines provides support for Automatic VM Guest Patching, which rely on health monitoring of the individual instances to safely update your VMs.
• Infrastructure Cost Optimization

o It involves enhancing cloud cost efficiency by identifying and reducing mismanaged or excess resources, taking advantage of discounts to reserve higher capacity, and rightsizing computing resources to specific applications and workloads in your cloud environment.

• System and Application Performance Efficiency/Capacity Planning
• Azure capacity planning involves estimating the amount of computing resources (CPU, memory, storage, and network bandwidth) needed to support workload performance requirements. In Azure DevOps, capacity planning helps allocate team members responsibilities for upcoming sprints or iterations. It is a forward-looking process critical for maintaining optimal performance of Microsoft-based IT infrastructures.
• System and Application Reliability
• Define recovery targets Service Level Agreement, Recovery Point and Time Objective (SLA, RPO, and RTO).
• Design applications to be resilient and recover from errors.
• Plan and test for disaster scenarios.
• Ensure foundational services like networking are reliable.
• Implement scalability where possible.
• Monitor, measure, and test fault tolerance regularly.

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and a customer that outlines the level of service that will be provided, including any cybersecurity measures and outage response times.
The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the maximum acceptable data loss, measured in time, that an organization can afford during an unexpected event such as a system failure or natural disaster. The concept is relevant to disaster recovery and business continuity planning and helps make decisions about the frequency of data backups to minimize data loss.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the maximum amount of time that a system or service can remain unavailable after failure or disruption before it impacts business operations. It defines how quickly a system must be restored to resume normal functioning after an incident. Setting the RTO involves balancing the cost of minimizing downtime with the operational need to restore services promptly. Lower RTOs typically require more investment in redundant systems and disaster recovery strategies, while higher RTOs allow for more flexibility in recovery efforts.
Job Types: Full-time, Contract
Pay: $118,000.00 - $128,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Alexandria, VA 2231

• Deploy, configure, and maintain Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure in alignment with organizational standards.
• Manage and monitor Azure resources, including virtual machines, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure SQL, and storage solutions.
• Develop and maintain Azure DevOps pipelines to support continuous integration and deployment.
• Automate routine tasks and processes using scripting languages such as PowerShell, Python, or Azure CLI.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to Azure environments, including network connectivity, resource performance, and security.
• Implement and enforce Azure security best practices, including identity and access management (IAM), encryption, and compliance monitoring.
• Collaborate with engineering and development teams to support the deployment and maintenance of cloud-based applications.
• Ensure efficient functioning of data storage and processing in accordance with security policies and best practices.
• Regularly review existing systems and recommend improvements for performance and cost optimization.
• Stay current with industry trends and Microsoft Azure advancements to make informed recommendations for innovation.