Lead Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Kelly Services; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Motion Recruitment Partners is seeking a Lead Cloud Infrastructure Software Engineer to join the Platform Engineering team in a Chicago-area setting. You will help design cloud-native solutions, automate operations, and raise developer productivity by building self-service platforms.

The role emphasizes architectural leadership, mentoring engineers, and aligning platform strategy with business goals across a large engineering organization.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering, cloud infrastructure, or platform engineering in large-scale environments.
• Experience designing cloud-native, microservices architectures.
• 3+ years of experience developing/operating production services using Python, Java, or similar languages.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, containers, APIs, and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Strong experience with Infrastructure as Code tools, including Terraform.
• Experience implementing and improving CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Experience building self-service automation and platform capabilities that improve developer productivity.
• Strong understanding of observability, monitoring, resiliency, and operational best practices.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical decisions and mentor engineers.
• Experience leading architecture and solution design for greenfield and brownfield initiatives.
• Experience with GitHub, Jenkins, Ansible, or similar DevOps tooling.
• Experience building internal developer platforms and cloud automation frameworks.
• Experience implementing secrets management and secure cloud deployment practices.
• Familiarity with React, FastAPI, or similar modern application frameworks.
• AWS Solutions Architect Certification or comparable cloud certification.
• Passion for mentoring engineers and driving engineering best practices across teams.

Responsibilities

• Build scalable self-service platforms and automate cloud operations.
• Improve developer experience across a large engineering organization.
• Mentor engineers and drive technical excellence across the organization.

Skills

Cloud infrastructure

Platform engineering

Kubernetes

Python/Java

Terraform

CI/CD

DevOps

Observability

Mentoring

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

APIs

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

$160000 - $200000

Lead Cloud Infrastructure Software Engineer:

A leading enterprise organization is looking to add a Lead Cloud Infrastructure Software Engineer to its Platform Engineering team. This role will focus on building scalable self-service platforms, automating cloud operations, and improving the developer experience across a large engineering organization. You will work closely with product and engineering teams to design cloud-native solutions, reduce operational friction, and establish secure, reliable infrastructure patterns that can be leveraged company-wide.

This is an opportunity to make a significant impact on platform strategy, architecture, and cloud adoption initiatives while mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence across the organization.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of software engineering, cloud infrastructure, or platform engineering experience in large-scale distributed environments
• Experience designing and supporting cloud-native, microservices-based architectures
• 3+ years of experience developing and operating production services using Python, Java, or similar programming languages
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, containers, APIs, and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Strong experience with Infrastructure as Code tools, including Terraform
• Experience implementing and improving CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices
• Experience building self-service automation and platform capabilities that improve developer productivity
• Strong understanding of observability, monitoring, resiliency, and operational best practices
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical decisions and mentor engineers

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience leading architecture and solution design for greenfield and brownfield initiatives
• Experience with GitHub, Jenkins, Ansible, or similar DevOps tooling
• Experience building internal developer platforms and cloud automation frameworks
• Experience implementing secrets management and secure cloud deployment practices
• Familiarity with React, FastAPI, or similar modern application frameworks
• AWS Solutions Architect Certification or comparable cloud certification
• Passion for mentoring engineers and driving engineering best practices across teams

Motion Recruitment Partners (MRP) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants must be currently authorized to work on a full-time basis in the country for which they are applying, and no sponsorship is currently available. Employment is subject to the successful completion of a pre-employment screening. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process as required under MRP’s Employment Accommodation policy. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.