Senior Cloud Engineer

Baker Tilly US; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 74,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

Baker Tilly US in Chicago is seeking a senior Cloud Platform Engineer to design and operate multi-cloud foundations across AWS and Azure, build reusable IaC modules, and drive automation across pipelines.

The role emphasizes reliability ownership, security controls, incident analysis, and technical leadership with 5+ years in cloud/infra roles; strong scripting and CI/CD experience required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5+ years in cloud engineering, infrastructure engineering, platform engineering, or related roles.
• Hands-on depth in at least two major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI).
• Strong IaC including module development and pattern standardization.
• Strong scripting and automation (Python, PowerShell, Bash).
• Experience implementing or significantly improving CI/CD practices for infrastructure delivery.
• Strong operational ownership: incident response, troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and preventative remediation.

Responsibilities

• Multi-cloud platform engineering and operations (design and operate foundations).
• Design, implement, and operate scalable infrastructure across AWS, Azure, and other providers.
• Engineer and improve foundational services and standard patterns (identity integration, networking, logging/monitoring, compute, storage, security controls).
• Own lifecycle management for key services (upgrades, deprecation planning, operational readiness).
• IaC ownership: reusable modules, standardized patterns, environment consistency.
• Develop and maintain IaC (Terraform, Ansible, Bicep) with focus on reusable modules.
• Establish code quality expectations (reviews, documentation, versioning, validation).
• Build automation workflows and scripts to eliminate manual tasks and improve reliability.
• Own reliability outcomes for cloud services; lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• Define and improve runbooks, monitoring standards, alerting practices, and support models.
• Ensure security/compliance guardrails; support audit readiness; design backup/recovery patterns.
• Mentor engineers; provide technical guidance across teams; influence patterns.
• Scripting and automation, CI/CD practices for infrastructure delivery; cost/performance optimization.

Skills

Cloud engineering

IaC (Terraform/Ansible)

Scripting (Python/PowerShell/Bash)

CI/CD for infra delivery

Incident response / troubleshooting

Security / compliance awareness

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Bicep

AWS

Azure

Job description

Overview

Baker Tilly is a leading advisory, tax and assurance firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world’s leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) provide professional services through an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that provides attest services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and business advisory services to their clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms.

Overview

Baker Tilly is a leading advisory, tax and assurance firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world’s leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) provide professional services through an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that provides attest services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and business advisory services to their clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms.

Please discuss the work location status with your Baker Tilly talent acquisition professional to understand the requirements for an opportunity you are exploring.

Visit bakertilly.com or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Baker Tilly is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected basis, in accordance with applicable federal, state or local law.

Any unsolicited resumes submitted through our website or to Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, employee e-mail accounts are considered property of Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, and are not subject to payment of agency fees. In order to be an authorized recruitment agency ('search firm') for Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, there must be a formal written agreement in place and the agency must be invited, by Baker Tilly's Talent Attraction team, to submit candidates for review via our applicant tracking system.

Job Description

This position is responsible for the completion of technical work on client engagements involving accounting and consulting matters while maintaining positive client relationships.

Responsibilities

Multi-cloud platform engineering and operations (design and operate foundations) (25%)

• Design, implement, and operate scalable infrastructure across AWS, Azure, and other providers, with hands-on depth in at least two.
• Engineer and improve foundational services and standard patterns (identity integration, networking, logging/monitoring, compute, storage, security controls).
• Own lifecycle management for key services (upgrades, deprecation planning, operational readiness).

IaC ownership: reusable modules, standardized patterns, environment consistency (25%)

• Develop and maintain IaC (Terraform, Ansible, Bicep) with focus on reusable modules, standardized patterns, and consistency.
• Establish code quality expectations (reviews, documentation, versioning, validation) to improve repeatability and reduce risk.

Automation-first engineering for efficiency and improve reliability (15%)

• Build automation workflows and scripts (Python, PowerShell, Bash) to eliminate manual operational tasks and improve reliability.

Reliability ownership and operational standards (lead, don’t just participate) (15%)

• Own reliability outcomes for cloud services.
• Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis; implement preventative improvements.
• Define and improve runbooks, monitoring standards, alerting practices, and support models.

Security, compliance, resilience, and vulnerability management as engineered guardrails (12%)

• Ensure deployments meet security and compliance expectations through guardrails, patterns, and technical controls with Security/Risk.
• Support audit readiness (SOC, HIPAA, CMMC examples) with evidence support and control implementation.
• Design and validate backup, recovery, and resilience patterns; ensure objectives are tested and reliable.
• Lead and automate patching and vulnerability management improvements.

Technical leadership: mentoring and cross-team influence (*8%)

• Translate requirements into designs, implementation plans, and roadmaps aligned to cloud-first.
• Mentor engineers through pairing, code reviews, and knowledge sharing.
• Provide technical guidance across teams, influencing patterns and decisions to reduce delivery friction

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 5+ years in cloud engineering, infrastructure engineering, platform engineering, or related roles.
• Hands-on engineering depth in at least two major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI).
• Strong IaC (Terraform preferred and/or Ansible) including module development and pattern standardization.
• Strong scripting and automation (Python, PowerShell, Bash or equivalent).
• Experience implementing or significantly improving CI/CD practices for infrastructure delivery.
• Strong operational ownership: incident response, troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and preventative remediation.

Certifications / licenses (2 or more preferred)

• AWS Solutions Architect – Professional
• Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Google Professional Cloud Architect
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Architect Professional

Knowledge

• Deep knowledge of multi-cloud design and operations, with hands-on depth in at least two: AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI.
• Knowledge of building and improving foundational services and standard patterns: identity integration, networking, logging and monitoring, compute, storage, security controls.
• Knowledge of operational excellence practices: runbooks, monitoring standards, alerting practices, operational readiness, lifecycle management.
• Knowledge of security and compliance implementation patterns and audit readiness (SOC, HIPAA, CMMC examples).

Skills

• Engineer, automate, and operate cloud services end-to-end; drive ambiguous work to clarity.
• IaC engineering with emphasis on reusable modules, pattern standardization, and environment consistency (Terraform preferred and or Ansible).
• Build automation workflows and enforce code quality expectations (reviews, documentation, versioning, validation).
• Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis and implement preventative improvements.
• Optimize for performance and cost-efficiency, including enforcing tagging standards and cost allocation practices.

Abilities

• Ability to own reliability outcomes and reduce operational toil through automation.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical designs, implementation plans, and roadmaps.
• Ability to mentor engineers through pairing, code reviews, and knowledge sharing, and influence cross-team patterns.

Languages and tools

• Scripting and automation: Python, PowerShell, Bash (or equivalent).
• IaC: Terraform (preferred), Ansible, Bicep.
• Containers and orchestration (preferred): container platforms and orchestration experience.
• Governance and guardrails (preferred): Azure Policy, AWS Organizations controls, GCP org policies.

Preferred

• Containers and orchestration.
• Cloud governance and guardrails (Azure Policy, AWS Organizations controls, org policies).
• Centralized logging and security monitoring integrations (SIEM examples).
• Regulated environments and audit readiness (SOC, HIPAA, CMMC).
• Multi-region patterns, shared services networking, private connectivity.

The pay rate range for this job position is $74,200 to $148,230. Actual compensation is influenced by a variety of relevant factors including but not limited to applicant’s skills, prior experience, qualifications, degrees, professional certifications, work arrangements and geographic location. Baker Tilly offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package to eligible employees.