About the position
The Cloud Engineer II designs, deploys, and maintains Fairfield University’s cloud ecosystems, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft 365. Reporting to the Core Systems Lead, this role drives the implementation of scalable, secure, and high-performing cloud solutions, optimizing infrastructure to support the university’s academic, administrative, and research missions.
Responsibilities
- Administer and enhance cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure, AWS, GCP, and Microsoft 365, ensuring operational reliability and performance.
- Oversee cloud-based resources such as virtual machines, storage, networking, and identity services, maintaining availability and scalability.
- Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform, Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates, or AWS CloudFormation to automate and standardize deployments.
- Enforce security best practices, leveraging role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and encryption to protect cloud assets.
- Collaborate with Security and Identity teams to align cloud operations with university policies and industry standards (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001).
- Design and test backup, disaster recovery (DR), and business continuity plans for cloud workloads, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss.
- Develop automation scripts (e.g., PowerShell, Python) to simplify repetitive tasks, accelerate deployments, and reduce manual errors.
- Integrate monitoring and logging tools such as Azure Monitor, AWS CloudWatch, or Google Cloud Operations Suite to proactively manage performance and incidents.
- Analyze usage metrics to optimize cloud costs, improve resource efficiency, and enhance scalability, delivering actionable recommendations to leadership.
- Stay informed on emerging cloud technologies, trends, and best practices, sharing insights with peers and the Director to foster continuous improvement.
- Provide timely support to campus users, resolving technical issues via phone, in-person visits, or remote diagnostics.
- Uphold a safe and secure work environment by promoting proper equipment use, reporting hazards, and adhering to safety protocols.
- Represent ITS as a collaborative and service-oriented partner within the university community, aligning with departmental goals of efficiency and excellence.
- Attend training, seminars, and team meetings to expand technical expertise and enhance communication skills.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field; OR an Associate’s degree in a related field with at least two (2) years of hands-on experience managing cloud infrastructure.
- 2+ years of experience administering Azure, AWS, or GCP environments.
- Proficiency with cloud networking (e.g., VPCs, subnets), storage (e.g., Blob, S3), and compute services (e.g., VMs, EC2).
- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve cloud infrastructure issues efficiently.
- Experience analyzing performance metrics and implementing optimization strategies.
- Strong collaboration skills to engage with Systems, Security, and Identity teams effectively.
- Clear and concise documentation skills for maintaining runbooks, procedures, and architecture diagrams.
Nice-to-haves
- Hands-on experience with cloud security frameworks, including Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies in Azure AD, AWS IAM, or Google IAM.
- Familiarity with Zero Trust security principles and cloud governance models.
- Working knowledge of IaC tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM Templates) for repeatable deployments.
- Experience managing Microsoft 365 services (e.g., Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams).
- Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Administrator, Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer).
