AWS Cloud Engineer W2 Contract

A Senior Cloud Engineer / Infrastructure Technical Lead position on a contract basis, who will be responsible for designing, building, transitioning, and sustaining the infrastructure components in the AWS cloud platform. The ideal candidate will bring deep hands-on AWS expertise, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices, network & security design, and experience with complex, compute and data-intensive workloads that are typical for the engineering and design software stack. Key Responsibilities • AWS Infrastructure Management • Engage with stakeholders (engineering, architecture, operations, security) to gather functional, nonfunctional, and scaling requirements. • Define the end-state AWS architecture: multi-account design, networking (VPCs, subnets, transit, peering, Direct Connect), identity & access (IAM, SSO, roles, least privilege). • Migrate or onboard existing application components and data to the new AWS infrastructure • Design, deploy, and maintain AWS resources (EC2, FSx, S3, Load Balancing, Workspaces, Managed AD). • Design compute, storage, database, logging, monitoring, backup/DR, and data pipelines/integration layers. • Ensure high availability, scalability, and security of the cloud infrastructure. • Infrastructure as Code • Build automation pipelines for environment deployment (CI/CD, orchestration). • Develop and maintain CloudFormation templates and Terraform scripts for automated provisioning. • Implement version control and CI/CD pipelines for IaC deployments. • Windows Environment Administration • Manage Windows servers, Active Directory, and related services in AWS. • Support the configuration and optimization of Windows-based applications for performance and security. • Security & Compliance • Apply AWS and Windows security best practices. • Configure security guardrails: VPC security, network ACLs, security groups, IAM policies, encryption (at rest/in transit), audit & logging (CloudTrail, Config, GuardDuty, etc.). • Conduct regular audits and ensure compliance with organizational standards. • Monitoring & Optimization • Validate and test for resilience, performance, failover, autoscaling, and disaster recovery. • Monitor system performance and implement cost optimization strategies. • Troubleshoot issues across AWS and all Windows environments. • Documentation & Collaboration • Deliver documentation, runbooks, architecture diagrams, and formal knowledge transfer sessions. • Mentor and work closely with internal teams to ensure a smooth handoff. • Post-handover support to address issues provide trouble shoot support and optimize solution. Required Skills & Qualifications • Technical Skills • Extensive, real-world hands-on experience in designing and building AWS environments. • Strong mastery of core AWS services: EC2, S3, FSx, Amazon Managed MS Active Directory, Data Sync, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, etc. • Deep experience with Infrastructure as Code: AWS CloudFormation and Terraform. • Networking & connectivity: routing, peering, VPN (as a plus), Direct Connect, transit gateway, NAT, etc. • Security & compliance: encryption, IAM policies, audit trails, logging, vulnerability assessment. • Automation & DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, scripting in Terraform and CloudFormation. • Experience with PowerShell scripting and automation. • Experience with data-intensive workloads, large file storage, I/O performance considerations • Deep understanding of Windows environments, including Active Directory, Group Policy, and Windows-based applications. • Experience in validating DR, fault tolerance, scalability, and performance tuning. • Excellent documentation skills (architecture diagrams, runbooks, operations manuals). • Skills in setting up Direct Connect to/from on-premises storages is a plus. • Soft Skills & Delivery • High communication and team member interaction skills. • Ability to explain complex technical designs. • Experience working in a mentoring/training role. • Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities. • Track record of successfully handing off infrastructure to in-house teams. • Self-driven and able to work in fast paced, deadline-oriented environments. • Contributes positively to team dynamics and supports colleagues to ensure project success. • Desirable Credentials • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field. • Past experience working in regulated or compliance-sensitive sectors (e.g. security, data, IP protection) is a plus. • AWS certifications (e.g. Solutions Architect – Associate or Professional, DevOps Engineer, etc.) is a plus. • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer is a plus. • CloudFormation Associate Certification is a plus. • Terraform Associate Certification is a plus. Apply tot his job