Cloud Administrator

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Security Operations Center (SOC) is a U.S. Government program responsible to prevent, identify, contain and eradicate cyber threats to CBP networks through monitoring, intrusion detection and protective security services to CBP information systems including local area networks/wide area networks (LAN/WAN), commercial Internet connection, public facing websites, wireless, mobile/cellular, various cloud environments, security devices, servers and workstations.  The CBP SOC is responsible for the overall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed security violations. We are seeking a skilled and motivated Cloud Administrator to join our growing team 

Primary Responsibilities: 

The Cloud Administrator will play a key role in managing, maintaining, optimizing and deploying the organization’s cloud infrastructure. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure the efficient and secure operation of our cloud-based services, with a focus on performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. You will also be responsible for managing cloud resources, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring best practices are followed to maintain a high level of availability and reliability. 

The Cloud Administrator will design, develop, deploy, and manage the organizations cloud infrastructure, services, and security applications to ensure that the environment is scalable, reliable, secure, and cost-effective. They will work with various cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and others, and will focus on day-to-day operations of the environment, handling tasks such as provisioning, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing cloud resources and systems.  

The Cloud Administrator must have a deep understanding and knowledge of various cloud technologies, systems, and platforms (e.g. AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, etc.). Additionally, the Cloud Engineer/Administrator should have understanding of cloud infrastructure management technologies (e.g. CloudFormation, Ansible, Puppet, Terraform, etc.).  

Candidates must have the ability to script in one more of the following computer languages Python, Bash, Visual Basic or PowerShell.  

Below are some tools/skills the candidate should have knowledge or experience on: 

• 5-7 years’ experience in a Cloud Engineering/Admin role or an equivalent of 3-5 years in Cybersecurity. 

• Hands on experience with AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP or other Cloud platforms.  These may include EC2, Storage, Lambda, S3, VPC, Storage Gateways  

• Experience with and knowledge of implementing Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Azure Resource Manager (ARM). 

• Ability to use scripting languages (e.g., PowerShell, Python) and cloud automation tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible) to streamline provisioning, scaling, and maintenance tasks. 

• Experience with and ability to implement cloud security best practices, including identity and access management, data encryption, firewalls, and network security. Ability to ensure compliance with industry standards and internal policies.  

• Hands on experience with and knowledge of networking concepts (DNS, VPNs, load balancers, etc.) and cloud-based networking configurations.  

• Experience with orchestration tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet for configuration management and ability to implement Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for cloud infrastructure provisioning and deployment automation. 

• Excellent troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex technical issues in a timely manner. 

• Understanding of SOPs, Playbooks, and experience in creating documentation.  

Basic Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Software Development, Information Technology, Cyber Security, or related field and 6 years of related experience.  Additional years of experience and cyber certifications may be considered in lieu of degree. 

• Familiar with the management, operational, and technical aspects of IT Security in a complex enterprise environment. Additional experience in cyber risk management and assessments will be considered. 

• Deep working knowledge of public cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) and services (compute, networking, storage, databases).  

• Strong written and oral communication with the ability to communicate with team members, management and customer. 

• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and container orchestration within a cloud environment. 

• Proficient in using Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates. 

• Solid understanding of cloud security practices, IAM, encryption, VPNs, firewalls, and security tools. 

• Proficiency in networking concepts and configurations, such as VPCs, subnets, VPNs, DNS, load balancers, and security groups. 

Clearance:  

• Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility  

Preferred Qualifications:  

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate/Professional, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Google Professional Cloud Architect, or equivalent certifications.  

• Ability to script in one more of the following computer languages Python, Bash, Visual Basic or PowerShell.  

• Experience with cloud monitoring tools (e.g., AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Datadog) and cost optimization strategies. 

• Expert experience and ability to immediately contribute to Automation Tasks and Infrastructure-as-Code tools and templates.