Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

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

1d•$109,623 - $126,790•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is hiring a Cloud Computing Engineer Principal to support Veterans Affairs healthcare systems. This full-time, 100% U.S.-based remote W-2 position supports VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud environments. Candidates residing in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, 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 $109,623–$126,790. The engineer designs, deploys, operates, secures, monitors, and documents Azure cloud infrastructure and hosted applications. The position supports cloud environment provisioning and configuration, CI/CD and automation, cloud architecture and security documentation, and compliance with VA and federal policies and requirements. It also provides technical leadership, mentors engineers, and leads cloud modernization, migration, and transformation work. The posting calls for 20+ years of professional experience. Formal education requirements are 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 the same fields and 10 years of experience. Desired qualifications include hands-on Edifecs experience with healthcare EDI X.12 transactions and advanced Azure certifications. Interviews are conducted on Microsoft Teams with the candidate’s camera on; 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 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 experience designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services, including large-scale, highly available, scalable cloud architecture.
Expertise in Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, Azure Virtual Network (VNet), Azure Functions, Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Azure Monitor, and Azure DNS.
Experience with Azure security practices and services, including Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, Azure DDoS Protection, and Azure Web Application Firewall.
Proficiency with Azure networking components such as VNet Peering, Azure ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Ability to design, deploy, and manage scalable, secure, and highly available Azure infrastructures.
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 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, Prometheus, Grafana, and New Relic.
Understanding of Azure security 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 (AKS), 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, 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.
Ability to lead technical projects and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in operational response and emergency maintenance when required.
Strong documentation skills.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables.
Commitment to staying current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.
Applicants’ responses to mandatory screening questions must be supported by their resumes; inconsistent applications will not be considered.

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on Edifecs experience with Electronic Data Interchange X.12 transaction standards and 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.
Military veteran status is encouraged.

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 for cloud applications, storage, and services.
Design, implement, and manage monitoring capabilities for cloud architecture and hosted systems and applications to support performance and compliance.
Provide customer-focused product-line and service support, including setup, configuration, and provisioning of VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) environments.
Support systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud environments and ensure compliance with Veterans Independence Program 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.
Lead and contribute to cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership and guidance.
Provide on-call and operational response support when required.
Document architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Manage multiple projects and competing priorities while meeting deadlines and delivering quality results.
Troubleshoot complex cloud-related issues and optimize Azure resource performance, availability, and resiliency.