Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

Syms Strategic Group, LLC (SSG)•Shreveport, LA

23h•$109,623 - $126,790•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is hiring a Cloud Computing Engineer Principal to support Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare systems in remote VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud environments. The role designs, deploys, and operates secure, scalable, highly available Azure infrastructure and cloud-hosted applications, and provides customer-focused setup, configuration, provisioning, and support for VA product lines and services. The position requires a Public Trust (MBI) or eligibility to obtain one and U.S. citizenship. It is a W-2 position and is 100% U.S.-based remote, but applicants from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington will not be considered. The engineer develops cloud and data-flow architecture diagrams; designs and operates CI/CD automation; manages cloud permissions; implements monitoring and compliance capabilities; provides cloud security documentation; and identifies cloud-readiness gaps. The role follows VA Enterprise Cloud and Veterans Independence Program development, release, and documentation requirements. It also involves cloud cost management, security and regulatory compliance, database operations, infrastructure as code, containers, modernization and migration initiatives, technical leadership, mentoring, documentation, and operational response, including on-call support when required. The position calls for 20 or more years of professional experience and either a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline with 20 years of experience, or a master's degree in those fields with 10 years of experience. Desired experience includes hands-on Edifecs and healthcare EDI X12 workflows, as well as advanced Azure certifications. Candidates may be asked to provide a LinkedIn profile; interviews are conducted on Microsoft Teams with the camera on.

Requirements

20 or more years of professional experience.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline and 20 years of experience, or a master's degree in the same fields and 10 years of experience.
U.S. citizenship is required for this opportunity.
Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI); selected applicants are subject to a government security investigation and eligibility requirements.
Proven track record designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, highly available, scalable cloud architecture.
Expertise in Azure services including Virtual Machines, Blob Storage, SQL Database, Virtual Network, 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, DDoS Protection, and Web Application Firewall.
Proficiency with Azure networking components, including VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Experience establishing and governing multi-subscription Azure environments using 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 Python, PowerShell, Bash, or JavaScript/Node.js for automation and cloud operations.
Experience with infrastructure as code tools such as Azure Resource Manager templates and Ansible, and with GitOps methodologies.
Proficiency with monitoring, logging, and observability tools including Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, Azure Activity Log, and third-party tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, and New Relic.
Experience optimizing Azure 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 the ability to troubleshoot complex cloud issues and explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities and time effectively, and meet project deadlines.
Strong attention to detail to support system stability, security, operational excellence, and data integrity.
Ability to mentor engineers and provide technical leadership and guidance.
Ability to lead technical projects and collaborate across cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in emergency support, maintenance, and operational response when required.
Strong written and verbal communication and documentation skills.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects simultaneously while delivering high-quality work.
Commitment to staying current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry trends.

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on Edifecs experience with Electronic Data Interchange X12 transaction standards and healthcare workflows, including medical claims transactions 837, 834, 835, and 277; 270/271 and 278 transactions; and 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.
Design, implement, and manage monitoring capabilities for cloud architecture and hosted systems and applications to support performance and compliance with VA and federal policies.
Provide customer-focused support for product lines and services, including setup, configuration, and provisioning of VA Enterprise Cloud environments.
Provide cloud support for systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud environments, following Veterans Independence Program development, release, and documentation requirements.
Apply DevOps practices and provide cloud security provider documentation.
Design VAEC and cloud-hosted solutions and address cloud-readiness gaps.
Design, deploy, and manage scalable, secure, highly available Azure infrastructure and services, including multi-subscription environments.
Manage cloud costs through FinOps practices, budgeting, tagging, and resource optimization.
Use scripting, infrastructure as code, and GitOps approaches to automate cloud operations.
Monitor, log, and improve the performance, availability, resiliency, and security of Azure resources and services.
Implement encryption, key and secrets management, and identity solutions.
Manage Azure database services, including performance tuning, backup and recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery.
Use CI/CD tools and containerization and orchestration technologies in cloud environments.
Lead complex cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership and guidance; contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Troubleshoot complex cloud-related issues and explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Document architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Manage multiple projects and competing priorities, meet deadlines, and ensure high-quality deliverables.
Provide on-call support and participate in operational response activities when required.
Stay current with emerging Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.