Cloud Engineer

Cloud Engineer - x 4

Defence

6 months

£365 per day - Inside IR35

Mostly remote - 1-2 days per month in Preston (Flexible)

"Successful applicants must be eligible for SC clearance."

The Azure Engineer is responsible for building, operating, and optimising cloud infrastructure and platform services within Microsoft Azure. This role provides hands‑on engineering, operational support, and continuous improvement of Azure services to ensure secure, scalable, and resilient cloud delivery. The engineer works closely with architects, security teams, and application owners to implement solutions that follow best practice, automation standards, and governance controls

Deploy, configure, and maintain Azure infrastructure across compute, network, storage, and platform services.

Implement Infrastructure‑as‑Code (IaC) for consistent and automated environment provisioning.

Apply Azure security and governance controls including RBAC, Policy, and network security rulesets.

Support the build and operation of landing zones and environment foundations.

Troubleshoot complex Azure issues and provide expert operational support.

Collaborate with architects, developers, and security teams to deliver cloud solutions.

Optimise Azure cost, performance, resilience, and observability.

Support platform services such as App Services, Azure Kubernetes Service, and serverless components.

Maintain documentation, standards, and operational knowledge bases.

Typical duties include :

Build Azure resources using IaC tools such as Bicep, ARM, or Terraform.

Configure Azure networking (VNets, subnets, NSGs, Firewalls, Private Endpoints, Load Balancing).

Deploy and maintain compute workloads including VMs, VMSS, App Services, and containers.

Manage Azure Storage, backup and recovery policies, and lifecycle configurations.

Implement monitoring and observability using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Alerts, and Dashboards.

Apply governance using Azure Policy, Management Groups, and RBAC models.

Support CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.

Automate tasks using PowerShell, Azure CLI, or Functions.

Knowledge:

Strong understanding of Azure core services including Compute, Storage, Networking, and Security.

Strong knowledge of Infrastructure‑as‑Code frameworks particularly Bicep. ARM templates, or Terraform an advantage.

Understanding of Azure governance models including Policy, Blueprints, Management Groups, and RBAC.

Knowledge of cloud networking concepts including routing, firewalls, private endpoints, DNS, and load balancing.

Familiarity with Azure landing zone concepts and the Cloud Adoption Framework.

Understanding of container orchestration and AKS architecture.

Knowledge of monitoring and observability practices within Azure (Monitor, Logs, Metrics).

Familiarity with CI/CD solutions and DevOps pipelines.

Understanding of identity concepts including Entra ID integration, managed identities, and service principals.

Awareness of cloud cost management, tagging standards, and usage optimisation techniques.

Skills:

Strong hands‑on engineering skills with Azure management tools, portal, and CLI.

Ability to script and automate using PowerShell, Azure CLI, or similar automation languages.

Strong troubleshooting and diagnostic skills for infrastructure, networking, and platform components.

Ability to interpret and implement HLD/LLD documentation into working cloud solutions.

Skilled at managing deployments with IaC tooling and version control systems (Git).

Competence in creating dashboards, alerts, and telemetry metrics.

Effective communication skills across technical and non‑technical audiences.

Ability to work collaboratively across architecture, security, and development teams.

Strong organisational skills for managing workloads, documentation, and operational readiness.

Capability to adopt new Azure features and technologies quickly.

Qualifications:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ‑104) or equivalent experience.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer, Azure Security Engineer, or Azure Solutions Architect Associate (desirable).

Certifications in Terraform/Bicep, GitHub, or DevOps practices beneficial.

Experience implementing cloud solutions in enterprise or regulated environments.

Background in infrastructure engineering, systems administration, or cloud operations.

ITIL Foundation or equivalent service management exposure is beneficial.

Evidence of continuous learning and cloud technology development.

Bachelor's degree in a related technology field, or equivalent professional experience