Cloud Security Engineer - Infrastructure Risk Reduction

The Elite Job; Sedona (AZ); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Elite Job is seeking a skilled Cloud Security Engineer focused on Infrastructure Risk Reduction to strengthen cloud security, reduce vulnerabilities, and protect critical systems across AWS, Azure, and GCP. You will assess configurations, manage access, and automate security processes while collaborating with cloud architects, DevOps, and cybersecurity teams.

The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with IAM, encryption, CSPM, and infrastructure-as-code, and a proactive mindset to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Familiarity with IAM and network security concepts.
• Experience with IaC tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or Bicep.
• Security monitoring, logging, and incident response familiarity.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Cloud Infrastructure Security: Design, implement, and maintain security controls across cloud environments to protect computing resources, storage systems, databases, networks, and applications.
• Risk Assessment and Reduction: Conduct regular cloud infrastructure risk assessments to identify misconfigurations, excessive permissions, exposed services, insecure protocols, and other security weaknesses.
• Vulnerability Management: Identify, prioritize, track, and remediate vulnerabilities across cloud workloads, operating systems, containers, virtual machines, and infrastructure components.
• Security Configuration Management: Establish secure configuration baselines for cloud services, network components, storage resources, and compute environments.
• Identity and Access Management: Implement least-privilege access policies, role-based access controls, multifactor authentication, and secure identity lifecycle management.
• Cloud Network Protection: Configure and review virtual networks, firewalls, security groups, network access controls, private endpoints, and segmentation policies to reduce unauthorized access.
• Infrastructure as Code Security: Review Terraform, CloudFormation, and other infrastructure-as-code templates to identify security weaknesses before infrastructure is deployed.
• Security Automation: Develop scripts and automated workflows to detect configuration drift, enforce security policies, assess compliance, and accelerate remediation activities.
• Monitoring and Threat Detection: Configure cloud-native security monitoring and logging solutions to detect suspicious activities, unauthorized changes, and potential security incidents.
• Incident Response: Support the investigation, containment, and resolution of cloud security incidents, including compromised credentials, exposed resources, and unauthorized access.
• Data Protection: Implement encryption at rest and in transit, secure key management, secrets management, backup protection, and appropriate data access restrictions.
• Compliance and Governance: Help maintain alignment with applicable security standards, regulatory requirements, and internal policies, such as ISO 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Benchmarks, and relevant cloud security benchmarks.
• DevSecOps Collaboration: Integrate security checks into CI/CD pipelines and development workflows to identify infrastructure risks early in the deployment lifecycle.
• Documentation and Reporting: Maintain accurate security documentation, risk registers, remediation plans, configuration standards, and technical assessment reports.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineering, IT operations, compliance, and development teams to implement practical security improvements without unnecessarily disrupting business operations.
• Continuous Improvement: Monitor emerging cloud security threats, evaluate new security technologies, and recommend improvements to infrastructure resilience and risk management practices.

Skills

Cloud security concepts

IAM & access management

Network security

Scripting for security automation

Problem solving

Communication skills

Documentation skills

Proactive mindset

Confidentiality mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or related field

Tools

Terraform

AWS CloudFormation

Azure Bicep

Python

Bash

PowerShell

Cloud security tools

Job description

Job Summary

The Elite Job is seeking a skilled and security-focused Cloud Security Engineer - Infrastructure Risk Reduction to strengthen cloud infrastructure security, minimize potential vulnerabilities, and protect critical business systems, applications, and data across cloud environments.

The successful candidate will play an essential role in identifying infrastructure risks, implementing security controls, monitoring cloud environments, and ensuring that cloud platforms remain resilient against evolving cyber threats.

In this role, the Cloud Security Engineer will collaborate with cloud architects, DevOps engineers, infrastructure administrators, software developers, and cybersecurity teams to establish and maintain secure cloud environments.

The position involves assessing cloud configurations, reviewing access permissions, managing security vulnerabilities, automating security processes, and implementing best practices across infrastructure hosted on platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of cloud security architecture, identity and access management, network protection, encryption, infrastructure as code, and security monitoring.

The candidate should be comfortable working in dynamic technical environments, investigating security risks, recommending practical remediation strategies, and helping teams adopt a proactive approach to infrastructure risk reduction.

