Cloud Engineer I

Location: Interdisciplinary Research Building

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

The Talent Acquisition department hires qualified candidates to fill positions which contribute to the overall strategic success of Howard University. Hiring staff “for fit” makes significant contributions to Howard University’s overall mission.

At Howard University, we prioritize well-being and professional growth.

Here is what we offer: 

• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus mental health support
• Work-Life Balance: PTO, paid holidays, flexible work arrangements
• Financial Wellness: Competitive salary, 403(b) with company match 
• Professional Development: Ongoing training, tuition reimbursement, and career advancement paths
• Additional Perks: Wellness programs, commuter benefits, and a vibrant company culture

Join Howard University and thrive with us! 

https://hr.howard.edu/benefits-wellness

We are seeking a Cloud Engineer I to support a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) acting as the central hub for a consortium of nine academic institutions. This role is critical in providing the secure, scalable, and high-performance Azure cloud infrastructure required to facilitate government-contracted research and development (R&D) across the consortium.

The Azure Cloud Engineer will design and maintain a multi-tenant environment that enables diverse research teams to collaborate seamlessly while adhering to stringent federal security requirements. The ideal candidate is a self-starter capable of managing complex infrastructure that bridges the gap between traditional IT and advanced scientific research applications.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Consortium Infrastructure Management: Design, configure, and manage Azure IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS solutions tailored to the unique R&D needs of the nine-school consortium.

• Secure Networking: Create and manage complex Azure networking services (firewalls, VNETs, subnets, VPNs, ExpressRoute) to ensure secure data transmission between consortium members and government sponsors.
• Identity & Access Governance: Manage Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) to handle cross-institutional authentication, ensuring researchers from all nine schools have appropriate, secure access to shared resources.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Automate the rapid provisioning of research environments using ARM templates, Bicep, or Terraform to support fluctuating project demands.
• Research Computing Support: Configure and manage high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, containers (AKS), and serverless environments to handle large-scale data analysis and simulations.
• Data Stewardship: Manage and support diverse data storage solutions including Azure Files, Blob Storage, and Data Warehousing to facilitate long-term research data retention and sharing.
• Performance & Cost Optimization: Proactively monitor Azure resources to ensure peak performance for computationally intensive tasks while optimizing costs across multiple research grants and task orders.
• Automation & Scripting: Develop PowerShell and BASH scripts to automate data manipulation, transformation, and routine administrative tasks.
• UARC Compliance: Ensure all cloud deployments comply with FedRAMP, NIST 800-171, and CMMC requirements essential for government-contracted research.

Competencies/Qualifications:

• Azure Expertise: Direct experience in the Azure Cloud platform with a focus on architecting solutions for multi-tenant or collaborative environments.

• Automation Skills: Strong scripting experience using PowerShell and BASH for environment orchestration and configuration management.
• Full-Stack Cloud Knowledge: Advanced experience in IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS implementations, including monitoring and automated recovery.
• DevOps Integration: Experience in Azure DevOps services, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile processes within a research or academic context.
• Specialized Knowledge: Familiarity with High-Performance Computing (HPC) in Azure and meeting FedRAMP/government security benchmarks.
• Collaboration: Proven ability to work across institutional boundaries and communicate technical concepts to non-technical research faculty and stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3 years of hands-on experience implementing and supporting Azure IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
• 3 years of experience with PowerShell, BASH, or Azure CLI.
• 3 years of experience in Azure networking services within a large-scale or multi-site organization.
• Demonstrated experience with Azure design and management within a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently.

Education:

• BS degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.

Desired Certifications:

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Azure Security Engineer Associate
• Azure Identity and Access Administrator Associate
• Certified ITIL Foundation 4

Special Note:

Resume/CV and cover letter should be included with the online application.

Due to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, the candidate hired will need to be a U.S. citizen.

Compliance Salary Range Disclosure

Compensation Range: $110,000 - $123,000