Cloud Engineer

Expression is seeking a highly skilled Cloud Engineer to support the Global Public Affairs Office of the US Department of State. The duties of this project team include the architecture, engineering, operations, development, UI/UX, user training and agile project management of their web assets hosted on cloud architecture running a content management system (WordPress). 

Location:

• Remote in the United States

Responsibilities & Duties:

• Serve on the engineering team to support a WordPress site on AWS running a Kubernetes CI/CD pipeline and work with the cloud architect to implement, support and maintain all environments across the web assets to include lower environments. Later a migration to WordPress VIP is expected and the candidate will have to learn how to configure the Platform as A Service correctly to achieve uptime, monitoring and business continuity goals of the enterprise.
• Manage a production environment running WordPress on AWS that will handle a high volume of traffic and traffic spikes to include establishing monitoring and operational procedures to ensure business continuity.
• Be available to help outside 9-to-5 hours for infrequent production troubleshooting when necessary.
• Maintain, support, and troubleshoot all other environments, including developer environments, testing environments, and pre-production environments using Kubernetes or WordPress VIP utilities.
• Work closely with the AWS Architect, Product Owner, Scrum Master, engineers, and security engineers to define and build the initial service offering as well as the roadmap for future releases.
• Possess in-depth knowledge of AWS services and cloud computing, and the ability to communicate architectural trade-offs/design options so that the Product Owner can make informed decisions.
• Be a motivated team-player with the desire and ability to work in a fast-paced, exciting environment.
• Participate in and support a team that is charged with coordinating and implementing various solutions required to support the AWS Cloud.  
• Implement proof of concepts/pilots for various solutions, develop operational plans for supporting all the solutions developed, and create documentation and implementation plans for various solutions used to access and leverage AWS. 
• Build and implement all cloud infrastructure to be the first field of any production support calls.

Requirements:

• Ability to obtain a Public Trust. 
• Able to set the technical tone and drive the engineering team towards the common goals set for Infrastructure teams from our customer
• Kubernetes and understanding traffic patterns for a high-traffic web site running a Content Management System is preferred.
• Amazon web infrastructure and services.
• Passionate about identifying constraints/bottlenecks in engineering lifecycles and automating them
• Focused on building a culture of collaboration, transparency, and automation
• Experience building and supporting YAML based CI/CD pipelines, leveraging tools such as, GitlabCI, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, CircleCI, etc.
• Experience building and supporting Infrastructure as code (IaC), leveraging tools such as, Terraform, Pulumi, Ansible, Salt, Chef, Cloud Formation, etc.
• Experienced with Terraform Open Source, in CI/CD driven solutions
• Proven knowledge in PowerShell, with demonstrable ability to build and understand logical scripts, utilizing statements such as, if/else, foreach, try/catch, etc.
• Deep understanding of IaaS and PaaS services offered on cloud platforms and understand how to use them together to build complex solutions
• Research, analyze, design, propose and support the delivery of solutions that are appropriate for business and technology strategies
• Experienced with Cloud-Native and Hybrid architectures
• Able to design data, system, and component architectures; and design and share in simple language with executive leadership
• Experienced with Agile methodologies especially TDD and Scrum; Kanban is a plus
• Experience with LEMP & LAMP stacks (Linux, Nginx, Apache, MySQL, PHP), WordPress development and customization, WordPress Plugin development, MySQL performance and scaling, JavaScript (especially frontend), React, experience with various WordPress plugin, Elasticpress, Elasticsearch and the ELK stack, Akamai, Git, Bitbucket. Some ASP.net experience may be helpful to support the outgoing site for a short period of time
• Well versed in the DevOps lifecycle and process improvement strategies
• Proven knowledge of Change and Configuration Management best practices
• Partner with development and operations teams to develop practical automation solutions and custom modules. Troubleshoot automation issues and find practical solutions that move projects forward promptly.

Working Environment & Conditions:

• This job operates in a professional office environment and has a noise level of mostly low to moderate.  This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. 
• This position is primarily indoors, consistent with a standard office position and has a noise level of mostly low to moderate. The incumbent is required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear.
• The workload may require the incumbent to sit for extended periods of time. The incumbent must be able to read, do simple math calculations and withstand moderate amounts of stress.
• The incumbent must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 lbs. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.  

Benefits: 

• 401k matching
• PPO and HDHP medical/dental/vision insurance
• Education reimbursement
• Complimentary life insurance
• Generous PTO and holiday leave
• Onsite office gym access
• Commuter Benefits Plan

About Expression:

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Washington DC, Expression provides data fusion, data analytics, software engineering, information technology, and electromagnetic spectrum management solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and national security community. Expression's culture focuses on creating immediate and sustainable value for our clients via agile delivery of tailored solutions built through constant engagement with our clients. Expression was ranked #1 on the Washington Technology 2018's Fast 50 list of fastest-growing small business Government contractors and a Top 20 Big Data Solutions Provider by CIO Review.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled