Infrastructure Engineer I

ACT; Iowa City, Northern (IA, KY); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life insurance

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401k match

Paid holidays

Paid time off

FSA

Job summary

ACT is seeking an Infrastructure Engineer I to help build, automate, and support cloud-native infrastructure in AWS. The role emphasizes learning under senior engineers, with a focus on Terraform, automated pipelines, patch management, and AI-assisted tooling to improve reliability.

You will help deploy and monitor cloud resources, support backup and recovery, and contribute to runbooks and automation efforts while working in a remote-friendly environment based in the United States.

Qualifications

• Foundational knowledge of infrastructure, systems administration, networking, scripting, automation or cloud technologies.
• Experience using or developing scripts with Python, PowerShell, Bash, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code concepts and tools such as Terraform, Ansible or automation technologies.
• Basic understanding of cloud concepts including compute, storage, networking, security, monitoring, backup, and automation.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and manage cloud infrastructure operations in AWS, backups, monitoring, and automation.
• Assist with building and provisioning infrastructure with IaC tools and CI/CD pipelines.
• Investigate patching, patch cycles, and runbooks to reduce manual effort and improve reliability.
• Contribute to knowledge base and runbooks for automation and troubleshooting.

Skills

Python scripting

PowerShell

Bash

Automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IT/Engineering

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

CloudFormation

AWS

Azure

Job description

Careers at ACT

Looking for a challenging and rewarding career? ACT offers just that.Search our open positions and apply today.

Back to Job Openings Infrastructure Engineer I Iowa City IA Posted 2 days ago

At ACT, Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power – a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for inclusivity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we’ve never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to a mission that has never been more important: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing that mission within our organization, by helping our team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which every team member has an equal opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and ACT thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible health and dependent spending accounts, 401(k) retirement savings with company match, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here .

We are seeking an Infrastructure Engineer I to help us fulfill that mission.

The Infrastructure Engineer I is an entry-level role designed as a learning and growth opportunity for individuals developing foundational skills in infrastructure engineering and cloud technologies. Working under the guidance of senior Infrastructure and DevOps engineers, this role helps build, automate, and support cloud-native infrastructure across ACT's AWS environment. This role develops practical experience with Terraform, automated deployment pipelines, and AI-assisted tools to provision, patch, monitor, and troubleshoot infrastructure.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. For this position, we anticipate offering an annual salary in the range of $70,000 to $85,000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including, skills, experience, and internal equity. This position is not incentive eligible.

Location:This is a remote position, based in the United States. Individuals located in the Iowa City area may choose to work on-site or in a hybrid arrangement.

Visa: Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.

What you will be working on:

40% - Cloud Infrastructure Operations

• Monitor backup jobs across ACT's AWS environment using cloud-native and enterprise backup platforms (e.g., CommVault, AWS Backup), applying AI-assisted tools to help investigate and resolve failures.
• Maintain backup schedules, retention policies, and restore procedures; support recovery requests and audits.
• Assist with deploying, configuring, and maintaining monitoring and observability tooling; partner with the monitoring tool administration team on agent health and coverage.
• Triage and respond to monitoring alerts routed through ITSM tools, using AI-assisted diagnostics, resolve routine incidents and elevate more complex incidents appropriately.
• Support AWS-native infrastructure management, monitoring, backup, recovery, and automation activities; maintain awareness of Azure concepts where limited hybrid-cloud support is needed.

35% - Infrastructure as Code & Automated Deployment

• Assist with building and provisioning cloud infrastructure with Terraform, Ansible, and automated CI/CD pipelines, replacing manual, ticket-driven build processes.
• Support and help investigate patching cycles through automated pipelines and scripts to minimize manual patch-weekend effort.
• Support administration of underlying Windows Server and Linux systems supporting cloud workloads, including patching, service troubleshooting, log review, filesystem/storage management, access support and routine health checks.
• Maintain, and with guidance, develop reusable Infrastructure as Code modules, automation scripts, and runbooks for common server, storage, backup, and monitoring tasks.
• Apply AI-assisted engineering tools to accelerate infrastructure automation development, troubleshooting, diagnostics and documentation.

