Senior AWS Engineer

WidePoint•Columbus, OH

47d

About The Position

The Senior AWS Engineer serves as the technical lead for our FedRAMP Authorized (Moderate FISMA) cloud environment supporting our SaaS platform. The Senior AWS Engineer will translate security controls into infrastructure-as-code, maintain and evolve a Terraform-managed AWS stack, and implement a robust DevSecOps toolchain. This role will integrate tools, including Okta, Entra, Elastic Cloud, Qualys, SonarQube, Nessus, Cloudflare, and GitLab while optimizing AWS RDS performance. Additionally, this role is a hands-on leadership position requiring close collaboration across Compliance, Infrastructure, Development, and Product teams, as well as mentorship of a Junior AWS Engineer.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in software or cloud engineering, including 5+ years designing and operating workloads on AWS.
Deep expertise with AWS core services: VPC, IAM, ECS/EKS, Lambda, RDS, S3, KMS, CloudWatch, Security Hub, and Control Tower.
Strong background in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform-modules, state management, and CI-driven deployments.
Experience provisioning, tuning, and maintaining AWS RDS (SQL Server).
Solid foundation in both Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Direct experience supporting at least one FedRAMP Moderate (or higher) authorized system, including audit preparation and evidence submission.
Working knowledge of FedRAMP Moderate, NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, and NIST SP 800-37.
Experience mapping security controls, maintaining SSPs, POA&Ms, and delivering continuous monitoring artifacts.
Hands-on experience with security tools such as Elastic Cloud SIEM, Qualys Cloud WAS, SonarQube, Nessus, and AWS GuardDuty.
Ability to translate regulatory requirements into technical safeguards.
Proficiency in GitLab CI/CD, including runners, pipelines, and GitOps workflows.
Experience building security gates into CI/CD processes (SAST, DAST, vulnerability scans, Terraform automation).
Automation-first mindset with fluency in at least one backend language (Python, Go, or Java) and scripting (Bash or PowerShell).
Experience integrating and managing SSO solutions with Okta and Entra (SAML/OIDC, SCIM, MFA, RBAC policy design).
Familiarity with fine-grained access control across AWS and SaaS platforms.
At least two (2) years of experience mentoring or leading engineers.
Strong communication skills-able to clearly explain technical issues to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Excellent documentation skills (e.g., policies, procedures, architecture diagrams, audit artifacts).
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite or similar tools.
Must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field (preferred).
Relevant certifications strongly preferred: AWS Solutions Architect - Professional, AWS Security Specialty, AWS DevOps Engineer, CISSP or similar.

Responsibilities

Designs and implements secure, highly available AWS environments using Terraform-emphasizing VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) design, IAM (Identity Access Management) least privilege, FIPS encryption, and network segmentation.
Provisions, tunes, and maintains AWS RDS (SQL Server) with a focus on performance, backups, and high availability.
Develops and maintains CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, integrating SAST (SonarQube), DAST (Qualys), vulnerability scanning (Nessus), and Terraform automation.
Translates FedRAMP/NIST 800-53 Rev 5 security controls into technical safeguards; remediates findings and supports continuous ATO (Authority to Operate).
Integrates SSO (Single Sign-On) and RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) using Okta and Entra across AWS, GitLab, Elastic Cloud, and related SaaS platforms.
Operate Elastic Cloud SIEM and AWS GuardDuty; respond to alerts, coordinate incident response, and lead postmortem analysis.
Mentors and supports the Junior AWS Engineer; conducts code reviews and champions DevSecOps culture.
Defines SLIs (Service Level Indicators)/SLOs (Service Level Objectives), implements disaster recovery and backup strategies, and leads service improvement initiatives.
Collaborates with stakeholders to convert regulatory and product needs into secure cloud capabilities; articulates security posture to leadership and clients.
Participates in a rotating 24x7 on-call support schedule.
Performs other related duties as assigned.