Cloud Engineer

Heidrick & Struggles; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Heidrick & Struggles in Chicago seeks a Cloud Engineer to design and manage enterprise cloud and on‑prem infrastructure across a global organization with ~2400 staff in 60+ offices. You will lead initiatives, implement standardized cloud services, and collaborate with security, operations, and engineering teams.

You will mentor junior engineers, maintain observability, and ensure compliance with GDPR/SOC 2/NIST style controls while delivering cost-effective, scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in CS/Engineering or related field.
• Attention to detail, analytical and problem solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Energetic team player who works well across boundaries and adapts to change.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience designing, implementing and managing complex cloud environments.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience of full-stack IT: Unix, Windows, GPO, hardware, network/firewall concepts, public and private cloud services, LDAP/Active Directory, automation tools, virtualization.
• Hands-on experience with AWS and Microsoft Azure components and tools.
• Experience with Network Security Hardware & Software Management; Patch Management and Vulnerability.
• Advanced TCP/IP networking knowledge; DNS, SMTP, DHCP, etc.
• Familiarity with regulatory/compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS).
• Knowledge of project management methodologies (Waterfall, Agile).

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional cloud and platform initiatives with clear communication to technical teams and stakeholders.
• Design, implement, and maintain standardized cloud platform services for secure, scalable infrastructure operations.
• Manage on-prem and cloud infrastructure and maintain documentation.
• Coordinate with Information Security to meet data protection standards.
• Collaborate across engineering, operations, security, and business teams to align platform solutions with objectives.
• Implement APIs to enhance cloud and on‑prem integrations.
• Define and implement platform engineering standards and disaster resilience practices.
• Design observability and telemetry solutions for platform health and reliability.
• Prioritize initiatives by risk, business impact and reliability.
• Develop automated cloud monitoring, alerting, and reporting to reduce manual effort.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices in design, operations, and documentation.
• Read and interpret technical journals; contribute to technology roadmaps.

Skills

Attention to detail

Analytical skills

Interpersonal skills

Team player

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

Microsoft Azure

Active Directory

Networking tools

Automation tools

Job description

Heidrick & Struggles is a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, serving the senior-level talent and consulting needs of the world's top organizations. In our role as trusted leadership advisors, we partner with our clients to develop future-ready leaders and organizations, bringing together our services and offerings in executive search, diversity and inclusion, leadership assessment and development, organization and team acceleration, culture shaping and on-demand, independent talent solutions. Heidrick & Struggles pioneered the profession of executive search more than 70 years ago. Today, the firm provides integrated talent and human capital solutions to help our clients change the world, one leadership team at a time.®

Additional information on the firm can be found at www.heidrick.com.

The Role

The Cloud Engineer will have practical, hands-on experience with all aspects of cloud infrastructure design and management in an enterprise environment. This role is expected to provide strong technical leadership and relevant recommendations regarding the design, implementation and support of the enterprise cloud environment including migration to the cloud suitable internal infrastructure and will be responsible for maintaining and expanding a secure, scalable, and efficient cloud infrastructure. This environment includes approximately 2400 staff members located in more than 60 offices across the globe.

Heidrick & Struggles currently utilizes several third-party organizations to provide Helpdesk and Level 1-3 support. The candidate will be expected to interact with these organizations on an on-going basis to ensure that as-implemented technology is aligned and does not negatively impact the business. The candidate will also be required to provide a high level of technical expertise and leadership on an as-needed basis for the rest of the team.

The Cloud Engineer will have primary responsibility for all cloud and on-prem infrastructure (including one colocation facility) management, process design, implementation, maintenance, and support throughout the Heidrick & Struggles environment. Additional responsibilities include overall project management, technical and architecture design, cost effectiveness, quality of solution, knowledge transfer, documentation, and mentoring of technical team members.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional cloud and platform initiatives while providing clear, timely communication to technical teams, business stakeholders, and leadership throughout the project lifecycle.
• Design, implement, and maintain standardized cloud platform services that enable secure, scalable, and highly automated infrastructure operations.
• Manage and maintain on-prem and cloud infrastructure along with currency of documentation.
• Coordinate closely with our global Information Security team to ensure infrastructure meets data protection standards (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, NIST)
• Collaborate across engineering, operations, security, and business teams to align platform solutions with organizational objectives and operational requirements.
• Implement APIs to enhance integration across cloud environments as well as on premise.
• Collaborate to define and implement platform engineering standards, cloud operational best practices, and service resilience strategies that improve reliability, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Design and implement observability and telemetry solutions that provide actionable insights into platform health, performance, and service reliability.
• Prioritize engineering and operational initiatives based on risk, business impact, service reliability, and platform sustainability.
• Develop and maintain automated cloud monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities to enhance operational visibility and reduce manual effort.
• Act as a mentor to junior engineers, promoting best practices in system design, operations, and documentation.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical journals.
• Ability to contribute to the development and refinement of Heidrick & Struggles technology roadmaps by proactively assessing current technology capabilities against current and emerging business needs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivellent required, preferably in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• Attention to detail, strong analitical and problem solving skills.
• Excellent Interpersonal skills.
• Energetic team player who works well across boundaries and readily adapts to change and enjoys rapid development.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience designing, implementing, and managing complex cloud environments.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience of full-stack IT: *nix, Windows, GPO, hardware, network/firewall concepts, public and private cloud services, LDAP/Active Directory, automation tools, virtualization.
• Hands on practical experience working with AWS and Microsoft Azure components and tools.
• Experience with Network Security Hardware & Software Management; Patch Management and Vulnerability.
• Advanced knowledge of TCP/IP networking and network services such as DNS, SMTP, DHCP, etc.
• Understanding links and impact between networks, applications, and systems
• Familiarity with regulatory and compliance requirements, such as SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, etc.
• Working knowledge of various project management methodologies (Waterfall, Agile)

Preferred Qualifications

Candidates with experience in one or more of the following areas will be strongly preferred:

• Securing Cloud-based servers & applications.
• Certification on AWS and/or Microsoft Azure.
• Experience creating documentation and diagrams
• Experience in designing, implementing, and securing cloud applications, environments, and servers.
• Experience with shell scripting and one or more programming languages is strongly preferred.
• Experience designing & implementing global cloud solutions with a focus on performance & accessibility