Staff Cloud Engineer - Craft Education

Western Governors University; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 161,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Telehealth and mental healthcare

Health Savings Account

Retirement savings plan

Wellbeing program

Discounted WGU tuition

Flexible paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Western Governors University seeks a Staff Cloud Engineer to design, architect, and optimize scalable cloud-based solutions from its Nashville office. You will partner with software developers, architects and infra engineers to build reliable platforms for students, partners and staff.

The role requires deep cloud experience, leadership in cloud operations, and delivering enterprise-grade deployments with a focus on automation and performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT or related field.
• 9 years of relevant experience.
• SDLC and Agile/iterative experience.
• Expertise implementing AWS services in distributed environments.
• Proficiency in DevOps scripting and automation.
• Strong Linux/Windows admin experience in cloud or virtualized setups.
• Experience with CI/CD tools (Jenkins/Travis CI) and configuration tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of scalable cloud architectures.
• Supervise Spark workloads and cloud technologies deployment.
• Research and solve complex business and technical problems.
• Monitor Spark SQL performance and optimize queries.
• Build and maintain deployment automation and infra provisioning.
• Identify and resolve operational issues to ensure reliability.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to improve reporting, analytics, and production support.

Skills

Cloud architecture

AWS expertise

DevOps scripting

CI/CD tooling

Linux administration

Monitoring

Terraform/automation

Containerization

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology

Tools

Jenkins

Travis CI

Chef

SaltStack

NewRelic

Nagios

CloudWatch

IPMonitor

GitFlow

Job description

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider Craft Education as the next step in your career. Craft Education is on a mission to solve skilled labor shortages by powering work-based learning pathways for all. At Craft, we’re revolutionizing the apprenticeship degree, combining on-the-job learning with accredited instruction to create innovative educational pathways that accommodate working professionals and meet employer needs. Our flagship product - Craft Connect - helps organizations administer apprentice degree programs and address mission‑critical data and reporting needs. Through the same platform, Craft is also transforming how on-the-job learning converts into academic credits. Our team of technology, education and workforce professionals also provides technical assistance to organizations looking to launch and manage apprenticeship degree programs. We are working tirelessly to accelerate the expansion of these programs along with the data infrastructure that underpins them. If you’re looking to join the work-based learning revolution, we’d love to talk with you. At Craft, you’ll have the opportunity to solve hard problems in a high-growth startup environment and make a lasting impact on the future of education and workforce development. We couldn’t be more excited to advance this work as a team of innovative, collaborative and mission-oriented professionals - we hope you’ll consider joining us.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 411 Pay Range: $161,000.00 - $249,500.00.

Job Description

The Staff Cloud Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, architecting, developing, and optimizing scalable cloud-based solutions. This role partners closely with software development teams, architects, and infrastructure engineers to build reliable, efficient, and secure platforms that support the technologies serving our students, partners and employees. The ideal candidate is adaptable across tools and platforms, brings deep cloud expertise, and thrives in solving complex technical challenges at scale. This is an in-office position working out of our incredible office in downtown Nashville, TN.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the design and implementation of scalable cloud architectures and enterprise‑grade solutions.
• Supervise and contribute to the development, optimization, and deployment of Apache Spark workloads and cloud technologies.
• Research, analyze, and solve complex business and technical problems.
• Monitor job performance and optimize Spark SQL queries to improve efficiency and system responsiveness.
• Build and maintain automation for software deployment, infrastructure provisioning, and operational workflows.
• Proactively identify and resolve operational issues before they impact system performance and reliability.
• Partner with technical and non‑technical stakeholders to communicate solutions, drive initiatives, and continuously improve reporting, analytics, automation, and production support processes.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology or a related field.
• 9 years of prior relevant experience.
• Expertise with the standard software development life cycle (SDLC) and Agile/iterative methodologies.
• Expertise implementing AWS services in a variety of distributed computing environments.
• Experience with highly available and fault‑tolerant enterprise and web‑scale software deployments.
• Expertise in infrastructure automation through DevOps scripting (e.g., Shell, Python, Node.js, Ruby, PowerShell).
• Strong Linux and Windows systems administration experience in cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) or virtualized environments.
• Experience leading cloud operations, including monitoring, alerting, notification management, and operational assurance.
• Experience scripting and programming in Bash, Java, and Node.js.
• Understanding of DevOps, Scrum, and ITIL concepts.
• Understanding of virtualization and containerization technologies.
• Experience with GitFlow workflows and continuous integration tools such as Jenkins or Travis CI.
• Experience using configuration management tools such as Chef and SaltStack.
• Experience using monitoring tools such as NewRelic,Nagios,CloudWatch,orIPMonitor.
• Experience working directly with customers and business stakeholders to design cloud infrastructure solutions while evaluating risks, tradeoffs, and best practices.
• Ability toleadthedesign,development,anddeploymentofbusiness‑criticalsoftwareandat?scale.
• Strong analytical… helper? technical documentation skills.
• Self‑starter who…? …
• Strong customer service mindset and service-oriented approach.
• Experience in Lieu of Education Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this role may substitute for education requirements.
• Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as one year of experience for one year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.
• This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Bonus Points

• Strong experience supporting distance education or distance learning environments.
• Expertise in at least one modern programming language.
• Expertise in cloud cost optimization strategies and serverless technologies such as AWS Lambda.
• Experience integrating cloud services with on‑premises technologies from Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, HP, SAP, and similar enterprise platforms.
• Expertise with compliance and risk management requirements, including security, PCI, privacy, SOX, and HIPAA.
• Strong proficiency with JSON and YAML.

Position & Application Details

Full‑Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours):

This is a full‑time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses;

• medical
• dental
• vision
• telehealth and mental healthcare
• health savings account and flexible spending account
• basic and voluntary life insurance
• disability coverage
• accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages
• legal and identity theft coverage
• retirement savings plan
• wellbeing program
• discounted WGU tuition
• flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual
• flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual
• 11 paid holidays
• other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.

In 1997, a coalition of 19 U.S. governors founded Western Governors University with a singular vision: to make higher education more accessible by offering full degree programs online. Starting small, we quickly expanded. Today, we’re one of the largest accredited online universities in the U.S.