25% - Analysis & Continuous Improvement

• Identify recurring issues, manual toil, and gaps in current infrastructure, deployment, and patching processes; recommend automation, AI-assisted tooling, or pipeline improvements.
• Research and evaluate new tools and automation approaches, with senior engineer guidance, for backup, monitoring, and server management, recommending adoption where they improve reliability or reduce manual effort.
• Document standard operating procedures and contribute to the team's knowledge base as processes are automated.

Role Progression within the first three months:

• Learn ACT's cloud infrastructure, storage, backup, and monitoring environment, tools, and standard procedures.
• Complete a first automated server build and a first automated patch cycle under guidance from the DevOps/Platform team.
• Begin independently triaging routine ITSM alerts and investigating backup failures.

Role Progression over time:

• Make initial contributions to cloud infrastructure, storage, backup, and monitoring operations as automation coverage expands.
• Progress toward broader engineering participation in AWS infrastructure, automation, platform tooling, and operational improvement beyond day-to-day server support.

This could be the job for you if you have (minimum requirements):

• Foundational knowledge of infrastructure, systems administration, technical support, networking, scripting, automation or cloud technologies.
• Experience using or developing scripts with languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code concepts and tools such as Terraform, Ansible or automation technologies.
• Basic understanding of cloud computing concepts such as compute, storage, networking, security, monitoring, backup, and automation. Experience with AWS is preferred; exposure to Azure or other cloud platforms is a plus.
• Exposure to Windows Server and Linux operating systems and their administration, support or troubleshooting.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, engineering or a related field. Or an equivalent combination of education, training, certifications, and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Basic understanding of backup and recovery concepts, server monitoring, and patch management.
• Ability to learn and apply new technologies quickly, including AI-assisted engineering tools that support automation, scripting and operational efficiency.
• Willingness and interest in learning, taking initiative and drive to dig deep into problems and think sideways when creative solutions are needed
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills, with the discipline to follow runbooks and elevate appropriately.
• Ability to learn new automation tools and AI-assisted engineering practices quickly and apply them to daily work.
• Ability to troubleshoot server and cloud infrastructure issues involving performance, storage, network connectivity, access, monitoring, backup, and operating system services.
• Familiarity with tools such as PowerShell, Bash, systemd, Windows Event Viewer, package managers, configuration management and operational runbooks.
• Ability to communicate clearly and work effectively with senior engineers and vendors.
• Ability to work on standard tasks independently or as part of a larger team on more complex projects
• Ability to work occasional off-hour shifts to support monthly patching weekends.

It’s a plus if you have (preferred qualifications):

• Experience with CommVault, AWS Backup, or another enterprise backup platform.
• Hands‑on experience with AWS infrastructure services such as EC2, S3, EBS, IAM, CloudWatch, Systems Manager, AWS Backup, VPC, and related automation tooling.
• Experience with Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, or similar Infrastructure as Code tools for provisioning and maintaining cloud and server infrastructure.
• Experience administering enterprise Windows Server and Linux environments, including Active Directory/Group Policy awareness, DNS, PowerShell, shell scripting, vulnerability remediation, virtualization, and automated configuration management.
• Experience supporting server, storage, or backup operations in a complex enterprise environment.

About ACT

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry—helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life’s transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We’re doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we’re all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That’s why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!

ACT is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ACT participates in E-verify. ACT's online position announcements are intended only to provide general descriptions of employment opportunities; none of the information provided for any position should be interpreted as a commitment by ACT to specific terms and conditions for employment.

Completion of the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate is recommended. Find a testing site near you to register for the WorkKeys assessments. Finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal background check as a condition of employment.

**It’s a plus if you have received an ACT employment-related communication from an email address that is not affiliated with @act.org and/or that requests personal or financial information, please do not reply. Instead, reach out to us at [e-mail] with the details. ACT's recruitment team appreciates your interest in working with us to transform college and career readiness pathways for all learners and wishes you the best of luck in your career journey.**

If you have received an ACT employment-related communication from an email address that is not affiliated with @act.organd/or that requests personal or financial information, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

Instead, reach out to us at [e-mail] with the details.

