Cloud Engineer

Position Summary 

Effectual Cloud Engineers (CEs) are members of the Public Sector Program Management team responsible for ensuring that customer-facing projects are delivered with exceptional customer satisfaction and technical excellence. Effectual CEs are “Brand Ambassadors” and are expected to stay current on leading practices to deliver high-quality, well-conceived solutions to customers.  

A Glimpse into the Daily Routine of a Cloud Engineer 

Lead engineering of state of the art, automated, fault-tolerant, and scalable AWS environments adhering to AWS best practices in standard and GovCloud regions. Engage in cross-functional collaboration to modernize and maintain a cloud platform. Migrate infrastructure and system/application workloads to AWS Cloud including - Rehosting (Lift and Shift), Replatforming, Repurchasing, Refactoring/Re-architecting, Retiring, and Retaining. Deploy and manage data platforms and databases, ensuring scalability and high performance. Support data teams in implementing pipelines and optimizing data storage. Manage cloud infrastructure with supporting data-related tasks for efficient and reliable solutions. Stay updated on cloud technologies and industry best practices. Advise on the adoption of a cloud environment and support its institutionalization across the organization. Experienced with cloud and data security, compliance, and accreditation. Experienced with cloud cost estimation, management, and optimization.  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities 

• Design, deploy, and maintain scalable and highly available cloud infrastructure solutions 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and design cloud-based architectures that meet business needs 

• Implement and manage cloud services and resources, such as virtual machines, containers, storage, networking, and serverless computing 

• Develop and maintain automation scripts and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) templates to streamline the provisioning and configuration of cloud resources 

• Monitor and optimize cloud infrastructure performance, ensuring efficient resource utilization and cost optimization 

• Provide technical guidance and expertise to junior cloud engineers and support teams 

• Collaborate with security teams to implement and enforce cloud security measures, including access controls, encryption, and threat detection. 

• Assist in incident response and troubleshooting of cloud infrastructure-related issues, ensuring minimal service disruptions 

• Possess skills in data and database management, including data integration, ETL processes, SQL query optimization, and database administration 

• Collaborate with data teams to implement data pipelines, optimize data storage and retrieval, and support data analytics and reporting requirements 

• Assist in designing and implementing data storage solutions, including relational databases, NoSQL databases, data warehouses, and data lakes 

• Stay updated with emerging cloud technologies, industry trends, and best practices in cloud computing and data management 

• Continuously evaluate and recommend improvements to cloud infrastructure, processes, and tools to enhance efficiency, performance, and scalability 

Qualifications 

• Minimum Education: Bachelor’s degree in related field AND 

• Minimum Experience: 10 years of experience, including cloud professional and/or project management certification OR 

• Substitution/Alternative to Minimum Education and Experience: Must have at least 10 years of on-the-job experience 

• Available during customer working hours, as needed—both for scheduled and impromptu support 

• Be able to work remotely but, be able to go on-site as requested and/or occasionally on-site in Washington DC  

• AWS Professional Certifications – Solutions Architect and/or DevOps and/or Specialty Certifications 

• Must be a US Citizen 

• 10+ years of proven experience as a cloud engineer, with a focus on designing and managing cloud infrastructure 

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, including core services and infrastructure components 

• Proficiency in scripting and automation using languages like Python, PowerShell, or Bash 

• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation, or Ansible 

• Experience with Splunk for log management, monitoring, and data analysis 

• Familiarity with virtualization, containerization, and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) 

• Knowledge of networking concepts and protocols, including virtual private clouds (VPCs), subnets, load balancers, and DNS 

• Understanding of cloud security principles and best practices, including access controls, encryption, and security groups 

• Experience in data and database management, including data integration, ETL processes, SQL query optimization, and database administration 

• Familiarity with relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra) 

• Knowledge of data warehousing concepts, data lakes, and data analytics platforms 

• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to diagnose and resolve cloud infrastructure and data-related issues 

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders 

• Continuous learning mindset to stay updated with emerging cloud technologies and industry trends 

• Demonstrable knowledge of Agile / Scrum SDLC methodologies 

• Ability to work with multiple clients, in parallel 

• Ability to work Eastern Standard Time Zone schedule 

Nice-to-Have Skills and Experience 

• Active Clearance or Public Trust (DOJ Preferred) 

• Experience in 3rd Party Tool Integration 

• Data Warehousing (Redshift, Synapse Analytics, BigQuery) 

• Data Streaming and Processing (Kafka, Kinesis, Event Hubs) 

• Data Governance (Frameworks, Lineage, Cataloging) 

• Machine Learning Deployment (SageMaker, Azure ML, Cloud AI Platform) 

• Data Visualization (Tableau, Power BI, Superset) 

• Data Security (Encryption, Access Controls, Privacy Regulations) 

• Data Analytics (Big Data) Technologies (Hadoop, Spark, Hive) 

• DevOps Practices (CI/CD, Jenkins, GitLab, Azure DevOps) 

• Scripting and Automation (Python, PowerShell, Ansible) 

• Cloud Cost Optimization (Right-Sizing, Cost Management Tools) 
• Database Administration (Performance Tuning, Backup/Recovery, Upgrades) 

Physical Demands and Work Environment  

The work is generally performed in an office environment.  Physical demands include sitting, keyboarding, verbal communication, written communication.  Employees are occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. 

This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described, and may be amended anytime at the sole discretion of the Employer. Duties and responsibilities are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship. Effectual Inc. is an EEO employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected classification in its hiring, promoting, or any other job-related opportunity.