Azure Specialist

Alberta Securities Commission; Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Employer-paid benefits

Health and dental

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Retirement benefits

Travel insurance

Paid vacation

Flexible/ sick days

Employee assistance program

Transportation allowance

Flexible spending account

Professional development

ASC Social Club initiatives

Job summary

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) seeks an experienced Azure Specialist to design, implement and support Azure cloud resources in line with its cloud-first strategy. The role may extend to M365 and Teams administration, with a focus on secure, cost-conscious cloud operations.

Ideal candidates will have 10+ years in IT services, with 3+ years in Azure-centric operations, and relevant Azure certifications.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive IT services experience including infrastructure and systems administration with a strong recent focus on Azure.
• Experience in operations-focused Azure roles (Azure Cloud Engineer or similar) for at least 3 years.
• Experience with cloud deployment automation and IaC tooling.
• Certifications such as Azure Administrator Associate or related are preferred.

Responsibilities

• Designing and implementing Azure cloud resources aligned with ASC cloud-first strategy.
• Support M365, Teams administration and other cloud/infrastructure services.
• Deploying resources, configuring security (IAM, encryption, network), and cost optimization.
• Plan migrations from on-premises to Azure and validate post-migration.
• Provide level 2/3 support and incident resolution for Azure services.
• Maintain cloud environments and participate in security and compliance activities.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication

Problem-solving

Adaptability

Education

CS/IT related degree

Tools

Terraform

Bicep

Azure Resource Manager

PowerShell

Azure Monitor

Job description

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) is the industry-funded regulator responsible for administering the province's securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada's capital markets.

The opportunity

Reporting to the Manager, IT Infrastructure and Operations, the Azure Specialist is a newly created position responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting Azure cloud resources in alignment with ASC’s cloud-first strategic direction. Responsibilities may also extend to support M365, Teams administration, and other cloud and infrastructure system administration services.

Key Responsibilities Include

Cloud Design and Resource Deployment

• Evaluating Azure services, patterns, and operating practices against industry and Microsoft best practices.
• Providing hands‑on technical expertise to the infrastructure and cloud roadmap, as workloads migrate from on‑premises platforms to Azure.
• Deploying cloud resources based on the target state architecture and design specifications, standards, requirements and best practices including network, VMs, storage, databases, and other services.
• Integrating security throughout cloud design, including identity and access management (IAM), encryption, network security, and compliance controls.
• Creating deployment plans, impact analyses, and change requests to support cloud resources.
• Configuring enterprise‑level cloud environments (landing zones) for workloads using Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools.
• Analyzing costs and trade‑offs to right‑size cloud resources based on non‑functional requirements.
• Planning and executing cloud migrations of on‑premises workloads, including cutovers and post‑migration validation, testing, and infrastructure hardening.
• Working closely with the Cloud and Infrastructure Architect to apply approved architectures, patterns, standards, and naming conventions.

Cloud Operations, Support and Maintenance

• Providing level 2/3 support for Azure-based services including incidents, service requests, and contribute to incident resolution, service recovery and root‑cause analysis.
• Sharing operational metrics to identify improvement opportunities, recommend ongoing cloud cost and performance optimization and ensure compliance with the standards and policies.
• Participating in the execution of test plans (backup and recovery, DR testing, security testing).
• Utilizing monitoring tools (e.g. Azure Monitor) to configure alerts, analyze logs to proactively detect and resolve issues.
• Contributing to service recovery by participating in incident resolutions, diagnosing and resolving issues, and providing root cause analysis.

The ideal candidate will possess

• A diploma or university degree in computer science, software engineering, management information systems or a related field.
• A minimum of 10 years of progressive experience delivering IT services including infrastructure and systems administration with a strong recent focus on Azure cloud services.
• At least three years of this experience in an operations focused, IT Azure Specialist or Azure Cloud Engineer role, which may include cloud, infrastructure, security and/or networking.
• Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions and/or Teams Administration are preferred.
• Strong expertise in Microsoft Azure cloud platform, including service management and administration across computer, storage, and networking.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating scalable, resilient, and secure cloud environments, supporting cloud migrations and ongoing cost optimization.
• Knowledge of cloud deployment automation tools (Terraform or Bicep IaaC), Azure Resource Manager and PowerShell scripting and cloud monitoring.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with both technical and business stakeholders.
• The ability to adapt to changing project requirements and quickly learn new cloud tools, services, and technologies.

This position will work out of the ASC office located in Calgary, Alberta.

• hybrid work environment and flexibility
• a competitive total rewards package consisting of 100 per cent employer-paid benefits
• comprehensive health and dental
• employee life insurance
• short-term and long-term disability
• retirement benefits
• travel insurance
• paid vacation time
• flex and sick days
• an employee family assistance program
• transportation allowance
• generous flexible spending account
• professional development through subsidized courses, conference, workshops, seminars and in-house training
• We also encourage fun and giving back to the community with initiatives offered through our ASC Social Club and annual United Way Campaign.

The ASC is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified individuals. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing an inclusive work environment where every employee feels valued and respected.