ACT's recruitment team appreciates your interest in working with us to transform college and career readiness pathways for all learners and wishes you the best of luck in your career journey.

Your Work Makes a Difference at ACT

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to an important mission: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. We offer career opportunities at every experience level and are looking for people to join our team who are passionate about making a difference!

Life at ACT

Help us create a world where everyone can discover and fulfill their potential.Our mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success, and that includes you.

We believe that fairness in education and learning can deliver success on an unlimited scale. The enthusiasm for this challenging, rewarding, and essential work is unwavering among our team members. As a purpose-led organization with an important mission, we are big enough to effect real change - yet small and flexible enough for you to personally have an impact.

We are evolving our organization while staying true to the strong foundations on which we were built over 60 years ago. Our research informs and inspires us, and we apply it to real world issues, using technology and ingenuity to unlock opportunities to meet the changing needs of those we serve.

Benefits & Well-Being

ACT is proud to offer our a comprehensive, competitive, and flexible suite of benefits that are market competitive. We work closely with our various plan providers to ensure team members have access to the best resources available when it comes to taking care of themselves and their families. Our guiding principles for team member benefits include providing market-competitive core programs alongside offerings designed to create benefits that are specific to ACT and its mission. Our package includes some of the benefits listed below. Read more details here.

Comprehensive Health Plans

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts

Career Development

Unlimited and free access to LinkedIn Learning and curated career development resources

Well-Being Programs

Life assistance program, caregiving program, wellness center, health & nutrition

Education Assistance

Free ACT, tuition reimbursement

Retirement Savings

401(k) with company match

Flexible Work Arrangements

Opportunity to work on campus, hybrid, or remote

Options to work part-time or full-time

GenerousTime Off

Up to 6 weeks PTO per year, separate leave time for parental leave, family caregiver leave, and bereavement leave

Financial & Legal

Financial wellness program, legal insurance and identity theft protection

Our Culture

Our values are a clear statement of who we are and how we show up.

The driving force behind everything at ACT is care.

Learn More About Our North Star

Champion

Inclusion

Together, deliver on ACT’s mission and North Star. Open doors to increase inclusion, access, and success.

Understand, then

Act Quick

Listen to those you serve, learn about their needs and how we can help. Be nimble. Take the lead and seek to be led. Build and maintain their trust. Delight our customers.

Strive for

Better

Use data and insight to continuously improve, innovate, and create sustainable value. Move swiftly with a relentless sense of urgency. Create confidence in our solutions and success in our delivery. Be accountable, trust others, and know when to step back and cheer them on.

Be All into

Help Others

Embrace your own power to create opportunities for others to thrive. Be passionate and persevere, come with solutions, and hold up the bridge to get it done.

Student Programs at ACT

Our mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success aligns perfectly to our internship opportunities. We believe our internship program is a great opportunity to help students gain the knowledge and experience they will need when entering the workforce for the first time because it is dedicated to projects that align the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for work in their field of study.

Learn more about our Summer Intern program as well as other opportunities, including non-traditional internships on our Student Programs page:

Learn More about our Student Programs

Freelance Development Opportunities

ACT, Inc. works closely with educators and practitioners on development, delivery, and review projects spanning a range of disciplines and a continuum of customers (e.g., 6–12, postsecondary, workforce).External experts support multiple dimensions of ACT assessment and learning products and services, including content, fairness, and universal design/accessibility consulting.

Learn More About Freelance Opportunities at ACT

ACT Equal Employment Policies, Notices and Other Information

ACT’s managers actively recruit, hire, train, retain, and promote employees on the basis of their qualifications and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

ACT is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Disabled.

• Notice of Availability of Affiant Action Plan - Veterans and Disability (AAP)(PDF)
• Pay Transparency Notice (PDF)
• State of Ohio Equal Employment Opportunity and Affiant Action Policy Statement (PDF)

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws.

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (PDF)
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Know Your Rights (PDF)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) (PDF)

Accessibility Assistance for Applicants:

ACT is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and ensuring an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you are a qualified individual and require a reasonable accommodation to complete your application, please contact us at [e-mail] .

Transparency in Coverage Rule