This position is suitable for professionals who are passionate about cloud security, continuous improvement, and building reliable, scalable, and secure digital infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Cloud Infrastructure Security: Design, implement, and maintain security controls across cloud environments to protect computing resources, storage systems, databases, networks, and applications.
• Risk Assessment and Reduction: Conduct regular cloud infrastructure risk assessments to identify misconfigurations, excessive permissions, exposed services, insecure protocols, and other security weaknesses.
• Vulnerability Management: Identify, prioritize, track, and remediate vulnerabilities across cloud workloads, operating systems, containers, virtual machines, and infrastructure components.
• Security Configuration Management: Establish secure configuration baselines for cloud services, network components, storage resources, and compute environments.
• Identity and Access Management: Implement least-privilege access policies, role-based access controls, multifactor authentication, and secure identity lifecycle management.
• Cloud Network Protection: Configure and review virtual networks, firewalls, security groups, network access controls, private endpoints, and segmentation policies to reduce unauthorized access.
• Infrastructure as Code Security: Review Terraform, CloudFormation, and other infrastructure-as-code templates to identify security weaknesses before infrastructure is deployed.
• Security Automation: Develop scripts and automated workflows to detect configuration drift, enforce security policies, assess compliance, and accelerate remediation activities.
• Monitoring and Threat Detection: Configure cloud-native security monitoring and logging solutions to detect suspicious activities, unauthorized changes, and potential security incidents.
• Incident Response: Support the investigation, containment, and resolution of cloud security incidents, including compromised credentials, exposed resources, and unauthorized access.
• Data Protection: Implement encryption at rest and in transit, secure key management, secrets management, backup protection, and appropriate data access restrictions.
• Compliance and Governance: Help maintain alignment with applicable security standards, regulatory requirements, and internal policies, such as ISO 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Benchmarks, and relevant cloud security benchmarks.
• DevSecOps Collaboration: Integrate security checks into CI/CD pipelines and development workflows to identify infrastructure risks early in the deployment lifecycle.
• Documentation and Reporting: Maintain accurate security documentation, risk registers, remediation plans, configuration standards, and technical assessment reports.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineering, IT operations, compliance, and development teams to implement practical security improvements without unnecessarily disrupting business operations.
• Continuous Improvement: Monitor emerging cloud security threats, evaluate new security technologies, and recommend improvements to infrastructure resilience and risk management practices.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong understanding of cloud computing concepts, cloud infrastructure architecture, and shared-responsibility security models.
• Practical knowledge of at least one major cloud platform: AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
• Familiarity with cloud identity and access management, role-based access controls, authentication mechanisms, and privileged access management.
• Understanding of cloud networking concepts, including virtual private clouds, subnets, routing, firewalls, DNS, VPNs, and network segmentation.
• Knowledge of vulnerability assessment, security hardening, patch management, and risk prioritization techniques.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Azure Bicep is desirable.
• Familiarity with scripting or programming languages such as Python, Bash, PowerShell, or similar tools for security automation.
• Understanding of encryption, certificate management, secrets storage, and secure key management practices.
• Knowledge of cloud logging, monitoring, security alerts, and incident investigation procedures.
• Familiarity with container security, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD security practices is an advantage.
• Ability to interpret technical security findings and translate them into clear remediation recommendations.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, documentation, and problem-solving skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A proactive mindset, strong attention to detail, and a commitment to maintaining confidentiality and protecting sensitive information.
• Relevant certifications, such as AWS Certified Security - Specialty, Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer, CompTIA Security+, or equivalent qualifications, are advantageous but should be considered in line with the roles experience requirements.

Experience

Candidates should ideally have 2-5 years of experience in cloud security, infrastructure security, cybersecurity engineering, systems administration, or a related technical field, with practical exposure to securing cloud-based infrastructure.

Relevant experience may include

• Assessing cloud environments for security misconfigurations and infrastructure vulnerabilities.
• Implementing and maintaining cloud security policies, access controls, and network security configurations.
• Using cloud-native security tools to monitor risks, investigate alerts, and support remediation activities.
• Working with infrastructure-as-code templates and automated deployment pipelines.
• Supporting vulnerability management, patching, security audits, and incident response activities.
• Collaborating with engineering and operations teams to implement secure infrastructure changes.
• Producing technical documentation, risk reports, and remediation tracking records.

