Principal Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Atlas Tech; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous benefits package

Education and growth support

Job summary

Atlas Tech is seeking a senior, hands-on Cloud Engineer who thinks like an enterprise architect. You will design security-focused cloud infra on AWS GovCloud, automate deployments, and lead outages.

This role requires strong scripting, IaC, and cross-team collaboration with cybersecurity and leadership. Ideal candidates have DoD experience, a Secret clearance or eligibility, and hands-on knowledge of AWS/Azure Gov clouds.

Qualifications

• 10+ years infrastructure/engineering experience or 6+ years with relevant degree.
• Active security clearance or eligibility (Secret or higher).
• Production experience on AWS GovCloud or Azure Government.
• Strong deployment, automation, and scripting skills.

Responsibilities

• Design cloud infrastructure on AWS GovCloud focusing on security, cost, availability, and operability.
• Implement code-first designs and CI/CD pipelines (primarily CloudFormation).
• Administer and automate Linux and Windows compute platforms for reliable app delivery.
• Prototype approaches in code and lead outage responses (tier 4+).
• Create architecture artifacts and present options to leadership.

Skills

Cloud architecture

DevSecOps

Scripting

CI/CD

Communication

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

DoD 8140 / Security+ CE

AWS Solutions Architect – Professional

RHCE or equivalent

Tools

AWS GovCloud

CloudFormation

PowerShell

Bash

Python

TypeScript

CI/CD tools (CodePipeline, Jenkins)

CDK

Job description

Looking for a career where hard work is valued, and your ideas and feedback are part of the way we operate daily? Want to bring your skills to a company that encourages teamwork and champions continued education and process improvement?

Atlas Tech, a veteran-owned IT company serving multiple DoD customers in support of America's warfighters, s looking for a senior, hands‑on Cloud Engineer who thinks like an enterprise architect. You'll help our customer transition and compute critical data workloads from traditional 3-tier virtual machines to an automated, resilient, and secure Infrastructure-As-Code system hosted on AWS GovCloud. You'll own the solutions in production and clearly communicate your plans and designs to developers, cybersecurity, and senior leaders using diagrams, presentations, and documentation. This role expects a wide range of technical expertise. Besides the general cloud service expertise, you'll need to understand the fundamental compute and networking concepts that those cloud services rely on. You'll be able to build and test ideas and concepts in the console, but real deployments will be code‑first. Strong CLI and scripting skills will be expected, able to select and work with the best tool for a given task, including PowerShell, Bash, Python, and/or TypeScript.

Strong candidates will have extensive experience across many IT domains, working as a Systems Admin, Engineer, and Technical Architects.

You Will:

• Design cloud infrastructure to support compute, network, and data services on AWS GovCloud, focusing on security, cost, availability, and operability.


• Build your designs using code‑first and DevSecOps principles. Write and review infrastructure-as-code, automation, and CI/CD pipelines (Primarily CloudFormation).


• Administer and automate within the cloud‑hosted compute platforms (Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Containers, a few standalone Windows instances) to ensure performant application delivery.


• Prototype and validate approaches in code before recommending them.


• Take technical lead during difficult (tier 4+) outages and incidents, troubleshooting from application behavior down through app logs, CloudWatch, DNS, TLS, routing, and packet captures.


• Work with enterprise services, including cross‑cloud services to ensure that your designs meet enterprise requirements.


• Produce actionable architecture artifacts: engineering diagrams, DoDAF views, and cybersecurity documentation.


• Brief senior leaders on technical options, risks, and recommendations in plain language. Support your designs by contributing to roadmaps and business cases for major technology shifts.


• Partner with cybersecurity and accreditation teams to build security and RMF/ATO requirements into designs from the start.


• Review existing environments and develop dashboards that will allow data and metrics to drive improvements in reliability, security, cost, and automation.


• Mentor engineers and help set technical standards for the team.

You Have:

• An active Secret clearance or eligibility.


• Deep, hands‑on experience building and operating production infrastructure on AWS or Azure. We care more about how well you understand the underlying systems than which cloud you learned on, and we expect strong engineers to move between platforms.


• A strong command of IT fundamentals:
  
  
  
  • TCP/IP and the OSI model
  
  
  • Common network services such as HTTP, LDAP, and DNS
  
  
  • TLS/PKI and certificate management
  
  
  • Load balancing and reverse proxies
  
  
  • Linux (and some limited Windows) system administration, networking, and engineering
  
  
  • Backup, high availability, and disaster recovery
  
  
  • Multifactor authentication, OIDC, Oauth2, and related services
  
  
  
  


• the ability to explain the why behind your decisions, as well as \"how\" the solution works.


• Comfort writing code in Python, PowerShell, Bash, or CDK/TypeScript, alongside infrastructure-as-code.


• Experience integrating enterprise capabilities from multiple vendors:
  
  
  
  • Virtualization
  
  
  • Software‑defined networking
  
  
  • VDI and VPN
  
  
  • Security monitoring
  
  
  • Server and desktop OS management
  
  
  
  


• Clear written and verbal communication, at every level from an engineer's ticket to a leadership decision brief.


• The judgment to work independently and prioritize by mission impact.

Education/Experience

• 10+ years of hands‑on infrastructure, systems, or virtual datacenter engineering experience, or a bachelor's degree in a technical field plus 6+ years.


• DoD 8140 qualification (Security+ CE required, CISSP preferred), or the ability to obtain it within 6 months of hire.


• A professional‑level relevant certification (AWS Solutions Architect - Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, RHCE), or demonstrated equivalent experience.


• Experience with AWS GovCloud or Azure Government is preferred.


• DoD experience is a plus, including classified networks, DDIL, or SATCOM environments.


• Familiarity with enterprise architecture such as DoDAF or TOGAF, and experience delivering artifacts to EA and cybersecurity audiences.


• Experience with DevOps toolchains such as Git, CodePipeline, Ansible, Jenkins, Artifactory, Harbor, and Selenium.

Want to hear more? Read on to see what our Team Members say about their experience:

'Atlas Tech has the culture, trust, and fairness that you expect of the best of communities. I feel lucky to be part of their amazing journey of growth as a standout organization.' - Syed

'You are not just a number here at Atlas. I have been with Atlas for over 13 years now I can say that Atlas displays a genuine interest in its employees. This is evidenced in its commitment to mentoring every employee and providing educational paths for each employee's personal and professional growth within the company.' - Ian

Atlas Tech is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, or protected veteran status. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and respected.
Accessibility & Accommodations

Atlas Tech strives to make our website, www.atlas-tech.com , accessible to all users. If you need assistance completing the application process or require a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at [e-mail].
This contact information is designated for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of an application. Atlas Tech is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Atlas Tech offers a competitive salary, generous benefits package, and an opportunity to make a positive impact in your own community.