GPS - Azure Senior Platform Engineer - Assistant Director

EY; Chattanooga (TN); Hybrid; USD 111,100 - 207,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive compensation and benefits package

Flexible vacation policy

401(k) plans

Job summary

EY is looking for an Assistant Director to support large cloud programs in Azure Government environments. The role involves leading platform and infrastructure delivery, ensuring alignment with business and security requirements while mentoring engineering teams.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience with cloud technologies, specifically IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, alongside a strong background in security and Agile methodologies. EY offers a dynamic work environment with a competitive salary package and flexible vacation policy.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in engineering roles with cloud technologies.
• Microsoft certifications in Azure required.
• Experience in Agile environments essential.

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of cloud platform capabilities.
• Guide technical direction for Azure Government platforms.
• Influence stakeholders and develop engineering talent.

Skills

Cloud IaaS, PaaS, SaaS experience

Infrastructure as Code

Container orchestration

Cloud security principles

Networking fundamentals

Scripting/Programming

Agile methodologies

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or IT

Tools

Azure DevOps

Docker

Kubernetes

PowerShell

Job description

This role supports large, complex government cloud programs within Azure Government environments and is accountable for the successful delivery of platform and infrastructure capabilities at scale. The Assistant Director owns outcomes across multiple workstreams, translating business and mission needs into secure, scalable, and sustainable cloud platforms. The role operates at the intersection of strategy and execution, guiding technical direction, enabling delivery teams, and influencing stakeholders across product, engineering, and platform organizations. In addition to hands‑on technical leadership, the role is responsible for developing team capability, driving continuous improvement, and making informed trade‑offs to balance delivery, quality, risk, and long‑term platform health within government and security‑constrained environments.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of cloud platform and infrastructure capabilities across multiple initiatives, ensuring alignment with business, mission, and security requirements.
• Set and guide technical direction for Azure Government platforms, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and operationally sustainable.
• Establish and evolve DevSecOps practices and automation approaches to improve delivery consistency, quality, and reliability.
• Make informed technical and delivery trade‑off decisions, balancing speed, quality, security, risk, and long‑term platform health.
• Lead architecture and design efforts, reviewing and approving solutions to ensure alignment with standards, constraints, and desired outcomes.
• Oversee risk, dependency, and issue management across delivery efforts, escalating and resolving proactively as needed.
• Influence stakeholders across product, engineering, and leadership teams to align priorities and drive execution without direct authority.
• Develop and grow engineering talent through coaching, feedback, and delegation, strengthening overall team capability.
• Promote operational excellence by continuously improving processes, tooling, and ways of working.

Skills And Attributes For Success

• Demonstrates accountability for outcomes, taking ownership of decisions and following through to execution.
• Applies sound judgment when operating in ambiguity, making trade‑offs that consider delivery impact, risk, and long‑term sustainability.
• Influences outcomes across teams and stakeholders through credibility, collaboration, and clear communication.
• Communicates complex technical and delivery topics effectively to technical, business, and executive audiences.
• Adapts approach as priorities, constraints, and requirements evolve while maintaining delivery momentum.
• Develops people and teams by providing clear direction, timely feedback, and opportunities for growth.
• Promotes a culture of quality, risk awareness, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrates curiosity and continuous learning, staying current with evolving technologies, delivery practices, and firm direction.

To qualify for the role, you must have

• 7+ years in engineering roles working with private/public cloud IaaS, PaaS, and/or SaaS.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or equivalent experience.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ‑104) and Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ‑305).
• Strong hands‑on experience:
  • Infrastructure as Code & CI/CD – designing and delivering with tools such as Bicep, Azure DevOps, ARM templates, or Ansible.
  • Containers and orchestration – experience building and running containerized workloads using technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps, or Helm for packaging and deploying services at scale.
  • Networking fundamentals – strong foundation designing and troubleshooting VNets, subnets, network security groups (NSGs), routing (UDRs), and basic load‑balancing scenarios, with enough depth to reason about hub‑and‑spoke or similar topologies and diagnose common connectivity issues.
  • Cloud security principles – solid understanding of concepts such as shared responsibility, least privilege, identity‑driven security, network segmentation, encryption, and logging/monitoring, and how to apply them for customers driven by regulatory compliance requirements, such as NIST, FedRAMP.
  • Identity and access – understanding of Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, Entra ID RBAC, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and managed identities for Azure resources.
  • Windows and Linux administration – hands‑on experience managing, troubleshooting, and hardening server workloads, including patching, performance tuning, and applying security baselines (e.g., DISA STIG or equivalent).
  • Scripting / programming – practical automation experience using PowerShell (Python or similar scripting languages is a plus but not required).
  • Experience with government security frameworks (e.g., NIST controls).
  • Hands‑on delivery in Agile environments (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or similar).
  • Strong written and verbal communication and the ability to work effectively on distributed teams.

Ideally, you’ll also have

• Ability to obtain and maintain Top‑Secret Security Clearance.
• Deeper hands‑on experience with:
  • Git‑based source control and branching strategies.
  • AWS/GCP cloud experience / knowledge.
  • Azure DevOps Pipelines and broader Azure platform services.
  • Ansible and Bicep for advanced automation and configuration.
  • Azure Policy and multi‑tenant / multi‑subscription design patterns.
  • Advanced Azure networking experience – hands‑on exposure to one or more of: VPN Gateway or ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall or other NVAs, Virtual WAN hubs, Application Gateway or similar L7 gateways, and more complex hybrid or multi‑region network designs.
• Additional relevant certifications, such as:
  • AZ‑400, AZ‑500, AZ‑700.
  • Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or CKAD / CKNS.
  • Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation.

What We Look For

• A self‑starter, independent‑thinker, curious and creative person with ambition and passion.
• History of continuous learning and continuous progression.

What We Offer You

• We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job in all geographic locations in the US is $111,100 to $207,800. The base salary range for New York City Metro Area, Washington State and California (excluding Sacramento) is $133,300 to $236,100. Individual salaries within those ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.
• Join us in our team‑led and leader‑enabled hybrid model. Our expectation is for most people in external, client serving roles to work together in person 40‑60% of the time over the course of an engagement, project or year.
• Under our flexible vacation policy, you’ll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You’ll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well‑being.

EY provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected basis, including arrest and conviction records, in accordance with applicable law.

EY is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and either need assistance applying online or need to request an accommodation during any part of the application process, please call 1‑800‑EY‑HELP3, select Option 2 for candidate related inquiries, then select Option 1 for candidate queries and finally select Option 2 for candidates with an inquiry which will route you to EY’s Talent Shared Services Team (TSS) or email the TSS at [e-mail].