Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

Syms Strategic Group, LLC (SSG)•Lawrence, KS

1d•$109,623 - $126,790•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group is seeking a Principal Cloud Computing Engineer to support Veterans Affairs healthcare systems. This is a 100% U.S.-based remote, full-time W-2 position supporting the VA. The role focuses on designing, deploying, operating, securing, and governing Azure cloud infrastructure and services in VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud environments. The engineer will support cloud-hosted systems and applications, provide customer-focused environment setup and provisioning, and ensure compliance with VA and federal policies and applicable program requirements. The position includes cloud architecture and modernization work, automation and CI/CD, access and permission management, monitoring and operational support, cloud security documentation, and remediation of cloud-readiness gaps. The role calls for technical leadership, mentoring, cross-functional collaboration, strong documentation, and the ability to manage multiple complex projects. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI).

Requirements

20+ 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.
Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI).
Proven track record designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, highly available, scalable cloud architecture and infrastructure.
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 Entra ID, Role-Based Access Control, DDoS Protection, and Web Application Firewall.
Proficiency with Azure networking components, including VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and 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, and resource optimization using Azure Cost Management.
Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or JavaScript/Node.js.
Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools and methods, including ARM Templates, Ansible, and GitOps.
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 performance, availability, and resiliency of Azure resources and services.
Strong 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 containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Container Apps, and Kubernetes.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities and time effectively, and meet deadlines.
Strong attention to detail to ensure system stability, security, operational excellence, and data integrity.
Ability to mentor engineers and provide technical guidance to junior engineers and team members.
Ability to lead technical projects and collaborate across cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in emergency operational response and maintenance when required.
Strong verbal and written 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 best practices.
Candidates from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, or Washington will not be considered.
Applicants must support mandatory screening-question responses with information on their resume; inconsistent applications will not be considered.

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on EDIFECS experience with Electronic Data Interchange X12 transaction standards and workflows, including medical claims transactions 837, 834, 835, and 277.
Experience with X12 270/271, 278, 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 permissions in cloud service providers for hosted applications, storage, and services.
Design, implement, manage, and monitor cloud architecture and hosted systems and applications for 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 and ensure compliance with Veterans Independence Program development, release, and documentation requirements.
Apply DevOps practices and tooling.
Provide cloud security provider documentation.
Design VAEC and cloud-hosted solutions and address cloud-readiness gaps.
Lead and contribute to cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives with cross-functional teams.
Provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Troubleshoot complex cloud-related issues and support operational response, including on-call support when required.
Document architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Manage multiple projects and competing priorities while meeting deadlines and maintaining quality.