Cloud Engineer IV

AIS (Applied Information Sciences); College Park (MD); On-site; USD 102,000 - 154,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Ownership

Continuous Learning

Inclusive Culture

Mission-Driven Work

Job summary

Applied Information Sciences is seeking a Senior Infrastructure Engineer to design and migrate secure, scalable cloud solutions for government workloads. You will lead IaC efforts with Terraform and ARM templates, oversee migrations, and advise on security best practices across Azure Government and related platforms.

The role emphasizes mentorship, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering high-availability systems with strong emphasis on compliance and performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT/CS or related field and 12+ years of experience, or 10+ with Master’s, or 7+ with PhD.
• Strong track record designing scalable cloud architectures and secure environments.
• Experience with Azure Government, AWS, and multi-cloud deployments is preferred.
• Certification in cloud security or architecture is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design secure, scalable, highly available cloud solutions on Azure Government and other clouds.
• Create and execute detailed cloud migration plans with security/compliance emphasis.
• Graduate to leading cloud management platform improvements and tuning.
• Develop infrastructure as code using Terraform and ARM templates.
• Lead cloud consulting engagements and mentor engineering teams.
• Educate stakeholders on cloud security, cost optimization, and best practices.
• Participate in technical reviews ensuring operations meet security requirements.
• Maintain documentation and stay updated on emerging cloud tools.

Skills

Hybrid-cloud design

Security controls

IaC automation

Performance tuning

Cloud migration

Cloud consulting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT/CS

Master’s degree in IT/CS

PhD (advanced degree)

Tools

Terraform

ARM templates

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Why AIS?

When you join AIS, you’re joining a mission-driven team that’s passionate about making a difference. You’ll work on projects that matter, alongside industry-leading experts, in an environment that fosters innovation, driving client success, and empowering our team to make a lasting impact. As an employee-owned company, we value collaboration, inclusivity, continuous growth, and shared success.

• Employee Ownership: Your contributions directly impact the company’s success, and you share in its achievements.
• Continuous Learning: Access to resources, training, and mentorship to support your professional growth.
• Inclusive Culture: A workplace where diversity is celebrated, and everyone’s voice is valued.
• Mission-Driven Work: Engage in projects that make a meaningful difference for our clients and communities.

What are we looking for?

At AIS, we're looking for more than just skills - we're looking for driven individuals who are passionate about making a difference, eager to grow, and aligned with our core principles.

What you will be doing?

At AIS, we are dedicated to providing our employees with diverse opportunities to grow their careers while supporting a variety of impactful projects. For this position, we are seeking a talented individual to join AIS as a Senior Infrastructure Engineer.

• Core Knowledge & Skills: Designs complex network and hybrid‑cloud solutions; implements security controls, DR/BCP, and automated IaC with deployment pipelines; performs advanced performance tuning.
• Work & Complexity: Solves complex issues, designs and delivers new infrastructure solutions, performs capacity planning, and leads advanced automation initiatives.
• Quality & Independence: Drives root‑cause analysis, enforces best practices and QA on changes, optimizes for reliability and user experience; operates with high autonomy.
• Teamwork & Communication: Leads cross‑functional efforts, mentors juniors, facilitates knowledge transfer, and aligns stakeholders with technical plans.
• Consulting & Engagement: Provides strategic input on infrastructure initiatives, recommends advanced technologies, and manages vendor relationships.

As your initial career assignment, you will support the priorities and vital functions of our shared services teams as a(n) Cloud Engineer IV.

Project Summary

The Cloud Engineer plays a critical role in supporting the federal government by focusing primarily on migrating sensitive workloads to the cloud. This hands‑on position requires expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining cloud architectures, with an emphasis on security, scalability, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement secure, scalable, and highly available cloud solutions on Azure Government, utilizing PaaS/IaaS services and containerization (Kubernetes, Docker, AKS).
• Create and execute detailed cloud migration plans while ensuring security and compliance throughout the process.
• Drive enhancements for cloud management platforms, evaluating their performance and making necessary improvements.
• Develop infrastructure as code (IAC) using CI/CD pipelines with tools such as Terraform and ARM templates.
• Lead cloud consulting engagements, providing strategic insights on cloud architecture, technology deployments, and portfolio management.
• Educate and guide stakeholders and engineering teams on effective cloud solutions, security best practices, and cost optimization strategies.
• Participate in technical project reviews to ensure designs meet operational and security requirements.
• Maintain technical documentation and stay updated on emerging tools and best practices.

Required For This Opportunity

Education/Experience: Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of experience, or Master’s Degree and 10+ years of experience, or 7 years with PhD. A degree in one of the following fields is highly desired: Information Technology, Data Science, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or Software Engineering.

However, 4 years of additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree.

Clearance Requirement

• Active Certification Requirement (must submit a copy of the certification): AWS Solutions Architect Professional or Azure Solutions Architect Expert or CASP+ or CISSP-ISSAP or TOGAF or SABSA
• Knowledge of computer networking concepts and protocols, and network security methodologies.
• Knowledge of risk management processes.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity principles, cyber threats, and vulnerabilities.
• Knowledge of cloud computing service models Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS).
• Knowledge of cloud computing deployment models in private, public, and hybrid environments.
• A minimum of 3 years of experience specifically within Microsoft Azure Government.
• Proven experience in designing flexible, scalable, and highly-available cloud architectures and systems.

Nice To Have Skills

• Expertise in containerization technologies (Kubernetes, Docker) and IAC tools (Terraform, ARM templates). Familiarity with DevOps concepts and tools (GitLab, JIRA, Jenkins).
• Familiarity with NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, security tools, and principles.
• In-depth expertise with DAF CLOUDWorks (multi-cloud environments)
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI) and cyber threat intelligence platforms.
• Knowledge of AI/ML concepts and tools

Highly Desired Certifications

• Cloud: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Administrator Associate, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Professional/Associate)
• Cloud Security: CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional), Cloud+ (CompTIA Cloud Plus), GCLD (GIAC Cloud Security Essentials), GCSA (GIAC Cloud Security Automation)
• Project Management: Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

At AIS, we are committed to offering competitive and fair compensation that reflects the skills, experience, and contributions of each team member. The targeted base salary range for this role is $102,000-$154,000 per year. Please note that this range is provided as a guideline and the final offer will be based on several factors, including but not limited to, skillset and competencies, level of experience, education, certifications, and location. We value transparency in our hiring process and are happy to discuss how your unique qualifications align with our compensation structure during the interview process.

Applied Information Sciences does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis. Employment decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs.