Cloud System Engineer Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

Job Summary:
Belay Technologies is a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business located in Columbia, Maryland, specializing in systems automation and full stack development. They are seeking a Cloud System Engineer to lead the transition of their CNO development environment to the cloud, architecting solutions that enhance performance, security, and scalability while supporting mission needs.
Responsibilities:
• Lead cloud architecture strategy, designing the technical roadmap and reusable patterns that enable teams to leverage cloud solutions where it makes sense. Starting with high-ROI pilots, you'll develop "easy button" templates and common resources for teams to adopt while preserving the flexibility for organizations to continue managing their own on-premise infrastructure when mission demands it.
• Architect end-to-end solutions for complex CNE services, tackling challenges like moving 90%+ capacity services to cloud storage, creating integration patterns between legacy systems and cloud-native services, and ensuring solutions maintain security controls while improving performance and scalability.
• Conduct technical assessments of existing infrastructure, working with stakeholders to unpack services running on aging platforms, document dependencies, evaluate utility, and build prioritization frameworks based on EOL dates, mission impact, cost efficiency, and user pain points.
• Partner with cloud professional services and mission stakeholders, working alongside AWS ProServe teams to scope engagements, validate architectures, and ensure cloud solutions meet the unique requirements of CNE development, testing, and collaboration while reporting directly to the Y12 technical director.
• Design modernized workflows and user experiences, reimagining how CNE developers interact with their development environment - from implementing unified SSO across disparate clients to architecting solutions for large-scale datasets.
• Above all ... make CNO the best place for software development at the agency. Create the development environment that will attract the best talent and keep them here, instead of chasing them away.
Qualifications:
Required:
• TS/SCI Clearance with polygraph
• 8 yrs., B.S. in a technical discipline or 4 additional yrs. in place of B.S.
• Deep systems engineering expertise - you have built, broken, and rebuilt complex enterprise infrastructure. You understand the realities of legacy environments, know why 'lift and shift' usually fails, and can design pragmatic migration paths that keep systems operations during transformation.
• Production AWS/cloud architecture experience - you have architected and deployed cloud solutions in production (not just labs), understand cloud economics and trade-offs, and can confidently navigate VPC design, storage tiers, compute options, and security controls to build scalable solutions.
• Infrastructure modernization experience - you have led technical transformations before, know how to prioritize competing demands, can build ROI models that resonate with leadership, and understand the discipline of incremental migration.
• Technical communication and stakeholder management - you translate effectively between cloud consultants, mission developers, security teams, and executives. You build consensus across technical and non-technical audiences, document architectural decisions clearly, and can advocate for solutions without drowning people in jargon.
• Understanding of agency specific nuances with Cloud Migration, specifically with regards to ATO and the WANDS environment.
• Service mindset - you see yourself as a customer-service professional first. Technology choices serve mission needs, never the other way around.
• Collaboration over heroics - you leverage your embedded position through constant communication and iteration with teammates and customers, delivering solutions quickly rather than perfectly.
• Mission-driven pragmatism - you understand the strategic goals and build toward that vision while solving today's most pressing issues. Long-term architecture matters, but not at the expense of immediate mission impact. You design for optionality - enabling hybrid approaches where teams can leverage common cloud resources while continuing to manage their own infrastructure when mission requires.
• Team cultivation - you help everyone around you grow, share knowledge generously, and empower others to deliver exceptional service.
• Iterative delivery - you recognize the privilege of proximity to mission, and make the most of it through rapid prototyping, tight feedback loops, and incremental wins.
Preferred:
• CNO experience - experience in CNO spaces or similar high-side environments is highly valued.
• CNO development experience - understanding what developers actually need makes you a more effective infrastructure architect.
• Enclave experience - you understand what makes restricted environments different - the constraints, the processes, and how security controls impact architecture decisions.
• Cost optimization expertise - experience right-sizing cloud resources, building FinOps practices, or making defensible recommendations about when cloud implementations actually save money vs. when managed service costs spiral.
Company:
Belay Technologies is an information technology company that provides software development, systems administration, and networking. Founded in , the company is headquartered in Columbia, USA, with a team of 11-50 employees. The company is currently Early Stage.