Cloud Automation Engineer- onsite

Location: Reston, VA
Work Arrangement: 100% Onsite 5 Days per Week
Employment Type: Contract
Experience Level: Senior

Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Senior Cloud Automation Engineer to support a large-scale enterprise cloud transformation initiative. The organization currently operates a significant on-premises VMware infrastructure and is looking to migrate substantial workloads to the cloud while developing new cloud-native capabilities.
The ideal candidate will have strong experience in infrastructure automation, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), GitOps methodologies, and cloud engineering. This individual will play a key role in automating infrastructure provisioning, supporting virtual machine migrations, and enabling the organization's broader cloud adoption strategy across internal business systems, back-office applications, and customer-facing solutions.

Key Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain infrastructure automation solutions using Terraform, Ansible, and GitOps practices.
Support the migration of existing on-premises VMware virtual machines and enterprise workloads into cloud environments.
Develop Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions to automate cloud infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management.
Establish and maintain GitOps workflows and CI/CD pipelines to support consistent, repeatable infrastructure deployments.
Collaborate with infrastructure, networking, security, and application teams to assess workload readiness and execute cloud migration strategies.
Support the deployment of new cloud-native applications and infrastructure for internal operations, back-office systems, and customer-facing services.
Automate configuration management, deployment, monitoring, and operational tasks across hybrid cloud environments.
Implement infrastructure standards and automation best practices to improve scalability, reliability, security, and operational efficiency.
Assist with cloud environment optimization, including resource management, performance monitoring, and cost efficiency.
Identify opportunities to leverage AI-enabled tools and emerging technologies to improve infrastructure automation and operational efficiency.
Develop technical documentation, reusable automation modules, and standardized deployment processes.

Required Qualifications
5+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering, cloud engineering, DevOps, or infrastructure automation.
Strong hands-on experience with Terraform for Infrastructure as Code.
Strong experience with Ansible for configuration management and automated deployment.
Experience implementing GitOps workflows using Git-based repositories and CI/CD tooling.
Experience managing and supporting on-premises VMware vSphere / ESXi environments.
Demonstrated experience migrating virtual machines, applications, or infrastructure workloads from on-premises environments to public cloud platforms.
Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud provider, preferably Microsoft Azure or AWS.
Proficiency with scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, or Bash.
Understanding of cloud networking, identity and access management, security, storage, and infrastructure monitoring.
Experience supporting hybrid infrastructure environments and enterprise cloud adoption initiatives.
Strong troubleshooting, analytical, documentation, and cross-functional communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications
Experience with Microsoft Azure, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Migrate, Azure DevOps, and Azure infrastructure services.
Experience with AWS and/or multicloud environments.
Familiarity with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
Experience with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, or Azure DevOps Pipelines.
Understanding of cloud migration frameworks, landing zones, and infrastructure modernization strategies.
Experience utilizing AI-assisted coding, infrastructure automation, AIOps, or intelligent monitoring technologies.
Familiarity with cloud security, governance, and compliance frameworks.
Relevant certifications such as HashiCorp Terraform Associate, Microsoft Azure Administrator, Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, or AWS certifications.

Ideal Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be a hands-on engineer who is equally comfortable working within traditional VMware infrastructure and modern cloud environments. This individual should be capable of building scalable automation frameworks, contributing directly to enterprise cloud migration efforts, and enabling new cloud-based solutions.
The position requires someone who can execute technical work independently while collaborating closely with internal teams to accelerate cloud adoption and infrastructure modernization.