Job description
The AWS Cloud Engineer (Expert) will lead the architecture, engineering, and operational stewardship of AWS-based infrastructure supporting the NMMES program in Norfolk, VA. The role owns the cloud foundation on which NMMES applications, data pipelines, and AI/ML workloads are built, with a strong emphasis on security, cost efficiency, and compliance with DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (SRG) Impact Levels.
This is a senior, hands-on engineering role. The engineer will translate Navy mission requirements into well-architected, automated, and repeatable cloud solutions in AWS Gov. Cloud (US), and will mentor mid-level engineers on infrastructure-as-code, resilience, and secure Dev. Sec. Ops practices.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and implement multi-account AWS Gov. Cloud environments using AWS Organizations, Control Tower patterns, landing zones, and account-vending automation.
- Author and maintain infrastructure-as-code using Terraform and/or AWS Cloud. Formation/CDK; enforce change control through Git-based workflows.
- Architect networking (VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, Private. Link), identity (IAM, IAM Identity Center, federation with DoD identity providers), and data-protection controls (KMS, S3 encryption, Macie).
- Build and operate CI/CD pipelines (Code. Pipeline, Code. Build, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) supporting containerized and serverless workloads.
- Implement observability using Cloud. Watch, X-Ray, and third-party tooling (e.g., Splunk, Datadog) to meet Navy monitoring and audit requirements.
- Support the Assessment & Authorization (A&A) / RMF process: produce architecture diagrams, control implementation statements, and evidence artifacts aligned to NIST SP 800-53 and DoD SRG.
- Optimize cost and performance through right-sizing, reserved capacity / Savings Plans, and workload placement analysis.
- Lead incident response and root-cause analysis for cloud-hosted workloads; drive continuous improvement of runbooks and automated remediation.
- Partner with the AI, data, and application teams to ensure their workloads land on a compliant, resilient, and cost-effective platform. Required Qualifications
- 7+ years of professional IT experience, with 5+ years designing and operating production AWS environments.
- Demonstrated expertise across core AWS services: VPC, EC2, S3, IAM, KMS, RDS, Lambda, ECS/EKS, Cloud. Watch, and Cloud. Trail.
- Strong infrastructure-as-code skills with Terraform (preferred) and/or Cloud. Formation/CDK.
- Proven experience in AWS Gov. Cloud (US) or another regulated cloud environment (FedRAMP High, DoD IL4/IL5).
- Practical scripting proficiency in Python, Bash, or Power. Shell for automation and tooling.
- Working knowledge of DoD RMF, NIST SP 800-53, and DoD Cloud Computing SRG.
- Experience with containerization (Docker) and orchestration (ECS, EKS, or Kubernetes).
- Active DoD Secret clearance at time of hire.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience supporting Navy, NAVSEA, Marine Corps, or other DoD programs in Norfolk / Hampton Roads.
- Familiarity with Platform One, Iron Bank, or other DoD Dev. Sec. Ops reference implementations.
- Experience integrating with DoD PKI, CAC-based authentication, and ICAM services.
- Multi-cloud exposure (Azure Government, Oracle Government Cloud).
- TS/SCI clearance.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field. Additional years of directly relevant experience may substitute for the degree in accordance with contract labor-category definitions. Certifications Required
- DoD 8570 / 8140 IAT Level II baseline certification (Security+ CE minimum); IAT Level III (CISSP, CASP+, or CCSP) required for privileged access to accredited systems.
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (minimum). Preferred
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty
- Hashi. Corp Certified: Terraform Associate
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)