Job Title: Azure Government (GCC High) Cloud Engineer
Work Location: United States Remote / Onsite as required (Eastern Time overlap preferred)
Contract duration: 12
Job Description.
Experience 7+ years IT infrastructure; 4+ years Azure, including 2+ years Azure Government / GCC High
Reports To App Factory Delivery Lead / Program Manager
Role Summary
We are seeking a hands-on Azure GCC High Cloud Engineer to lead the cloud and infrastructure workstream for the migration of Omnify Empower, an ITAR-regulated Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform hosted in Azure Government (US Gov Virginia). The engagement involves transferring GCC High subscription ownership between organizations, cutting over authentication to the new enterprise directory, rebuilding the reporting replication tier, and modernizing data synchronization ahead of the Azure SQL Data Sync retirement all while maintaining ITAR compliance and uninterrupted access for ~850 licensed users across Production, Test, and Development environments.
Environment at a Glance
Hosting: Azure Government GCC High (US Gov Virginia) Windows Server VMs and Azure SQL Database (usgovcloudapi.net endpoints).
Application: Omnify Empower web application (IIS/.NET), HTTPS license validation to vendor endpoint, file upload share.
Access: LDAP / Active Directory authentication over corporate VPN; ports TCP 443 and TCP 1433.
Integrations: Azure SQL Data Sync to an on-premises replication server feeding Power BI and downstream systems; middleware integration to ERP; Power Automate workflows.
Key Responsibilities
Subscription & Tenant Transition: Plan and execute the transfer of GCC High subscriptions, resources, and billing ownership from the current owner to the target tenant, including RBAC, policies, and resource locks.
Network & Interconnect: Define IP, port, and protocol requirements across GCC High, the target enterprise network, and legacy environments; raise and track interconnect / ExpressRoute / site-to-site VPN requests; validate NSGs, firewall rules, private endpoints, and DNS.
Identity & Authentication: Support cutover from the legacy LDAP/AD domain to the target enterprise LDAP; coordinate domain masking with the identity and vendor teams; validate Entra ID (Azure AD Government) and AD trust relationships.
Data Synchronization: Assess the Azure SQL Data Sync retirement (30-Sep-2027) and design the replacement SQL Transactional Replication or Azure Data Factory including effort, schedule, and phased-approach options.
Replication Server: Support build of the on-premises replication server to current enterprise OS and SQL Server standards; enable replication and downstream connectivity to Power BI and integrations.
Platform Upgrades & DR: Plan OS and SQL version upgrades for Empower VMs and databases; manage backups, restore testing, and disaster recovery procedures.
Security & Compliance: Maintain ITAR / CMMC / NIST SP 800-171 controls throughout the transition encryption, logging, Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy, audit trails and support Third-Party Risk Assessment (TPRA) and CMDB updates.
Migration Execution: Prepare and validate Dev, Test, and Production environments; support SIT, UAT, security, and performance testing; own cloud-side cutover runbooks, rollback plans, go-live, and hypercare.
Coordination & Documentation: Work with the application vendor, client infrastructure, identity, D&A, cybersecurity, and PMO teams; produce architecture diagrams, runbooks, and handover documentation.
Required Qualifications
U.S. Citizen, eligible to access ITAR-controlled technical data (mandatory).
2+ years of hands-on Azure Government / GCC High engineering subscription management, VMs, Azure SQL, networking, and Gov-specific endpoints and service limitations.
Proven experience with Azure subscription or tenant transfers, cross-tenant migrations, or M&A / divestiture (TSA exit) separations.
Strong Azure networking: VNets, NSGs, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Private Link, DNS, and hybrid connectivity.
Solid knowledge of Active Directory, LDAP, and Entra ID, including domain migration and authentication cutover.
Working experience with SQL Server / Azure SQL Data Sync, transactional replication, Azure Data Factory, backup/restore.
Windows Server administration, including IIS-hosted .NET applications.
Familiarity with ITAR, CMMC, FedRAMP High, or NIST SP 800-171 compliance requirements.
Infrastructure as Code and scripting: PowerShell, Azure CLI, ARM/Bicep or Terraform.
Preferred Qualifications
Microsoft certifications: AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-700, or AZ-500.
Experience supporting PLM / engineering applications (e.g., Omnify Empower, Arena, Windchill, SOLIDWORKS PDM).
Exposure to Power BI data sources, Power Automate (GCC High), and middleware platforms such as IBM Cast Iron or MuleSoft.
Soft Skills
Clear, structured communication with vendors, client stakeholders, and leadership.
Ownership mindset with the ability to drive dependencies to closure under TSA timelines.
Strong documentation habits and risk-first thinking.
