Senior Cloud Operations Engineer

About Coalfire

Coalfire is on a mission to make the world a safer place by solving our clients’ hardest cybersecurity challenges. We work at the cutting edge of technology to advise, assess, automate, and ultimately help companies navigate the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. We are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices across the U.S. and U.K., and we support clients around the world.

But that’s not who we are – that’s just what we do.

We are thought leaders, consultants, and cybersecurity experts, but above all else, we are a team of passionate problem-solvers who are hungry to learn, grow, and make a difference.

Position Summary

We’re looking for a Senior Engineer to lead complex initiatives and elevate our managed services capabilities. If you thrive on solving complex problems, building scalable solutions, and mentoring others, this role offers the opportunity to make an immediate impact in a fast-growing team.

What You'll Do:
• Hands-on engineering work, including developing new deployments, automation scripts, and tooling to meet client needs.
• Develop and maintain Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) at scale, setting standards for Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines across projects
• Mentor junior engineers, review their work, and help mature engineering practices across the team.
• Partner with Technical Directors and engagement leads to evaluate risks, prioritize issues, and develop actionable mitigation plans.
• Contribute to playbooks, standards, and frameworks for operational excellence in managed services delivery.
• Own the patch management strategy for assigned environments, ensuring regulatory compliance and timely remediation of vulnerabilities.
• Oversee Identity and Access Management (IAM), implementing and enforcing security best practices to protect sensitive data and ensure proper access controls.
• Perform cloud administration and system administration tasks, such as provisioning resources, optimizing performance, and troubleshooting infrastructure issues.
• Adhere to established quality standards for engineering deliverables, aligning with internal protocols, compliance regulations, and project deadlines.
• Identify and communicate potential risks, working with relevant stakeholders to incorporate mitigation strategies that meet regulatory and client expectations.
• Contribute to day-to-day project tasks, including tracking progress, providing updates, and ensuring assigned activities are completed on schedule.

What You'll Bring:
• 5–7 years in systems engineering/SRE with increasing responsibility, including architecture design, operations, and automation.
• 4+ years in cloud infrastructure management (AWS, Azure, or GCP) with multi-account and multi-environment experience.
• 4+ years developing and maintaining IaC with Terraform/Ansible at scale.
• Direct experience leading operational improvements (e.g., reducing toil, enhancing SLAs, improving incident response).
• Demonstrated experience driving successful cross-team initiatives and serving as an SME for complex technical problems.
• Advanced Cloud Expertise: Strong hands-on experience in AWS, Azure, or GCP, including architecture, security, and performance optimization.
• IaC Leadership: Deep understanding of Terraform, Ansible, and modern automation practices; capable of reviewing and improving team IaC workflows.
• Operational Excellence: Ability to lead troubleshooting of high-impact incidents, implement monitoring solutions, and improve system reliability.
• Security-First Mindset: Experienced in aligning engineering solutions with frameworks such as FedRAMP, CIS, and NIST.
• Collaboration & Leadership: Proven ability to lead cross-functional projects, mentor team members, and influence stakeholders.
• Documentation & Communication: Skilled at creating technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and presenting complex solutions clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Manage and maintain Windows and Linux server environments, including system hardening, GPO configuration, user management, OS-level troubleshooting, and ensuring consistent patching across hybrid environments.

Bonus Points:
• Modern Architecture Expertise: Serverless, containers (Docker/Kubernetes), microservices, and event-driven systems.
• Tools: Familiarity with Visio, LucidChart, Jira, or similar platforms for diagramming and project coordination
• Compliance-Driven Engineering: Prior work in regulated industries (FedRAMP, HIPAA, PCI).
• Exposure to large-scale or high-availability production environments (24x7)
• Familiarity with encryption, PKI, and security baselines (for example, FIPS 140-2, CIS Benchmarks, DISA STIG)
• Previous experience in technical consulting engagements or cross-functional collaboration (for example, with security teams, compliance teams)
• Additional hands-on work with continuous monitoring and vulnerability management.
• AWS Solutions Architect Professional

Why You’ll Want to Join Us

At Coalfire, you’ll find the support you need to thrive personally and professionally. In many cases, we provide a flexible work model that empowers you to choose when and where you’ll work most effectively – whether you’re at home or an office.

Regardless of location, you’ll experience a company that prioritizes connection and wellbeing and be part of a team where people care about each other and our communities. You’ll have opportunities to join employee resource groups, participate in in-person and virtual events, and more. And you’ll enjoy competitive perks and benefits to support you and your family, like paid parental leave, flexible time off, certification and training reimbursement, digital mental health and wellbeing support membership, and comprehensive insurance options.

At Coalfire, equal opportunity and pay equity is integral to the way we do business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Coalfire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact our Human Resources team at [email protected].