Cloud Engineer Opportunity

• ROLE TITLE: Certified Cloud Engineer
• START / END: 11/16/2026 to 06/30/2027, with the potential for an extension. The state cannot post any job beyond the end of the current fiscal year (June 30, 2027, in this case). So, while many jobs at the state can run for multiple years, they are capped to the current fiscal year to start and must be renewed for a later fiscal year.
• WORK ARRANGEMENT:
  • Hybrid .
  • Candidate must be a Wisconsin resident or willing to relocate to Wisconsin within 30 days of the start date at their own expense.
• CLIENT LOCATION: 201 W. Washington Ave., Madison, WI 53703

• Certified Cloud Engineer Opportunity
  Given they put 'Certified' in the job title I would treat certification depth as 'required' (its nice to have per formal job description). I list out six certifications (2 per cloud stack) that seem to be most impactful under "Direct Cloud Engineering" list in the job description.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Experience in designing, implementing, and supporting hybrid (private & public) cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google, etc.) (3+ years)
• Supporting CI/CD pipelines, application deployment, API integration, containers, configuration management, and DevSecOps practices (5+ years)
• Strong experience in programming, scripting, configuration, and troubleshooting complex infrastructure and application issues (5+ years)

NICE TO HAVE SKILLS:

• Cloud certification, such as:
  • Direct Cloud Engineering / Architecture
    • AWS Solutions Architect Associate or Professional
    • AWS CloudOps Engineer Associate
    • Azure Administrator Associate
    • Azure Solutions Architect Expert
    • Google Associate Cloud Engineer
    • Google Professional Cloud Architect
  • Highly relevant adjacent
    • AWS DevOps Engineer Professional
    • Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
    • Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
    • Security/networking certifications on any of the three platforms
  • Only foundational
    • AWS Cloud Practitioner
    • Azure Fundamentals / AZ-900
    • Google Cloud Digital Leader

INTERVIEW PROCESS:

• Interviews will be set up shortly after the posting close date.
• Interview process is via Zoom/Teams; an in-person interview may be required at the hiring manager's discretion.
• A real-time screenshot photo of the candidate MUST be uploaded to the candidate bid upon confirming the interview, per the DCF Realtime Photo Requirement & Instructions.
• Candidate MUST provide three (3) business references for the interview; one reference must be at a supervisory level.

DESCRIPTION OF ROLE:

The Certified Cloud Engineer will be responsible for the development, implementation, configuration, support, and maintenance of the organization's hybrid cloud platform (AWS, Azure, Google, etc.) tenants and instances. This includes Cloud Platform technologies (IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS), cloud-hosted applications, strategy, and policies. The resource will work closely with the vendor throughout development, integration, testing, deployment, and production implementation. The engineer will provide technical oversight of the cloud infrastructure and ensure cloud services are designed and implemented in accordance with State and Federal regulations (e.g., NIST, IRS Pub 1075). The resource will also develop the technical knowledge required to assume long-term ownership and support of the solution following project closeout.

The Cloud Engineer will participate directly in vendor design discussions and development activities, providing guidance and review of cloud architecture, infrastructure, networking, compute, storage, databases, security services, monitoring, logging, and automation used by the solution. The engineer will review and validate the vendor's proposed architecture and configurations, identify potential risks or gaps, and ensure cloud services are implemented using appropriate cloud best practices. The resource will also work closely with the .NET development team to support application deployment, integration, configuration, CI/CD processes, infrastructure as code, and environment management, while ensuring that the solution can be effectively supported by internal staff after transition.

Security, compliance, privacy, reliability, and operational support will be key responsibilities of the Cloud Engineer. The resource will incorporate organizational security requirements into the cloud architecture and implementation, including identity and access management, least privilege, encryption, network security, vulnerability management, logging, monitoring, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and appropriate security controls for cloud workloads. The engineer will independently perform complicated programming, complex configuration, scripting, automation, troubleshooting, and issue resolution activities and will help establish operational procedures, monitoring standards, incident response processes, and maintenance practices. The resource will also document the cloud environment, architecture, configurations, dependencies, operational procedures, and support requirements to ensure that knowledge is retained within the organization.

Following implementation, the Cloud Engineer will assume primary responsibility for the operational support, maintenance, optimization, and continuous improvement of the cloud environment. The resource will establish and promote cloud best practices, develop repeatable automation and deployment practices, evaluate new cloud services and marketplace solutions, and identify opportunities to improve security, performance, reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency. The engineer will also help develop the skills of existing staff through knowledge transfer, documentation, mentoring, and hands-on collaboration, reducing long-term dependency on the vendor. Cloud certification is preferred, along with demonstrated experience designing, implementing, securing, automating, and supporting enterprise hybrid cloud environments.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills are required, with the ability to work effectively with vendors, developers, architects, security teams, and internal IT staff; communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders; and transfer knowledge to internal staff to build long-term organizational capability.

Additional qualifications / desired experience:

• Design, development, modification, support, and maintenance of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google, etc.): 3+ years
• Cloud experience in a regulated organization: 3+ years
• Infrastructure as code: 5+ years
• Application containerization: 5+ years
• CI/CD against GitHub: 5+ years
• Enterprise network reality, observability, and cost discipline: 5+ years
• Windows and .NET literacy: 5+ years

EQUIPMENT:

• Selected candidate must provide personal equipment for remote work.
• Home Internet Service: Minimum 20 Mbit down and 5 Mbit up, with capability to plug a network (Cat 5a or better) cable into the computer.

Windows computer specifications:

• Operating System: Windows 10
• Memory: Minimum 4 GB; preferred 8 GB+
• Processor (CPU): Any 32-bit or 64-bit CPU running 2 GHz or faster
• Graphics card that supports Direct3D 11 Video
• Installation of the latest VMware Horizon Client

Apple computer specifications:

• Operating System: macOS 10.14, 10.15, or 11
• Memory: Minimum 4 GB; preferred 8 GB+