Cloud Engineer

Job Title: Cloud Engineer - Terraform Expert

Location Options: Fort Mill, SC (Hybrid)

Employment Type: Long Term Contract

Only for W2

About the Role

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced Cloud Engineer to support Infrastructure & Operations (I&O) teams by designing, building, and operating cloud-native infrastructure solutions on AWS. This role focuses heavily on Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and Terraform Cloud, enabling secure, compliant, and scalable cloud platforms.

The ideal candidate has strong hands-on expertise in AWS, builds reusable Terraform modules, supports CI/CD automation, and collaborates closely with application and engineering teams to deliver reliable cloud infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain reusable Terraform modules following best practices and HashiCorp standards
• Implement AWS infrastructure using Terraform Cloud and infrastructure-as-code principles
• Write, test, validate, and peer-review Terraform code for quality, security, and maintainability
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and Octopus Deploy
• Participate in architecture discussions and technical design sessions
• Provide hands-on support and troubleshooting for internal infrastructure consumers
• Translate business and application requirements into scalable cloud solutions
• Ensure operational excellence using the AWS Well-Architected Framework (security, reliability, performance, cost, resiliency)
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting for cloud infrastructure
• Identify and resolve infrastructure, performance, and security issues
• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, standups, retrospectives) using JIRA
• Lead infrastructure initiatives from design through production deployment
• Create and maintain documentation, runbooks, and operational procedures
• Stay current with AWS services, Terraform features, and cloud best practices

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, technical certification, or equivalent practical experience
• 5 years of experience in cloud or infrastructure engineering
• 3 years of hands-on AWS experience
• 3 years of production experience with Terraform (IaC)
• Strong experience building reusable, versioned Terraform modules
• Hands-on expertise with Terraform Cloud (workspaces, state, remote runs)
• Experience with CI/CD tools: GitHub Actions and Octopus Deploy
• Strong AWS knowledge: VPC, EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, RDS, S3, IAM, CloudWatch
• Proficiency with Git and GitOps workflows
• Scripting experience (Python, Bash, or PowerShell)
• Strong understanding of networking (VPCs, subnets, load balancers, DNS, security groups)
• Experience with Linux and Windows systems
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies
• Strong troubleshooting, communication, and documentation skills
• Ability to work independently and deliver end-to-end solutions

Preferred Qualifications

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
• HashiCorp Terraform certification (Associate or Professional)
• Experience with AWS Account Factory for Terraform (AFT)
• Containerization experience (Docker, ECS, EKS, Kubernetes)
• Configuration management tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet)
• Serverless architectures using AWS Lambda
• Observability tools (CloudWatch, Datadog, New Relic)
• Database experience (PostgreSQL, MySQL, DynamoDB)
• Cloud migration project experience
• Background in DevOps or software engineering
• Cost optimization / FinOps exposure
• Experience with security scanning and vulnerability management tools

What the Hiring Manager Is Really Looking For (Key Signals)

Core Focus Areas

1. Strong Terraform Engineer

• Must have real-world experience building reusable, production-grade Terraform modules
• Terraform Cloud expertise is critical (not optional)

1. Hands-on AWS Infrastructure Expert

• Deep understanding of networking, IAM, compute, containers, and monitoring
• Someone who has designed and operated AWS environments, not just used them

1. Platform / Enablement Mindset

• Builds self-service, governed infrastructure for other teams
• Thinks in terms of scalability, standards, and reusability

1. CI/CD & Automation-Oriented

• Comfortable automating infrastructure delivery pipelines
• Understands GitOps and infrastructure lifecycle management

1. Operational Excellence

• Focus on reliability, security, performance, cost optimization
• Familiar with AWS Well-Architected Framework

1. Strong Communicator & Collaborator

• Works closely with app teams, architects, and internal stakeholders
• Can explain infrastructure decisions clearly

Ideal Background

• Cloud Engineer / Platform Engineer / DevOps Engineer
• Heavy Terraform AWS experience
• Enterprise-scale cloud environments
• Someone who can own infrastructure from design to production