Cloud Engineer

Groundswell; Washington; On-site; USD 88,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

4% 401K Match (immediate vesting)

Paid Time Off

Tuition reimbursement & certification

Flexible work schedule

On-site gym & childcare option

Job summary

Groundswell is seeking a skilled Cloud Engineer to design and operate secure, scalable AWS-based platforms for federal mission-critical workloads. You will implement containerized services with Kubernetes, automate CI/CD pipelines, and apply IaC principles to deliver repeatable, auditable deployments.

You'll collaborate with architects, security teams, and customer stakeholders to translate needs into robust cloud solutions, while maintaining strong operational discipline and documentation to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field with 4+ years of relevant experience.
• Experience deploying scalable, highly available systems in AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, IAM, CloudFormation, CloudWatch).
• Hands-on Kubernetes and container experience; Docker or OCI images; troubleshooting.
• Proven CI/CD experience with Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GithubActions, or AWS CodePipeline.
• Terraform or CloudFormation IaC with repeatable change control.
• Knowledge of AWS networking (VPCs, subnets, routing, security groups).
• Ability to diagnose distributed-system failures and communicate findings clearly.
• U.S. Citizen and capable of obtaining Public Trust clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, test, and deploy AWS cloud infrastructure and services for mission platforms.
• Build and operate containerized services using Kubernetes and cloud-native tech.
• Develop Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD workflows for repeatable deployments.
• Integrate data and application services across APIs, messaging, and data sources with data integrity.
• Apply cloud security controls across identity, encryption, logging, and access controls.
• Instrument systems for health and performance, troubleshoot distributed issues, drive root-cause resolution.
• Collaborate with architects, engineers, security teams, and customers to evolve solutions.
• Produce architecture notes, runbooks, and deployment guidance for maintainability.

Skills

Cloud engineering

Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure as Code

AWS security practices

Problem diagnosis

Self-starter

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Docker

Terraform

CloudFormation

GitLab CI/CD

Jenkins

AWS CLI

Job description

Who Are We?

Groundswell is a premier technology integrator and solution provider, resolutely committed to solving the most complex challenges facing federal agencies today. Our name, Groundswell, represents our commitment to be an unstoppable, seismic change in government. Ours is a small company culture with big company reach and results. Are you ready to be audacious, be bold and drive change at a rapid pace? Join us, where we'll make a greater impact together.

What You'll do:

Groundswell is seeking an experienced Cloud Engineer to build and operate secure, resilient cloud capabilities for a mission-focused platform that brings together authoritative data, services, and users in a controlled environment. This role combines hands-on cloud engineering with platform integration, automation, and operational discipline. You will help turn complex mission needs into dependable cloud services that are secure by design, observable in production, and maintainable over time.

What You Will Do

• Design, implement, test, and deploy AWS cloud infrastructure and application services that support secure, scalable, and highly available mission platforms.

• Build and operate containerized services using Kubernetes and related cloud-native technologies, including deployment patterns, configuration management, service discovery, and controlled upgrades.

• Develop repeatable Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD workflows that promote consistent environments, auditable changes, automated testing, and reliable releases.

• Integrate data and application services across APIs, message or event flows, and structured data sources while preserving data integrity, provenance, access controls, and appropriate handling metadata.

• Apply cloud security practices across identity, networking, secrets, encryption, logging, vulnerability management, and least-privilege access in accordance with customer and program requirements.

• Instrument services and infrastructure for health, performance, and mission-relevant operational insight; troubleshoot issues across distributed systems and drive root-cause resolution.

• Partner with architects, software engineers, data specialists, security teams, and customer stakeholders to clarify needs, identify technical gaps, and deliver solutions that can evolve with the mission.

• Produce clear architecture notes, runbooks, deployment guidance, and other maintainable documentation so the platform can be operated and extended by the broader team.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cloud Engineering, or a related technical discipline with a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience.

• Demonstrated experience designing, deploying, and operating scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant systems in AWS using services such as EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, IAM, CloudFormation, and CloudWatch.

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and container ecosystems, including Docker or OCI images, deployments, services, ingress, configuration, and troubleshooting.

• Experience building CI/CD pipelines with tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GithubActions, or AWSCodePipeline, including automated validation and promotion across environments.

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or comparable tooling, with an emphasis on repeatability and controlled change.

• Working knowledge of AWS networking, including VPCs, subnets, routing, security groups, network access controls, load balancing, and private connectivity patterns.

• Experience implementing cloud security controls for identity and access management, encryption, secrets, logging, monitoring, and auditability in a restricted or compliance-oriented environment.

• Ability to diagnose distributed-system failures using logs, metrics, traces, and other operational signals, and to communicate findings clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Self-starter who can work independently while collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary teams and customer organizations.

• Must be a U.S. Citizen per contract requirements.

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Clearance in accordance with contract requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing or supporting data integration workflows and services that exchange JSON, XML, or other structured formats.

• Experience with AWS services such as EKS, ECR, API Gateway, Step Functions, EventBridge, SQS, SNS, Secrets Manager, KMS, Kafka or MSK, and Systems Manager.

• Familiarity with GitOps, policy as code, automated security scanning, software supply-chain controls, and immutable or repeatable deployment practices.

• Experience supporting platform operations in environments with segmented networks, strict access controls, limited connectivity, or formal change-management processes.

• Ability to translate mission or operational needs into technical designs, implementation plans, and measurable acceptance criteria.

• Extra consideration given to those with C3.ai experience.

• Active Public Trust Clearance.

• Preference given to candidates local to the Washington, DC metro area.

Certifications

• AWS certification, such as Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, or Security Specialty, is preferred.

Why You'll Never Want to Leave:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
• Flexible Spending Account
• 4% 401K Match (immediate vesting)
• Paid Time Off
• Tuition reimbursement, certification programs, and professional development
• Flexible work schedule
• On-site gym and childcare option

The salary range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for any applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. At Groundswell, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

$88,177.00 - $171,637.00

Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Read a copy of the Company's Non-Discrimination Policy Statement.

Additional Resources:

• EO 13496 Notification of Employee Rights under NLRA
• Know your rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal

Disability Accessibility Accommodation: If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation as part of the employment selection process, please contact us at [e-mail] or 703-639-1777.