Job Title
: Senior Cloud Engineer – Cloud Engineer SME (Platform SME)
Location: Hybrid - 2 days a week on-site - Suitland, MD
Salary: 197,000-238,000
Position Overview
We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Cloud Engineer / Cloud Engineer Subject Matter Expert (SME) to serve as the senior technical implementation lead for designing, building, and operationalizing secure, scalable AWS cloud environments supporting modernization of complex, interdependent systems.
This role requires deep AWS engineering expertise, strong Python development skills, and hands-on experience assessing legacy environments and planning phased cloud migrations. The Cloud Engineer SME will work closely with the Systems Architect, Technical Program Manager, application teams, and data engineering teams to translate modernization strategy into deployable cloud solutions.
This is not a traditional infrastructure-only role. The ideal candidate must be able to analyze legacy systems, assess dependencies and migration risks, evaluate modernization approaches, and implement cloud-native solutions aligned with enterprise architecture, security, governance, and migration sequencing requirements.
This is a
hybrid position based in Washington, DC Metro Area. U.S. Citizenship is required.
Key Responsibilities
- Participate in structured discovery and assessment of legacy applications, infrastructure, dependencies, integrations, batch processes, and data flows.
- Document current-state architectures, system inventories, cloud readiness gaps, modernization constraints, and technical dependencies.
- Evaluate workloads using the 7 Rs migration framework and provide technical input into migration roadmaps, sequencing, and modernization waves.
- Design and implement secure, scalable, highly available AWS cloud environments.
- Develop and maintain Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) using Terraform, CloudFormation, or equivalent technologies.
- Establish repeatable cloud environment patterns for development, testing, staging, and production.
- Implement AWS networking, IAM, encryption, resiliency, backup, disaster recovery, and security controls.
- Develop production-quality Python solutions including serverless functions, automation utilities, orchestration scripts, data transformation tools, and validation services.
- Support modernization and refactoring of legacy Python applications and establish reusable cloud-native development patterns.
- Implement AWS services including Lambda, ECS/EKS, Fargate, Glue, Aurora/PostgreSQL, S3, and AWS Batch.
- Evaluate serverless, containerized, and managed-service architectures based on performance, scalability, cost, and workload requirements.
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines incorporating automated builds, testing, security scanning, quality controls, and deployment automation.
- Automate cloud provisioning and deployments to ensure reproducible and version-controlled environments.
- Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, observability, performance baselines, and capacity thresholds.
- Support load testing, scalability validation, operational readiness, and development of runbooks.
- Identify and mitigate integration risks across interdependent applications and cloud environments.
- Collaborate with application, infrastructure, cybersecurity, architecture, and data engineering teams to maintain consistent cloud implementation patterns.
- Support architecture reviews, security assessments, ATO readiness, audit activities, and governance requirements.
- Maintain traceable technical documentation and auditable deployment records.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in cloud engineering, infrastructure engineering, application modernization, or related technical disciplines.
- 5+ years of hands-on experience designing and implementing solutions in AWS.
- Strong hands-on experience with AWS networking, compute, storage, security, database, container, and serverless services.
- Advanced Python development experience with production-quality coding, testing, logging, modular design, and secure development practices.
- Experience developing Infrastructure-as-Code using Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar technologies.
- Experience assessing legacy applications and infrastructure for cloud migration and modernization.
- Understanding of the 7 Rs migration framework, workload migration strategies, and phased modernization approaches.
- Experience designing and implementing CI/CD and DevSecOps pipelines.
- Strong understanding of containers, serverless computing, managed services, and cloud-native architecture.
- Experience implementing monitoring, logging, observability, resiliency, and disaster recovery solutions.
- Ability to analyze complex technical dependencies and translate architectural concepts into deployable solutions.
- Strong technical documentation, communication, troubleshooting, and collaboration skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- AWS Solutions Architect Professional, AWS DevOps Engineer Professional, or equivalent AWS certification.
- Experience supporting large-scale Federal Government modernization programs.
- Experience with ATO, NIST, FedRAMP, RMF, or Federal cybersecurity requirements.
- Experience modernizing complex, interdependent legacy applications and data platforms.
- Familiarity with Kubernetes, ECS/EKS, Fargate, AWS Glue, AWS Batch, Aurora/PostgreSQL, and enterprise data integration.
- Experience working within Agile, SAFe, DevSecOps, or product-oriented delivery environments.
Why ActioNet?
At ActioNet, our Passion for Quality is at the heart of everything we do:
- Commitment to Employees: We are committed to making ActioNet a great place to work and continue to invest in our ActioNeters.
- Commitment to Customers: We are committed to our customers by driving and sustaining Service Delivery Excellence.
- Commitment to Community: We are committed to giving back to our community, helping others, and making the world a better place for our next generation.
ActioNet is proud to be named a Top Workplace for the twelfth year in a row (2014 - 2025). We have a 98% customer retention rate. We are passionate about the inspirational missions of our customers, and we entrust our employees and teams to deliver exceptional performance to enable the safety, security, health, and well-being of our nation.
What's in It For You?
As an ActioNeter, you get to be part of an exceptional team and a corporate culture that nurtures mutual success for our customers, employees, and communities. We give you the tools to be successful; all you need to do is bring your best ideas, your energy, and a desire to develop your skills, experience, and career. Are you ready to make a difference?
ActioNet is an equal-opportunity employer and values inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
Full-Time Employees are eligible to participate in our ActioNet’s Benefits Program:
- Medical Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Life and AD&D Insurance
- 401(k) Savings Plan
- Education and Professional Training
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- Employee Referral and Merit Recognition Programs
- Employee Assistance and Identity Theft Protection
- Paid Holidays: 11 per year
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Disability Insurance
ActioNet is an equal opportunity employer and value inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
********Direct Applicants, only. No Agencies, No third-party recruiters, please********
