Cloud Principal Engineer

Centric Software is a global leader in providing an innovative and AI-enabled product-concept-to-commercialization platform for various brands. The Cloud Principal Engineer will define the cloud strategy, build the initial team, and deliver measurable business outcomes across cost optimization and platform standardization.

Responsibilities:

• Work in Defining the cloud engineering operating model and role boundaries across DevOps, Cloud Ops, and R&D teams
• Build and mentor the initial cloud engineering team and hire pipeline
• Prioritize roadmap initiatives into quarterly execution plans with clear owners and milestones
• Establish platform and automation standards for infrastructure provisioning, CI/CD integration, security controls, and reliability
• Lead cross-functional programs that require coordinated cloud, platform, and application changes
• Ensure decisions are evidence-driven with transparent measurement and reporting

Requirements:

• 5+ years in cloud/platform engineering, SRE, or infrastructure leadership roles
• 3+ years leading cross-functional technical programs with direct business impact
• Strong hands-on depth in at least two of the following: Kubernetes platforms, cloud infrastructure automation, cost optimization, observability, CI/CD systems
• Experience across AWS and Azure in production environments
• Proven ability to translate business goals into technical roadmap execution
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Managed Kubernetes platforms: EKS and/or AKS architecture and operations
• Infrastructure as Code: strong hands-on depth in Terraform or OpenTofu or Pulumi
• Cloud automation and scripting: Python and/or TypeScript for workflow and operations automation
• CI/CD implementation: Git-based pipelines, environment promotion, release controls, rollback patterns
• Cloud security foundations: IAM, secrets management, policy enforcement, and least-privilege design
• Cost optimization engineering: rightsizing, idle resource remediation, schedule automation, and governance controls
• Observability foundations: metrics, logs, traces, alert design, and SLO-oriented operating practices
• Configuration management and systems automation (Ansible or equivalent)
• Experience evaluating or migrating monitoring stacks (for example, Datadog alternatives)
• Experience with Kafka platform migrations, including Kafka-as-a-Service adoption
• Experience enabling ARM64 migration and multi-arch build/deployment practices
• Experience driving stateless architecture transitions and config externalization patterns
• Experience leading cloud transformation in multi-tenant or regulated environments
• Experience with FinOps practices and cost governance operating models
• Experience with platform migration programs (for example, KaaS, ARM, stateless modernization)
• Experience hiring and developing high-performing platform teams