Working Hours

Employment Type: Full-time.

Working Schedule: Typically 40 hours per week, depending on the applicable employment arrangement and business requirements.

Work Arrangement: Remote, hybrid, or office-based, depending on the specific vacancy and operational requirements.

Collaboration: Participation in virtual meetings, technical reviews, security planning sessions, and cross-functional project discussions.

Flexibility: Some flexibility may be available to accommodate collaboration across different time zones.

On-Call Support: Occasional on-call availability or participation in incident response rotations may be required for critical infrastructure environments.

Additional Hours: Limited additional hours may be necessary during security incidents, major cloud deployments, or urgent remediation activities.

The final schedule, time zone expectations, and work arrangement will be communicated during the recruitment process.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Technical Knowledge

• Understanding of cloud security architecture and secure infrastructure design principles.
• Knowledge of security frameworks, vulnerability management processes, and infrastructure hardening techniques.
• Familiarity with cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud workload protection, and cloud-native security services.
• Understanding of logging, monitoring, encryption, backup security, disaster recovery, and business continuity principles.
• Awareness of emerging cloud threats, attack techniques, and common infrastructure misconfigurations.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills

• Ability to identify root causes of security weaknesses and recommend effective corrective actions.
• Capacity to assess the potential business impact of technical risks and prioritize remediation efforts.
• Strong troubleshooting skills when investigating access issues, configuration errors, and security alerts.
• Ability to evaluate security trade-offs while supporting availability, performance, and scalability requirements.

Communication and Collaboration

• Ability to explain technical security risks in clear and practical language.
• Confidence in working with infrastructure engineers, developers, IT administrators, and compliance professionals.
• Strong documentation skills for technical procedures, audit evidence, and security recommendations.
• Willingness to share knowledge and promote security awareness across engineering teams.

Professional Abilities

• Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple security findings and prioritize work according to risk.
• Commitment to ethical conduct, confidentiality, and responsible handling of sensitive information.
• Adaptability to changing technologies, security requirements, and business priorities.
• A continuous-learning mindset with an interest in developing advanced cloud security expertise.

Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience, technical expertise, and role responsibilities.
• Remote or hybrid working opportunities where available.
• Opportunities to work with modern cloud platforms, infrastructure security technologies, and automation tools.
• Professional development support through technical training, learning resources, and relevant certification preparation.
• Opportunities to expand expertise in cloud security architecture, DevSecOps, threat detection, and risk management.
• Collaborative work with cloud engineering, infrastructure, and cybersecurity professionals.
• Exposure to real-world infrastructure security challenges and enterprise security practices.
• Career development opportunities based on performance, demonstrated skills, and business needs.
• Potential eligibility for performance-based incentives, paid leave, health benefits, and other employment benefits, subject to the applicable offer and company policy.
• Specific benefits, compensation details, and eligibility requirements will be confirmed during the hiring process.

Why Join The Elite Job?

Joining The Elite Job as a Cloud Security Engineer - Infrastructure Risk Reduction offers an opportunity to contribute to the protection and reliability of modern cloud infrastructure while developing valuable cybersecurity expertise.

The role is designed for professionals who want to move beyond routine infrastructure administration and take an active part in identifying, preventing, and reducing security risks. You will have opportunities to collaborate with technical teams, improve security processes, strengthen cloud governance, and help establish security as an essential part of infrastructure design and delivery.

Key reasons to consider this opportunity include:

• Meaningful Security Impact: Help reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen the protection of important digital systems and business information.
• Technical Growth: Develop practical expertise across cloud security, infrastructure automation, identity management, and vulnerability remediation.
• Modern Engineering Practices: Contribute to security automation, infrastructure-as-code reviews, and DevSecOps initiatives.
• Collaborative Environment: Work with professionals who contribute to infrastructure reliability, cloud operations, and cybersecurity.
• Continuous Learning: Build knowledge of emerging security threats, cloud-native tools, and industry-recognized security practices.
• Career Progression: Develop a foundation for future opportunities in senior cloud security engineering, cloud security architecture, security operations, or cloud security leadership, depending on performance and available positions.

The Elite Job welcomes candidates who combine technical curiosity with a practical approach to risk reduction and a commitment to building secure, dependable cloud environments.