Principal Engineer Analyst – Azure Cloud Migration & Modernization / Active Secret

Peraton; Virginia (MN); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton seeks a Principal Engineer Analyst to lead Azure Cloud Migration and Modernization for a federal customer. The role requires designing secure Azure architectures, enabling secure data flows, and delivering migration strategies across environments.

The ideal candidate has deep cloud, security, and program leadership experience. U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain Top Secret clearance are required; telework may be available for local candidates near Rosslyn, VA or Beltsville, MD.

Qualifications

• Minimum 9 years of IT/Cloud security experience with a related degree can be substituted with 4 years added work.
• Must hold or obtain one of listed cybersecurity certifications prior to start date; continued certification required.
• Strong Azure cloud architecture experience and operating model design for federal environments.
• Hands-on experience migrating on-premises environments to Azure with governance and security.

Responsibilities

• Lead migration of complex on-premises environments to Microsoft Azure across Dev/Test/Prod.
• Define and implement secure, scalable Azure architectures and governance models.
• Configure monitoring, logging, and security controls (Azure Monitor, Sentinel, Log Analytics).
• Plan phased migrations, validate functionality, and manage decommissioning of legacy systems.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure compliance with NIST/CIS benchmarks and FedRAMP-aligned controls.

Skills

Azure cloud

Security architecture

CI/CD pipelines

PowerShell

Python

VNet/NSG design

RBAC

Entra ID/Azure AD

IaC tooling

Education

Bachelor's degree + 9 years experience

Tools

Bicep

ARM templates

Azure DevOps

Azure Monitor

Log Analytics

Microsoft Sentinel

Key Vault

Azure Backup

Job description

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and minimum of 9 years of relevant experience in IT/Network Engineering, Cloud Architecture, or Cybersecurity.
  • An additional 4 years of relevant experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.
• Applicants must currently hold one of the following professional certifications or obtain one prior to start date (continued certification required):CASP+ CE, CCNA Cyber Ops, CCNA-Security, CCNP Security, CEH, CFR, CISA, CISSP (or Associate), Cloud+, CySA+, GCED, GCIA, GCIH, GICSP, SCYBER, VCA DCV, PPDA, Agile IC, SNOW App Dev
• Strong background in Azure cloud architecture and operating model design.
• Familiarity with vulnerability assessment and security baseline standards (e.g., NIST, CIS benchmarks).
• Demonstrated hands-on experience architecting production Azure environments, including VNets, NSGs, RBAC, and Entra ID/Azure AD configuration.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (Bicep or ARM templates) for environment provisioning.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or equivalent).
• Practical experience with Azure security tooling: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy, Key Vault.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience performing application migrations into a cloud environment (lift-and-shift, re-platforming, or refactoring).
• Scripting/automation proficiency in PowerShell or Python.
• Experience configuring monitoring/logging solutions (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, or Sentinel).
• Experience conducting technical discovery and assessment work, including evaluating application dependencies and data sensitivity.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Active Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain a final Top Secret security clearance.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with federal cloud environments and associated compliance frameworks (e.g., FedRAMP).
• Experience integrating cloud environments with a security operations function for security monitoring.
• Experience with Azure Backup/Site Recovery configurations for disaster recovery planning.
• Familiarity with Power Platform, Databricks, or similar enterprise tools.

Peraton is currently seeking to hire an experienced Principal Engineer Analyst – Azure Cloud Migration & Modernization

Location: Rosslyn, VA or Beltsville, MD - Flexible for occasional telework – must be local to work location.

As the Principal Engineer Analyst in this role, you will:

• Lead a major cloud modernization initiative supporting a federal customer.
• This senior technical leader will be responsible for planning, designing, implementing, and sustaining the migration of a complex on-premises environment into Microsoft Azure.
• This role requires an experienced engineer who can take ownership of the entire lifecycle—from assessing the current environment and defining the future-state architecture to leading migration activities, establishing governance, and supporting long-term operations.
• The ideal candidate combines deep infrastructure, cloud, and cybersecurity expertise with the ability to drive technical strategy and execution across multiple stakeholders.

What You'll Do

• Lead the assessment of the existing enterprise environment by inventorying applications, infrastructure, networks, and supporting technologies.
• Analyze application dependencies, data sensitivity, technical risks, and migration complexity to develop a comprehensive migration strategy.
• Design and implement a secure, scalable Azure architecture, including Development, Test, Pre-Production, and Production environments.
• Build and configure cloud infrastructure, identity management, security controls, networking, and baseline configurations aligned with federal security requirements.
• Plan and execute phased application migrations while validating functionality, performance, and security throughout each stage.
• Lead production cut-overactivities and oversee the transition from legacy environments, including system decommissioning where appropriate.
• Establish governance processes including change management, application on-boarding, configuration management, and operational standards.
• Configure Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Microsoft Sentinel, and related monitoring capabilities to support operational visibility and security monitoring.
• Design and implement backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions using Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery.
• Lead technical design reviews, architecture discussions, and Change Control Board (CCB) activities.
• Serve as the senior technical advisor to program leadership on cloud architecture, modernization strategy, operational processes, and long-term sustainment.
• Provide ongoing engineering support, optimization, and maintenance for the production cloud environment.