Azure Infrastructure Engineer

As an Azure Infrastructure Engineer, you will join our Infrastructure Operations team, owning, supporting and evolving secure Microsoft Azure and hybrid Windows platforms. You will help ensure availability, performance, security and cost-effective operation across business-critical cloud services, while driving automation, standardisation and modernisation.

Working closely with cloud, network, security, application and service teams, you will design, implement and operate resilient Azure solutions across the UK&I. The role combines hands-on Azure engineering with strong Windows infrastructure expertise to support migrations, platform improvement and reliable transition into operational service.

Azure Platform Engineering & Operations: 

• Administer, maintain and support Azure subscriptions, management groups, resource groups and core platform services within established governance controls. 

• Deploy and manage Azure Virtual Machines, managed disks, availability sets/zones, virtual networks, network security groups, private endpoints, load balancing and supporting platform components. 

• Operate Azure identity and access services, including Microsoft Entra ID, role-based access control, managed identities, privileged access and access reviews. 

• Support Azure Backup, recovery services, business continuity and disaster recovery, including recovery testing and remediation of identified gaps. 

• Use Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerts, dashboards and service health information to manage availability, performance and capacity. 

• Manage cloud resource lifecycle, tagging, policy compliance, security posture and cost optimisation, escalating risks or exceptions where required. 

Hybrid Windows Infrastructure:

• Administer and support Windows Server workloads hosted in Azure and on-premises, including Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022. 

• Support Active Directory Domain Services, Group Policy, DNS, DFS, DHCP, RDS, IIS, Certificate Services and Windows Failover Clustering in hybrid environments. 

• Perform server provisioning, configuration, hardening, patching, vulnerability remediation, upgrade and decommissioning activities. 

• Support Azure-connected and migration technologies such as Azure Arc, Azure Migrate and hybrid identity where applicable. 

Automation, Infrastructure as Code & Continuous Improvement:

• Develop and maintain automation using PowerShell, Azure CLI and approved scripting technologies. 

• Build and support infrastructure-as-code solutions using Bicep and/or Terraform, with reusable modules, version control and peer review. 

• Use Azure DevOps or Git-based workflows to support controlled deployment, configuration management and platform standardisation. 

• Identify and deliver improvements that increase reliability, security, operational efficiency and service quality. 

Security, Governance & Compliance:

• Apply Azure Policy, role-based access controls, resource locks, tagging standards and platform guardrails in line with organisational requirements. 

• Support Microsoft Defender for Cloud, vulnerability management, security recommendations and remediation activities. 

• Maintain technical documentation, operational procedures, architecture records and support guides for Azure and hybrid services. 

Cloud Migration & Project Delivery:

• Support discovery, assessment, design and migration of Windows workloads and services into Microsoft Azure. 

• Work with network, storage, security, cloud and application teams to deliver integrated landing zone and workload solutions. 

• Complete testing, operational readiness, knowledge transfer and transition activities for new or changed cloud services. 

Operational Support:

• Participate in a 24x7 on-call rota as required, supporting critical Azure and Windows infrastructure services. 

• Provide occasional out-of-hours support for planned cloud changes, maintenance, recovery testing and critical incidents. 

Technical Skills:

• Hands-on experience administering Microsoft Azure production environments, including subscriptions, resource groups, compute, storage, networking, monitoring and backup. 

• Experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, managed identities and secure access controls. 

• Experience supporting Azure networking, including virtual networks, subnets, NSGs, private connectivity, DNS and load balancing. 

• Strong PowerShell automation skills, with practical experience of Azure CLI and/or Azure PowerShell. 

• Experience implementing infrastructure as code using Bicep and/or Terraform through Git-based deployment workflows. 

• Experience with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerting, diagnostics and operational troubleshooting. 

• Knowledge of Azure security, governance and compliance controls, including Azure Policy and Defender for Cloud. 

• Experience supporting Windows Server and Active Directory services in hybrid or cloud-hosted environments. 

• Experience with backup, recovery, patching, vulnerability remediation and service continuity processes. 

• Strong troubleshooting skills across Azure, Windows, identity, network and application dependencies. 

Operational Skills:

• Experience working within ITIL-based service management environments and operating business-critical cloud services. 

• Strong understanding of Incident, Problem, Change and Major Incident Management, including cloud service health and vendor escalation. 

• Ability to balance operational stability, security, technical debt, cost awareness and delivery priorities. 

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving abilities. 

• Clear communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain cloud risks and options to technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Ability to work effectively both independently and within multidisciplinary teams. 

• Strong organisational, documentation and knowledge-sharing skills. 

• Proactive approach to technical ownership, service improvement and cloud platform standards. 

Preferred (Nice-to-Have):

• Experience working within secure government, defence or critical national infrastructure environments. 

• Experience with Azure landing zones, management groups, policy initiatives and enterprise-scale governance. 

• Experience with Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR and cloud security monitoring. 

• Knowledge of Azure Arc, Azure Migrate, Azure Site Recovery, Intune and Azure Update Manager. 

• Experience with Azure DevOps pipelines, Git, CI/CD and automated testing of infrastructure deployments. 

• Experience with Terraform, Ansible or other configuration and deployment automation tools. 

• Understanding of Azure cost management, budgets, reservations and optimisation practices. 

• Microsoft certifications such as Azure Administrator Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Network Engineer Associate or Azure Security Engineer Associate. 

Education & Qualifications:

• Degree, apprenticeship, technical qualification or equivalent experience within an IT-related discipline. 

• Relevant Microsoft Azure certification is preferred but not required. 

Security Clearance:

• SC security clearance is required.