Principal Cloud Computing Engineer

SAIC•Flexwork, TX

11d•Remote

About The Position

SAIC is hiring a Principal Cloud Computing Engineer to join a high-performance team supporting the VA’s migration to the cloud. The position offers an opportunity to work across the cloud ecosystem with emerging technologies and requires the ability to work at scale and autonomously while serving as a trusted advisor to the customer. The role is 100% remote. The engineer designs cloud architecture and transition diagrams; develops, deploys, and operates CI/CD automation; manages cloud permissions; and designs and operates monitoring capabilities to support performance and compliance with VA and federal policies. The role also provides customer-focused setup, configuration, provisioning, and ongoing support for VAEC environments and their systems and applications in Azure GovCloud, including compliance with VIP development, release, and documentation requirements. The engineer designs cloud-hosted solutions, identifies cloud-readiness gaps, and provides cloud security provider documentation. The role calls for extensive Azure architecture and operations expertise, including security, networking, cost management, databases, observability, infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and container technologies. It includes technical leadership, mentoring, documentation, cross-functional collaboration, modernization and migration initiatives, and on-call operational support when required. Candidates must be U.S. citizens able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 20 years of experience, or a master’s degree and 10 years of experience, in computer science, systems engineering, cloud engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Proven track record designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure and services.
Experience with large-scale, highly available, 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, Azure ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Private Endpoints, and Azure Load Balancer.
Ability to design, deploy, and manage scalable, secure, and highly available Azure cloud infrastructures.
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 scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or JavaScript/Node.js for automation and cloud operations.
Experience with infrastructure as code tools such as ARM Templates and Ansible, and with GitOps methodologies.
Proficiency with monitoring, logging, and observability tools including Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, Azure Activity Log, and third-party 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 database services including 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 (AKS), Azure Container Apps, and Kubernetes.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills for troubleshooting complex cloud issues.
Excellent verbal and written communication 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 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.
Ability to lead technical projects and collaborate across cross-functional teams.
Willingness to provide on-call support and participate in operational response, emergency support, and maintenance when required.
Strong documentation skills for architecture, operational procedures, security controls, system configurations, processes, and procedures.
Ability to manage and contribute to multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring timely completion and high-quality deliverables.
Commitment to staying current with emerging Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry trends.
U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Nice To Haves

Advanced Azure certifications are preferred, such as Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, Azure Administrator Associate, or 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.
Manage and control cloud service 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 product-line and service support, including setup, configuration, and provisioning of VAEC environments.
Support systems and applications in VAEC Azure GovCloud environments and ensure compliance with 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, and highly available Azure infrastructure.
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.
Monitor and optimize the performance, availability, and resiliency of Azure resources and services.
Implement cloud security, encryption, key management, secrets management, and identity solutions.
Manage database performance, backups, recovery, high availability, and disaster recovery strategies.
Troubleshoot complex cloud platform issues and support operational response activities.
Lead complex cloud modernization, migration, and transformation initiatives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and contribute to cloud architecture governance.
Create and maintain architecture, operational, security-control, and system-configuration documentation.
Prioritize and contribute to multiple projects while meeting deadlines and delivering quality results.
Stay current with Azure technologies, cloud-native architectures, tools, and industry best practices.
Provide on-call support and participate in emergency support and maintenance when required.