Senior Engineer - AWS

About the role

Thinkahead is on the lookout for a seasoned technical professional to oversee cloud infrastructure, automation, and financial governance for our enterprise clientele. This position is pivotal in connecting engineering efforts with financial strategies, focusing on optimizing cloud expenditures and establishing solid infrastructure protocols. The ideal candidate will possess a blend of practical technical skills and the ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Oversee and enhance cost allocation frameworks, budget management, and automated notifications across various cloud platforms.
• Ensure compliance with resource tagging standards to achieve a minimum of 90% coverage for essential cost-related data.
• Develop and sustain cost-visibility dashboards utilizing Power BI or the reporting tools available within cloud services.
• Conduct resource rightsizing and manage Reserved Instances or Savings Plans specifically for AWS and Azure environments.
• Implement policy-as-code strategies using tools such as Terraform, Bicep, or the native policy engines provided by cloud services.
• Automate remediation processes and play a key role in managing CI/CD pipelines through platforms like GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps.
• Collaborate with Finance and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) teams to project spending and enhance operational effectiveness.
• Analyze cloud usage patterns to identify cost-saving opportunities and recommend best practices for cloud resource management.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers and team members on cloud cost optimization strategies.
• Participate in cross-functional meetings to align cloud strategies with business objectives and financial goals.
• Stay updated on the latest cloud technologies and financial governance trends to continually improve processes and tools.
• Document processes, configurations, and best practices to ensure knowledge sharing within the team.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in a technical role that involves direct customer interaction.
• A minimum of 3 years in designing and deploying large-scale applications in cloud environments.
• 1 to 2 years of focused experience in FinOps or cloud cost optimization, particularly with AWS.
• Strong understanding of AWS and Azure cost management, including skills in forecasting and optimizing resource utilization.
• Proficient in architect-level development using programming languages such as Python, PowerShell, or Java.
• Solid networking expertise, including knowledge of VPCs, subnets, routing, and security groups.
• Experience managing multi-account AWS setups, including familiarity with Organizations, Control Tower, and Service Control Policies (SCPs).
• Skilled in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices using Terraform or AWS CloudFormation.
• Familiar with CI/CD tools like GitLab, Bitbucket, or Azure DevOps for continuous integration and deployment.
• Experience working within regulated environments such as SOC 2, HIPAA, or HITRUST compliance frameworks.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with third-party FinOps tools such as Apptio Cloudability, VMware Aria/CloudHealth, or Kubecost.
• Knowledge of security tools like Cloud Custodian, Trivy, or HashiCorp Vault for enhanced security governance.
• Experience with container security and image scanning for services like Amazon EKS or ECS.

Skills & tools

• Cloud Platforms: Proficient in AWS (including EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, EKS), Azure (VMs, App Services, AKS), and GCP.
• Observability Tools: Experience with Amazon CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Datadog, and Grafana for monitoring and logging.
• Automation Technologies: Skilled in using Terraform, Bicep, Ansible, Python, and PowerShell for automation tasks.
• Data & Reporting: Competent in using Power BI, Amazon QuickSight, and Kusto Query Language (KQL) for data analysis and reporting.
• Governance Practices: Knowledgeable in FinOps principles, Policy-as-Code methodologies, tagging audits, and compliance automation.

Practical notes

Thinkahead offers a robust health insurance package for employees and their dependents, along with flexible working arrangements to promote work-life balance. We also support professional development through certification programs. The position includes statutory retirement benefits and may require occasional travel. Candidates should be prepared to work outside regular hours when necessary to facilitate production rollouts or address critical customer needs.