Temporary Cloud Operations Engineer Jobs in Virginia

Overview We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Cloud Engineer This role will require being onsite in Bethesda one day per week, with occasional additional onsite days depending on meeting schedules and business needs. to support the design, implementation, operations, and continuous improvement of enterprise cloud environments across AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This role combines deep technical engineering expertise with operational leadership, DevSecOps practices, cloud security, and infrastructure automation to support mission-critical workloads in enterprise and regulated environments. Contributions Key Responsibilities include: * Manage and prioritize operational support activities, including incident, problem, change, and request management processes aligned with ITIL best practices * Support service desk operations and escalation management, including adherence to SLA requirements and operational metrics * Identify and implement opportunities for operational automation, process improvement, and reduction of manual support overhead * Advise customers and stakeholders on cloud-native and AI-enabled services to improve scalability, security, operational efficiency, and performance * Contribute to technical standards, governance processes, operational procedures, and continuous improvement initiatives * Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers and team members while reinforcing engineering and security best practices * Present technical status updates, conduct knowledge transfers, and support cross-training initiatives within the team * Engineer and deploy modular cloud infrastructure and platform services using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation frameworks * Support enterprise cloud operations including monitoring, patching, backup/recovery, incident response, vulnerability remediation, and performance optimization * Automate provisioning, deployment, configuration management, and release processes using industry-standard DevSecOps and CI/CD tooling * Experience with implementing and maintaining cloud security controls aligned with NIST, FedRAMP, CIS Benchmarks, zero trust principles, and enterprise security policies * Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve complex cloud infrastructure, operational, deployment, and security issues while performing root cause analysis and implementing corrective actions * Collaborate with DevSecOps engineers, networking teams, and cybersecurity stakeholders to ensure solutions align with enterprise standards and operational requirements Qualifications Required: * Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance * Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of total experience * 8+ years of relevant experience in cloud engineering, infrastructure engineering, DevSecOps, or related technical disciplines * 5+ years of hands-on experience developing, implementing, or supporting one or more major cloud platform including AWS, Azure, and GCP * Experience across core cloud services including networking, compute, storage, identity and access management (IAM), security, and monitoring * Advanced understanding of cloud operations and maintenance (O&M) practices in enterprise or regulated environments * Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC), automation, and orchestration using tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Ansible, Chef, or similar technologies * Experience integrating deployments with industry-standard DevSecOps tooling and CI/CD orchestration pipelines * Experience working in Agile development and engineering environments * Analytical mindset with strong continuous improvement and operational optimization capabilities * Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis capabilities across infrastructure, application, and operational domains * Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders * Professional maturity and ability to effectively manage operational incidents, escalations, ambiguity, and shifting priorities in fast-paced environments * Experience with scripting and automation using Bash, PowerShell, Python, Groovy, or Ruby * Ability to support on-site activities in Bethesda, MD, at least twice a week * One or more relevant cloud certifications such as: * AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate or SYSOPS Engineer * Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate * Google Professional Cloud Engineer or Google Workspace Administrator * OCI Architect Associate or Operations Engineer Preferred: * Assist in architecting, designing, implementing, and maintaining secure, scalable, and resilient cloud solutions across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP environments * Experience with SaaS and collaboration platforms such as Google Workspace, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Anaconda * Familiarity with cloud-native security tooling such as AWS Security Hub, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and Google Security Command Center * Experience integrating cloud services with enterprise ITSM platforms and API-driven automation workflow such as ServiceNow * Experience supporting production environments with high availability and mission-critical workloads * Experience with advanced analytics, ETL, database architecture, machine learning, or big data platforms * Familiarity with secure software delivery pipelines and modern DevSecOps best practices * Experience implementing and supporting containerized workloads using Docker and Kubernetes * Understanding of cloud security concepts including zero trust architecture, network segmentation, encryption, vulnerability management, and secure configuration management * Experience implementing and maintaining security controls aligned to frameworks such as NIST, FedRAMP, CIS Benchmarks, and enterprise security standards * Experience with Git-based source control management platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket About steampunk Steampunk relies on several factors to determine salary, including but not limited to geographic location, contractual requirements, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. The projected compensation range for this position is $130,000 to $180,000. The estimate displayed represents a typical annual salary range for this position. Annual salary is just one aspect of Steampunk's total compensation package for employees. Learn more about additional Steampunk benefits here. Identity Statement As part of the application process, you are expected to be on camera during interviews and assessments. We reserve the right to take your picture to verify your identity and prevent fraud. Steampunk is a Change Agent in the Federal contracting industry, bringing new thinking to clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors. Through our Human-Centered delivery methodology, we are fundamentally changing the expectations our Federal clients have for true shared accountability in solving their toughest mission challenges. As an employee owned company, we focus on investing in our employees to enable them to do the greatest work of their careers - and rewarding them for outstanding contributions to our growth. If you want to learn more about our story, visit http://www.steampunk.com . We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Steampunk participates in the E-Verify program.