Step into the future of IT with the Department of Developmental Services. We are implementing next-generation solutions and seeking innovative, driven teammates to make it happen. Join a forward-thinking IT organization where your skills and ideas help shape the future of technology and your career.
Under the administrative direction of the Technical Services Branch Chief, the Information Technology Specialist II (ITS II) works as an AWS Cloud Engineer to design, implement, and support secure and scalable cloud solutions for our IT infrastructure. The AWS Cloud Engineer will be responsible for building, optimizing, and maintaining AWS-based environments that support critical government applications and services, with a strong focus on security, compliance, high availability, and cost efficiency. This role requires hands-on experience with AWS services, infrastructure automation, and federal information security standards. The incumbent will build tools and automation to eliminate manual operations and craft repeatable processes, maintaining a highly available infrastructure. Support the migration of our hosted clients to AWS and maintain, monitor, and operate the networks. Responsible for documenting your service requests and projects, along with crafting troubleshooting guides and establishing best operating practices. Collaborate with the team and external vendors to diagnose problems. Additionally, the Network team is responsible for performing changes to maintain the reliability of the network as it grows. This is a mix of engineering and operations roles with a strong customer focus, providing 24x7x365 operations.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST II

$8,625.00 - $11,557.00 A
New to State candidates will be hired into the minimum salary of the classification or minimum of alternate range when applicable.

of Positions:

1
Work Location:
Sacramento County
Telework:
Hybrid
Job Type:
Permanent, Full Time
Department Information
The California Department of Developmental Services (Department) is the agency through which the State of California provides services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities.
These disabilities include intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism and related conditions. Services are provided through state-operated developmental centers and community facilities, and contracts with 21 nonprofit regional centers. The regional centers serve as a local resource to help find and access the services and supports available to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

The Department is located in a modern, sustainable and innovative office building at 1215 “O” Street, Sacramento, California. Some amenities of the building include:

• First floor retail space (separate access from 12th Street)
• Café with multiple vendors
• Outdoor seating for meal breaks
• Employee fitness center which includes a yoga studio, cardio equipment and weights
• Plaza area with kitchenette on each floor
• Lactation rooms

Department Website: http://www.dds.ca.gov
Special Requirements
Cover Letters, Resumes, Statement of Qualifications, etc. DO NOT replace the required Examination/Employment Application STC. 678.
For experience/education to qualify during the application screening process, and to ensure that minimum qualifications can be determined, applicants MUST include all employment history on the Employment Application (STD 678), including detailed job description/duties, hours worked per week, and start/end dates (MM/DD/YYYY). Application pacakges without this information may be disqualified and/or will experience delayed processing times and your eligibility for this position may be impacted.
Candidates who fail to respond to the SOQ questions will be disqualified from the interview process.

The Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) must be typed in 12-point Arial font, single spaced, and be no more than one page per question. Applicants who fail to answer the question. Applicants who fail to answer the question below or submit an SOQ may not be considered.

• Please explain your experience working with AWS. Please include the length of time, your role, and the type of projects or efforts you’ve been involved with.
• Please explain how you will ensure that you stay current on new AWS services and changes to existing services.
• What are your strongest technical and leadership skills?
• What AWS training have you completed?
• What AWS certifications for you have?

Application Instructions
Completed applications and all required documents must be received or postmarked by the Final Filing Date in order to be considered. Dates printed on Mobile Bar Codes, such as the Quick Response (QR) Codes available at the USPS, are not considered Postmark dates for the purpose of determining timely filing of an application.
Final Filing Date: 9/22/2025

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• 5+ years of experience in AWS cloud engineering, administration, or architecture.
• Strong expertise with core AWS services (EC2, S3, RDS, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, etc.).
• Experience with automation and IaC tools (CloudFormation, Terraform, Ansible).
• Knowledge of federal cybersecurity and compliance frameworks (FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST 800-53).
• Hands-on experience with Linux and/or Windows server environments.
• Solid understanding of networking, routing, and firewalls within AWS.
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging solutions (CloudWatch, etc).
• 5+ years of enterprise-scale Network operations experience
• AWS Direct Connect experience strongly preferred
• Experience in multi-region, multi-tenant environments is a plus
• Demonstrated proficiency in network administration in a large datacenter environment – DNS/DHCP, Load Balancing (AWS ELB), Firewalls (Palo Alto Networks), IDS/IPS, IPSEC VPN)
• Excellent network latency analysis, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting skills
• Good automation scripting ability (Bash/Shell, Python)
• Exceptional problem-solving skills
• Experience in enterprise-scale networks within a cloud environment delivering SaaS solutions
• ITIL Knowledge (Incident, Change, and Problem Management) and tools (ServiceNow)
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously and be able to adapt to changing business needs
• Work well with cross-functional and remote teams
• Worked in an operational support role with after-hours on-call responsibilities
• AWS Cloud certifications (preferred)
  Benefits
  As a state employee working for the Department of Developmental Services, you and your family will have access to excellent medical, dental and vision insurance benefits in addition to retirement benefits.
  Benefit eligibility may be based on job classification, bargaining unit, time base and length of appointment. Additional benefits may also be outlined for specific bargaining units in employee collective bargaining contracts. For more information, please visit the links below:
  State Employees - CalHR Benefits Website
  CalPERS Health Benefit Summary 2025
  Benefit information can be found on the CalHR website and the CalPERS website.
  Contact Information
  The Human Resources Contact is available to answer questions regarding the position or application process.
  Department Website: http://www.dds.ca.gov

Please refer the Job description for details