Cloud Computing Engineer Principal

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

1d•$120,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

Syms Strategic Group (SSG) is hiring a Principal Cloud Computing Engineer to support Veterans Affairs healthcare systems. This is a full-time, 100% U.S.-based remote W-2 position supporting VA cloud environments. The role designs, deploys, operates, and supports cloud infrastructure and applications in VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Azure GovCloud, with attention to security, compliance, availability, and operational excellence. The engineer will create architecture and data-flow diagrams; develop and operate CI/CD automation; manage cloud permissions; implement monitoring; provision and configure VAEC environments; provide cloud support for systems and applications; document cloud security; and design cloud-hosted solutions while addressing cloud-readiness gaps. The position requires a DevOps approach and support for VA development, release, and documentation requirements. The role calls for extensive Azure expertise, technical leadership, and experience with large-scale cloud architecture, security, networking, governance, cost management, databases, containers, monitoring, and automation. The engineer will lead or contribute to modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives, mentor engineers, collaborate across teams, manage multiple projects, and provide on-call support when required. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI). Candidates residing in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, or Washington will not be considered.

Requirements

20+ years of professional experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Proven experience designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, high-availability, 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 Web Application Firewall.
Proficiency with Azure networking components, including VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Experience 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/NodeJS for automation and cloud operations.
Experience with IaC tools and approaches, including ARM Templates, Ansible, and 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 performance, availability, and resiliency.
Understanding of Azure security practices and compliance frameworks including HIPAA, FedRAMP, NIST, GDPR, and PCI DSS.
Experience with 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.
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 nontechnical stakeholders.
Ability to prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities and time effectively, and meet project deadlines.
Strong attention to detail concerning system stability, security, operational excellence, and data integrity.
Ability to mentor engineers, provide technical leadership, and contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Experience leading complex cloud initiatives and collaborating across cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in operational response when required.
Strong documentation skills.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects while ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables.
Commitment to staying current with emerging Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.
U.S. citizenship is required.
Must possess or qualify for a Public Trust (MBI).
Selected applicants are subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information and be able to obtain a government-granted security clearance.
Applicants may be subject to background checks, including criminal history, employment and education verification, drug testing, and creditworthiness.

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on Edifecs experience with EDI X.12 transaction standards and workflows, including medical claims transactions 837, 834, 835, and 277; 270/271 and 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 CI/CD automation technologies.
Manage and control cloud-service-provider permissions for hosted applications, storage, and services.
Design, implement, and manage monitoring for cloud architecture and hosted systems and applications to support performance and compliance.
Provide customer-focused support for product lines and services, including setup, configuration, and provisioning of VAEC environments.
Support systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud in accordance with VIP development, release, and documentation requirements.
Apply DevOps practices and tooling.
Provide cloud security provider documentation.
Design VAEC and other 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 through FinOps practices, budgeting, tagging, and resource optimization.
Automate cloud operations using scripting and infrastructure-as-code tools.
Monitor and improve performance, availability, observability, and resiliency of Azure resources and services.
Implement Azure security, compliance, encryption, key management, secrets management, and identity solutions.
Manage and optimize Azure database services, including performance tuning, backup and recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery.
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.
Explain technical concepts to nontechnical stakeholders and document architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Manage and contribute to multiple projects, prioritize competing work, meet deadlines, and deliver quality results.
Provide on-call support and participate in operational response and emergency maintenance when required.
Stay current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.