Cloud Operations Engineer

Empower AI; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 96,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Empower AI in Washington, DC seeks a Cloud Engineer to support the Department of State cloud infrastructure, including the hybrid VPC and global IT services for the customer.

You will design, deploy, and manage core hosting environments (IaaS/PaaS, cloud) across on‑prem and cloud, ensuring FedRAMP compliance and data sovereignty. Strong Docker/IaC usage is required, with collaboration across vendors and internal teams.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in cloud engineering or DoS IT environments.
• Bachelor’s in IT or related field.
• AWS SysOps or Azure Administrator Certification.
• Secret Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Provide engineering, design, and deployment services for core hosting environments (including cloud) supporting all customer systems, domestically and internationally, in DoS security standards.
• Design and implement IaaS/PaaS and cloud hosting that meet DoS data sovereignty and security requirements.
• Plan infrastructure modernization and migrate to centralized or cloud-oriented environments.
• Utilize Docker and Infrastructure as Code to improve scalability and automation.
• Ensure FedRAMP compliance across hosting environments and safety requirements.
• Coordinate with SaaS vendors and internal stakeholders for data integration and lifecycle management.

Skills

Docker

Education

Bachelor's in IT or related field

AWS SysOps or Azure Administrator Associate Certification

Secret Security Clearance

CompTIA Sec+; ITIL4 Foundation Certification(s)

Job description

Empower AI is AI for government. Empower AI gives federal agency leaders the tools to elevate the potential of their workforce with a direct path for meaningful transformation. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Empower AI leverages three decades of experience solving complex challenges in Health, Defense, and Civilian missions. Our proven Empower AI Platform® provides a practical, sustainable path for clients to achieve transformation that is true to who they are, what they do, how they work, with the resources they have. The result is a government workforce that is exponentially more creative and productive. For more information, visit www.Empower.ai.

Empower AI is AI for government. Empower AI gives federal agency leaders the tools to elevate the potential of their workforce with a direct path for meaningful transformation. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Empower AI leverages three decades of experience solving complex challenges in Health, Defense, and Civilian missions. Our proven Empower AI Platform® provides a practical, sustainable path for clients to achieve transformation that is true to who they are, what they do, how they work, with the resources they have. The result is a government workforce that is exponentially more creative and productive. For more information, visit www.Empower.ai. Empower AI is proud to be recognized as a 2024 Military Friendly Employer by Viqtory, the publisher of G.I. Jobs. This designation reflects the company’s commitment to hiring and supporting active-duty and veteran employees.

Responsibilities

We have an exciting opportunity at the Department of State! The Cloud Engineer is responsible for the development and maintenance of the cloud engineering services supporting the hybrid VPC and global IT infrastructure for the customer.

Responsibilities

• You will provide comprehensive engineering, design, and implementation services for core physical and virtual hosting environments (including cloud) supporting all customer systems, both domestically and internationally, in compliance with DoS data sovereignty and security requirements.
• These services cover the full life cycle of infrastructure design, deployment, management, and modernization, ensuring alignment with DoS security, operational, and performance requirements.
• You will design and implement physical and virtual hosting environments (including Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)/Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and cloud) that support all customer systems, ensuring full compliance with DoS data sovereignty, security requirements, and physical/information security standards.
• You will plan and execute infrastructure modernization by transitioning decentralized resources to centralized or cloud-oriented environments.
• Utilize containerization (e.g., Docker) and automated deployment strategies to improve scalability, system portability, and operational efficiency.
• You will implement automated, rapid provisioning (Infrastructure as Code (IaC)) to minimize manual intervention and capacity-related downtime.
• Audit managed assets to detect and remediate configuration drift, ensuring strict adherence to baseline integrity and DoS security templates.
• The position requires that you also provide end-to-end engineering support for Windows, UNIX/Linux, and virtual platforms, ensuring ongoing availability, performance, and capacity.
• The role continuously reviews and recommends new equipment, hardware/software, and cloud services for Government approval.
• You will also ensure all hosting environments (on-premises and cloud) strictly conform to Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) standards and customer security requirements.
• You will maintain system integrity through rigorous lockdown protocols, regular security audits, and compliance validation.
• You are also expected to coordinate with SaaS vendors and internal stakeholders to ensure seamless user experience, data integration, and life cycle management of cloud-agnostic solutions.
• Support the adoption of converged/hyperconverged hardware deployments where feasible to optimize performance and reduce footprint.

Qualifications

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

The following are the education and experience required for this position:

• 6+ years
• Bachelor's in IT or related field
• AWS SysOps or Azure Administrator Associate Certification
• Secret Security Clearance

PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS

• COMP TIA Sec +; ITIL4 Foundation Certification(s)

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

This position requires the ability to perform the below essential functions:

• Sitting for long periods
• Standing for long periods
• Ambulate throughout an office
• Ambulate between several buildings
• Stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl as required
• Repeatedly lift and carry weight up to 40 pounds
• Travel by land or air transportation 25 % .

About Empower AI

All hiring and promotion decisions at Empower AI are based on merit to bring the best talent available to contribute to our firm’s overall success. It is the policy of Empower AI not to discriminate against any applicant for employment, or employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, or veteran status. Empower AI is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

If hired for this position, the base salary range would be within the range provided. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salaries may vary based on various factors including but not limited to work location, skills, experience, gov con contractual requirements, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Empower AI's total compensation package for employees.

Pay Band Min

USD $96,050.00/Yr.

Pay Band Max

USD $148,670.00/Yr.