Senior Engineer, Cloud

National Student Clearinghouse•Herndon, VA

1d•$122,000 - $159,000•Remote

About The Position

By joining the National Student Clearinghouse, you can be sure that the work you do now will help shape the future of education and the workforce in the U.S. As the trusted source for higher education data since 1993, the Clearinghouse is the leading provider of transcript and data exchange services, automated enrollment and degree verifications, learner insights and research, and compliance solutions for schools, businesses, and learners nationwide. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Clearinghouse works with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions to meet their compliance needs and with thousands of high schools and districts to provide continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics about their alumni. In addition, the Research Center publications inform policymakers and business leaders about student educational pathways. Using our unique combination of data, analytics, and software to drive our mission, security and privacy is paramount. Join us as we continue to invest in our talent and new advanced technologies to unlock the power of data on behalf of all learners. About the Role: The Senior Engineer, Cloud is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining secure, reliable, and scalable cloud infrastructure. This role focuses on migrating on-premise applications to AWS and other cloud platforms, optimizing performance, and ensuring high availability across multiple regions and availability zones. The position requires strong expertise in Linux systems, automation, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to support enterprise modernization initiatives. Currently, this is a remote-first position, and this position may be required to periodically work on-site at our office and the frequency would depend on the department/division's requirements. Therefore, candidates must either reside within a reasonable distance to commute to our office or be willing to travel to our office in Herndon, when required. How You Contribute: Demonstrate the Clearinghouse's core competencies: Customer Focus, Optimizes Work Processes, Collaborates, Communicates Effectively, and Be Open and Authentic.

Requirements

Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science or other related technical field. A combination of education and experience including military service will also be considered.
10 years of overall IT experience.
5 years years of experience in roles supporting IT infrastructure.
3 years of related AWS cloud-based IT infrastructure experience.
Experience: Managing and monitoring systems using tools such as Cloud Watch, Cloud Trail, and X-Ray, etc.
Migrating traditional infrastructure to Linux-based cloud environments.
Working knowledge of SVN, GIT, Code Commit.
With Linux security hardening (SELinux, iptables, firewall, IAM policies).
working knowledge of Networking Elastic Load Balancers (ELB), VPN, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect and VPC Peering.
With Windows and/or Linux operating system experience in administration and troubleshooting.
With system installation of high availability/fault tolerance IT environments, including cloud, networking, and back- end data systems.
Collaborating with application support teams, architects, and others in support of IT projects.
With disaster Recovery planning and execution.
Familiarity with the ITIL service delivery, including system processes and documentation (architectural, logical, functional drawings and creation and maintenance of standard operating procedures).
Strong organizational skills (must be detail-oriented), and the ability to resolve problems quickly and successfully.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate technical and nontechnical messages to all levels of staff.
Demonstrates ability to work independently with little supervision and be a team player.
Demonstrates the Clearinghouses core competencies: customer focus, optimizes work processes, communicates effectively, collaborates, and is open and authentic.
Must live within a commutable distance to Herndon, VA or in one of the Clearinghouse's approved States for hiring purposes.
Refer to our HR Policies Page, located on our Careers site at https://www.studentclearinghouse.org/careers/human-resource-policies/ , for more details.
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
We do not intend to sponsor external applicants for work visas, and may consider sponsorship only if no qualified candidates can be found who are authorized to work without sponsorship.
Must be at least 18 years old.

Nice To Haves

Possession of an AWS SysOPS Administrator Associate certification or Linux Foundation certifications (LFCS, LFCE) is highly desirable.
Demonstrated ability to provide backup system operation.

Responsibilities

Actively participate in the reengineering and migration of on-premise applications to AWS and other cloud platforms, with a focus on Linux servers and open-source technologies.
Support applications in an AIX & Linux -based cloud environment comprised of custom-built applications, SaaS solutions, and open-source components.
Ensure all Linux application services are monitored, and performance meets or exceeds established SLAs.
Administer access, rights, and privileges to Clearinghouse staff on Linux systems in cloud environments.
Configure, monitor, and manage Linux servers and infrastructure and cloud management services.
Ensure continuous operation of servers and components through effective patch management, backup and archival of data, and ensuring that monitoring/alerting needs are met.
Create, maintain, and operate all servers and infrastructure devices including troubleshooting, patching, backups, monitoring and alerting, architectural and operational documentation, creating and managing AWS VPC, URL proxies, and Bastion Hosts.
Develop and deploy automation infrastructure as code using the AWS Cloud Formation templates as part of the CI/CD process.
Ensure that any infrastructure deployed is correctly sized based on the environmental needs and projected volume of data/transactions tools.
Ensure all application components are monitored, performance is baselined, and actual performance meets or exceeds established SLAs.
Collaborating with application support teams, architects, and others in support of IT projects.
Actively participate with scrum teams in the development of new functions and features by provisioning needed services, assigning access levels, and developing cloud formation templates to deploy infrastructure as software in all environments.
Effectively monitor cloud optimization strategies, budget planning, governance, and reporting within AWS and Azure.
Create and maintain system documentation (e.g., network/system architecture, daily operational procedures, disaster recovery procedures, and checklists) for all environments.
Monitor system components and application processing to proactively identify incidents, resolve issues, and participate in root cause analysis.
Collaborate and share knowledge with team members.
Establish and maintain a strong working relationship with all team members.
Demonstrate openness with positive intent for entertaining new perspectives and ideas.
Position may be required to perform other duties as required.

Benefits

The National Student Clearinghouse provides a robust benefit program designed to help meet the needs of each employee and their family, both now and in the future.
We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as life and disability insurance benefits, for employees and their qualified dependents.
Health care, dependent care, and limited purpose flexible spending accounts, as well as a health savings account with annual employer contributions of $300 for employees and $600 for employees who are enrolled with their spouse and/or dependents, voluntary supplemental health plans for Accident and Hospital Indemnity coverage, and infertility coverage are options available for employees to set aside pre-taxed dollars for certain qualifying expenses.
We offer a very generous 401k matching contribution program with the opportunity to defer pre-tax and Roth contributions, as well as catch-up contributions for those who are eligible!
We are proud to offer a competitive paid leave program consisting of vacation, sick, and personal time, as well as paid holidays, up to 3 weeks of paid parental leave during a 12-month period , and up to 5 days of paid military leave per calendar year .
Vacation time will accrue based on length of service, and new full-time hires can accrue up to 13 days of vacation and up to 10 days of sick time per year.
On an annual basis, new employees may use up to 32 hours of accrued sick time as personal time.
Additionally, the Clearinghouse observes at least 15 paid holidays per year, including company year-end close between Christmas and New Years Holidays.
Another perk is that employees have the option to get reimbursed for basic wholesale company and roadside assistance memberships (e.g., Costco and AAA) and to request a buy back on portions of unused accrued vacation based on tenure and certain other qualifications.
Employees can further their education and professional development by using our Employee Education Assistance Program, which establishes reimbursement for qualified education expenses upon successful completion of the program, and leveraging the enterprise-wide LinkedIn Learning subscription.
There are additional employee benefits too, including but not limited to, mental health with up to eight free therapy sessions for employees and their family members and well-being reward benefits.
With the Clearinghouse being an eligible 501(3)(c) nonprofit organization, employees are eligible for service credit towards the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF).