Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

Syms Strategic Group, LLC (SSG)•Jacksonville, FL

1d•$109,623 - $126,790•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is seeking an experienced Cloud Computing Engineer Principal to support MCCF-Healthcare Systems for the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a full-time, 100% U.S.-based remote W-2 position supporting VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud environments. Candidates located in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, or Washington will not be considered. The salary range is $109,623–$126,790. U.S. citizenship is required, and the selected applicant must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI). Applicants may be subject to a government security investigation and background checks. The role designs, deploys, operates, secures, monitors, and supports Azure cloud infrastructure and hosted systems and applications. It includes developing CI/CD automation, managing cloud permissions, providing customer-focused VAEC environment support, addressing cloud-readiness gaps, documenting cloud security and architecture, and ensuring compliance with VA and federal requirements. The position also provides technical leadership, mentors engineers, contributes to cloud architecture governance, and supports modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives. On-call support may be required. The posting requires a 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 one of those fields and 10 years of experience. Desired experience includes hands-on Edifecs and healthcare EDI X.12 transactions, as well as advanced Azure certifications. Professional certifications are listed as n/a.

Requirements

At least 20 years of professional experience with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline; alternatively, at least 10 years of experience with a master’s degree in one of those fields.
Proven experience designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, highly available, and scalable cloud architecture.
Expertise in Azure services including Virtual Machines, Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, 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, DDoS Protection, and Web Application Firewall.
Proficiency with Azure networking components, including VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Ability to design, deploy, and manage scalable, secure, and highly available Azure cloud infrastructure.
Experience establishing and governing multi-subscription Azure environments using Management Groups, Azure Policy, and Azure Landing Zones.
Knowledge of cloud cost management, FinOps practices, budgeting, tagging strategies, and resource optimization using Azure Cost Management.
Proficiency in Python, PowerShell, Bash, or JavaScript/NodeJS for automation and cloud operations.
Experience with IaC 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, Prometheus, Grafana, or 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 the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize tasks, manage time and competing priorities, and meet 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 to junior engineers and team members.
Experience leading technical projects and complex cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives with cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in emergency operational response and maintenance when required.
Strong written and verbal communication and documentation skills.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables.
Commitment to staying current with emerging Azure technologies, tools, cloud-native architectures, and industry trends.
U.S. citizenship is required for this opportunity.
Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI).
Applicants must support mandatory screening-question answers with information on their resume.

Nice To Haves

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

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-provider permissions 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 (VAEC) environments.
Provide cloud support for systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud environments, meeting Veterans Independence Program (VIP) development, release, and documentation requirements.
Apply DevOps practices and CI/CD tooling.
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.
Establish and govern multi-subscription Azure environments using Management Groups, Azure Policy, and Azure Landing Zones.
Manage cloud costs and apply FinOps practices, budgeting, tagging, and resource optimization.
Use scripting and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools to automate cloud operations and infrastructure management.
Monitor and improve cloud performance, availability, resiliency, logging, and observability.
Apply Azure security practices, compliance frameworks, encryption, key management, secrets management, and identity solutions.
Manage Azure database services and database performance, backup, recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery.
Use CI/CD and containerization/orchestration technologies in cloud environments.
Troubleshoot complex cloud issues and explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities, and deliver high-quality work on deadlines across multiple projects.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership; contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Lead cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Provide on-call and emergency operational support when required.
Create and maintain architecture, security, operational, system-configuration, process, and procedure documentation.
Stay current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry practices.