Cloud Platform Specialist

PAE CONSULTING ENGINEERS INC•Portland, OR

4d•$106,000 - $147,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a Cloud Platform Specialist to design and build the foundational systems that enable secure, scalable application development across PAE. This role is critical in supporting emerging automation, AI initiatives, and citizen development efforts by creating standardized, production-ready environments and enforcing governance controls that ensure all applications follow consistent security, compliance, and operational standards before reaching production. This includes everything from engineer-built Python tools to AI-enabled workloads. The Cloud Platform Specialist owns the intake, review, and environment promotion process for citizen- and engineer-developed applications. This role also maintains working-level proficiency in Windows Server, Linux, and Azure IaaS administration to provide operational coverage and secondary support to the Core Services infrastructure team.

Requirements

Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure including compute, networking, identity (Entra ID), and security services
Experience designing and implementing CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps
Experience with infrastructure as code tools including Bicep and Terraform
Familiarity with containerization concepts including Docker and Linux-based runtimes, and their application to Azure-hosted workloads
Experience reviewing third-party and citizen-developed applications for production readiness, security posture, and operational supportability
Experience with Power Platform governance including DLP policy configuration, environment strategy, and connector management
Solid understanding of identity and access management; specifically Azure AD/Entra ID, OAuth2/OIDC, app registrations, and service principals
Experience governing or operating Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, or equivalent AI/ML platforms in an enterprise environment
Familiarity with data classification frameworks and their application to cloud workloads and AI pipelines
Working-level proficiency in Windows Server, Linux, and Azure IaaS administration sufficient to provide team secondary coverage
Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to explain security and governance requirements to non-technical audiences
Proven problem-solving skills with experience as a key contributor in an IT team

Nice To Haves

Experience building or operating a formal citizen development governance program, including intake processes and promotion gate criteria
Background in IT platform engineering or site reliability engineering (SRE)
Familiarity with SharePoint Online, SPFx, and Power Platform as a development ecosystem
Experience supporting low-code and no-code development ecosystems with mixed technical skill levels

Responsibilities

Design and implement secure, scalable application hosting environments in Azure, including environment segmentation (dev/test/UAT/prod) and isolation strategies
Establish identity, access, and secrets management patterns across all environments
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for application deployment using Azure DevOps Pipelines and GitHub Actions; standardize release and promotion workflows across environments regardless of pipeline tooling
Define and document approved deployment patterns for Power Platform solutions, custom-developed applications including AI-generated and low-code apps, and AI/ML-enabled workloads
Implement infrastructure as code using Bicep and Terraform for consistent, repeatable environment provisioning; maintain standards for both Microsoft-native and open-source IaC tooling depending on workload requirements
Define approved patterns for containerized workloads including Docker-based packaging and deployment to Azure Container Apps or AKS; maintain working proficiency in Linux as the primary runtime for containerized and serverless applications
Define standards for event-driven and serverless compute patterns using Azure Functions and Logic Apps alongside open-source frameworks and runtimes; define approved language runtimes, dependency management practices, and cold-start mitigation approaches
Ensure logging, monitoring, alerting, and compliance requirements are met by design in all managed environments
Own the citizen development intake, review, and application promotion process; evaluate all citizen and staff-developed applications for security, compliance, and operational supportability before advancement through dev/test/UAT/prod environments
Define and enforce data classification requirements for all applications and workloads, particularly those integrating with AI services, external APIs, Microsoft 365, or business-critical data sources
Establish open-source software governance standards for all applications entering the promotion pipeline, including license compatibility review, dependency scanning, and policies governing the use of community-maintained packages in production workloads
Develop and maintain secure development guidelines and reference materials for non-technical builders covering authentication patterns, data handling, API integration basics, and deployment standards.
Partner with the integration developer and BIM developer to ensure citizen-developed solutions are compatible with enterprise integration patterns and supportable by Core Services
Define production readiness criteria and ensure all deployed applications are supportable by the Service Desk and IT operations teams
Govern Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI Service access; define approved patterns for AI-enabled workloads including proprietary and open-weight model deployment standards, content filtering configuration, audit logging, and data residency compliance
Reference established open standards including the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications when evaluating AI workload risk and defining guardrails for data flowing into AI services
Define and maintain Power Platform environment strategy and DLP policy governance, including environment segmentation and access controls for citizen developers
Establish API management standards for internally developed or citizen-developed applications that expose or consume APIs, including authentication patterns (OAuth2/Entra ID), secret management, connector approval workflows, and OpenAPI specification requirements for internally documented APIs
Evaluate and approve requests for access to Azure AI Foundry from technical and non-technical staff; define and enforce guardrails for what data is permitted to flow into AI workloads
Provide Tier 2/3 secondary coverage for Windows Server, Linux, and Azure IaaS operations
Maintain working-level proficiency in Azure VM administration, storage, and networking sufficient to support team operations during planned or unplanned absences
Participate in the execution of IT Service Management (ITSM) controls including incident, problem, and change management; this includes after-hours operations and maintenance
Participate in audits and rehearsals associated with Information Security, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery

Benefits

Employer paid health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
Annual 401k profit sharing based on company profit for the year and account contribution
Professional development reimbursements including state registration and professional association dues
Employer paid commuter/parking stipend
Cell phone stipend
Life insurance and disability benefits
Hybrid work schedule
Employee Assistance Program
9 paid holidays including an additional employee-selected day
Paid time off for sick leave, family leave, community service, holidays and vacation