Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

Syms Strategic Group, LLC (SSG)•Columbia, MD

11d•$120,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is hiring a Principal Cloud Computing Engineer supporting MCCF-Healthcare Systems for the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a full-time, 100% U.S.-based remote, W-2 position; candidates residing in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, or Washington will not be considered. The role requires U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI). The stated salary range is $120,000–$160,000. Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and may also undergo background checks, employment and education verification, drug testing, and creditworthiness review. The engineer designs, deploys, operates, and supports Azure cloud infrastructure and hosted systems, particularly in VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud environments. The role includes architecture and data-flow documentation, automation and CI/CD, access and permissions management, monitoring, security and compliance, customer support, and cloud-readiness and modernization work. The position calls for extensive professional experience, technical leadership, mentoring, strong documentation and communication, and willingness to provide on-call support when required. A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline is required. The posting states 20+ years of professional experience. Desired experience includes hands-on EDIFECS work with healthcare EDI X12 transactions and advanced Azure certifications. Candidates must support their qualifications with information in their resumes. Interviews are conducted on Microsoft Teams with cameras on, and applicants will be asked to provide a LinkedIn profile link.

Requirements

20+ years of professional experience.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
U.S. citizenship is required.
Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI).
A proven track record designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, highly available, scalable cloud architecture.
Expertise in Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, Azure Virtual Network, Azure Functions, Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Resource Manager, Azure Monitor, and Azure DNS.
Experience with Azure security practices and services, including Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, Azure DDoS Protection, and Azure WAF.
Proficiency with Azure networking components, including VNet Peering, Azure ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Ability to design, deploy, and manage scalable, secure, and highly available Azure infrastructure.
Experience governing multi-subscription Azure environments with Management Groups, Azure Policy, and Azure Landing Zones.
Knowledge of cloud cost management, FinOps, budgeting, tagging strategies, and resource optimization using Azure Cost Management.
Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or JavaScript/Node.js.
Experience with IaC tools such as ARM Templates, Ansible, and GitOps methodologies.
Proficiency with monitoring, logging, and observability tools including Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, Azure Activity Log, and tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, and New Relic.
Experience optimizing Azure resource and service performance, availability, and resiliency.
Understanding of Azure security best practices and compliance frameworks including HIPAA, FedRAMP, NIST, GDPR, and PCI DSS.
Experience implementing encryption, key management, secrets management, and identity solutions using Azure Key Vault, customer-managed keys, and Microsoft Entra ID.
Knowledge of Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for MySQL.
Experience with database performance tuning, backup and recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery strategies.
Familiarity with CI/CD tools and practices including Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and GitLab CI.
Experience with Docker, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Container Apps, and Kubernetes.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities and time effectively, and meet deadlines.
Strong attention to detail to support stability, security, operational excellence, and data integrity.
Ability to mentor engineers and provide technical leadership and guidance.
Experience leading complex cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives and collaborating across cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in emergency response and maintenance when required.
Strong documentation skills for architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables.
Commitment to keeping current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry practices.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Applicants must support their mandatory screening answers with information in their resumes.

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on EDIFECS experience with Electronic Data Interchange X.12 healthcare transaction standards and workflows, including medical claims transactions 837, 834, 835, and 277.
Experience with 270/271 and 278 transactions.
Experience with 999 transactions.
Experience with Edifecs.
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification.
Azure Administrator Associate certification.
Azure Security Engineer Associate certification.

Responsibilities

Create data-flow, cloud, transition, and high-level architecture diagrams for cloud infrastructure, applications, and systems.
Design, develop, deploy, and operate automation technologies for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).
Manage and control cloud-service-provider permissions for hosted applications, storage, and services.
Implement, manage, and design monitoring for cloud architecture and hosted systems and applications to support performance and compliance with VA and federal policies.
Provide customer-focused product-line and service support, including setup, configuration, and provisioning of VA Enterprise Cloud environments.
Provide cloud support for systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud environments, ensuring compliance with Veterans Independence Program development, release, and documentation requirements.
Apply a DevOps mindset and CI/CD practices and tooling.
Provide Cloud Security Provider documentation.
Design VAEC and cloud-hosted solutions and address cloud-readiness gaps.
Design, deploy, and manage Azure infrastructure and services, including scalable, secure, highly available architectures.
Establish and govern multi-subscription Azure environments using Management Groups, Azure Policy, and Azure Landing Zones.
Manage cloud costs through FinOps practices, budgeting, tagging, and resource optimization.
Use scripting and Infrastructure as Code tools and methodologies to automate cloud operations.
Monitor, log, and improve observability, performance, availability, and resiliency of Azure resources and services.
Implement Azure security and compliance practices, including encryption, key management, secrets management, and identity solutions.
Manage Azure database services and database performance, backup and recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery strategies.
Use CI/CD tools and containerization and orchestration technologies.
Troubleshoot complex cloud issues and explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities and multiple projects, and meet deadlines while delivering high-quality work.
Provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Lead cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Provide on-call support and participate in operational response activities when required.
Create and maintain architecture, operational, security-control, system-configuration, process, and procedure documentation.
Stay current with emerging Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.