Lead Cloud Engineer

NEPSE Trading; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

NEPSE Trading seeks a Lead Cloud Engineer to architect and run Azure-based infrastructure using Terraform/OpenTofu, AKS, and Ansible. You will drive CI/CD, manage identity integration, and ensure secure, compliant deployments across Azure and on-prem workflows.

The role emphasizes leadership, collaboration with engineering teams, and hands-on delivery of golden-path cloud templates, with a focus on IaC/CaC excellence and ongoing platform improvements.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on experience with Azure IaC via Terraform/OpenTofu.
• At least 1 year of leadership experience.
• Production AKS operations experience.
• Azure identity constructs (Managed Identities, SPN) and Key Vault integration.
• Configuration as Code with Ansible for VM post-provisioning and image pipelines.
• Knowledge of Azure networking (VNets, NSGs) for network integration.
• Proficient in English (B2+).

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain Terraform/OpenTofu modules for Azure services (App Services, Container Apps, SQL, Cosmos DB, Postgres).
• Manage day-to-day AKS platform operations including provisioning, addons, and onboarding.
• Implement identity wiring and secrets integration for Azure workloads.
• Build and maintain image pipelines for VM and container images with CIS hardening.
• Execute Ansible playbooks for post-provisioning and golden-image handoff.
• Support Backstage templates for Azure provisioning and end-to-end testing.
• Troubleshoot production issues in Azure automation modules.
• Contribute to testing, drift detection, and IaC engine documentation.

Skills

Azure Terraform

AKS administration

CI/CD pipelines

Leadership

Azure DevOps

Ansible CaC

Identity & Key Vault

Networking (VNets)

GitHub Copilot

English fluency

Tools

Terraform

OpenTofu

Ansible

Azure DevOps

Job description

Headquarters: Belarus URL: http://epam.com We are looking for a Lead Cloud Engineer to join our innovative team. We are delivering a Unified Automation Platform (Internal Developer Platform) to standardize secure, repeatable infrastructure delivery across Azure and on-premises VMware using templates and golden paths. You will lead Azure automation and AKS operations and strengthen IaC/CaC engineering practices. Apply to help teams ship faster with consistent, compliant deployments.

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain Terraform/OpenTofu modules for Azure App Services, Container Apps, Function Apps, Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, and Postgres, following designs defined by the Azure Architect
• Build and operate the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) platform day-to-day: cluster/node-pool provisioning, add-on configuration (ingress, cert-manager, external-dns, monitoring, policy), and namespace/tenant onboarding
• Implement identity wiring (managed identities, SPN/app registrations) and secrets integration (Azure Key Vault, OpenBao) for Azure workloads
• Build and maintain Image Factory pipelines for VM and container golden images (Linux and Windows cloudbase-init baselines, CIS hardening, image scanning)
• Execute Configuration as Code (Ansible) playbooks for VM post-provisioning and golden-image handoff
• Support Backstage golden-path template integration for Azure provisioning, testing generated infrastructure end-to-end
• Troubleshoot and remediate production issues across Azure automation modules during Implementation and Adoption
• Contribute to module testing, drift detection, and documentation per the platform's Infrastructure as Code Engine standards

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on experience building and operating Azure infrastructure via Terraform/OpenTofu, including CI/CD-driven deployment (Azure DevOps)
• At least 1 year of relevant leadership experience
• Experience operating Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters in production, including networking, policy, and namespace management
• Experience with Azure identity constructs (managed identities, SPN/app registrations) and secrets integration (Key Vault, dynamic secrets)
• Experience with Configuration as Code (Ansible) for VM post-provisioning and golden-image pipelines
• Working knowledge of Azure networking constructs (VNets, private endpoints, NSGs) sufficient to integrate with the network foundation owned by the Network Architect
• Combined proficiency as a Terraform (IaC) and Ansible (CaC) developer, working AI-assisted using GitHub Copilot (provided project-wide) as standard practice
• Excellent command of written and spoken English (B2+ level)

Nice to have

• Experience with Azure VMware Solution (AVS) private cloud provisioning
• Familiarity with image hardening/scanning tooling and Shared Image Gallery publishing