Cloud Engineer

Awarded a Healthiest Employer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona aims to fulfill its mission to inspire health and make it easy. AZ Blue offers a variety of health insurance products and services to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families, and small and large businesses as well as providing information and tools to help individuals make better health decisions.

We are hiring for a future start date of 1/1/2025

This position is hybrid within the state of AZ only.  This hybrid work opportunity requires residency, and work to be performed, within the State of Arizona.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

• The Cloud Engineer is responsible for implementing the company’s cloud computing strategy. This includes implementation, collaborating on strategy and roadmaps, developing infrastructure diagrams and designs, and providing governance. Cloud Engineers work with cross functional teams including Infrastructure, Operations, Security, Business and Application Development. Cloud solutions include public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud. Additionally, Cloud Engineers act as consultants to the organization and need to stay up to date on the latest trends and issues.
• As a member of the Cloud Infrastructure team, supports new Cloud implementations as well as implementing and supporting of existing solutions including on premise Virtualization, Compute and Storage platforms.  Assesses business requirements; collects and identifies technical specifications; and develops technology solutions. Envisions and creates solutions that meet requirements; models pieces and infrastructure and points of integration; proves feasibility of a design; creates design artifacts required to deliver and maintain cloud solutions; drives implementations through to completion and supports in production.
• Work to ensure that new technology solutions are designed for optimal access and usefulness while meeting SLAs, HIPAA compliance (also other regulatory such as PCI, NIST or HITRUST) and leveraging existing technologies where possibles).  Understands system-wide impacts to address gaps and move towards future state architecture to support growth, optimization and innovation.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Required Work Experience

Experience with implementing and maintaining public, private and hybrid virtualization, converged and hyperconverged compute and storage platforms as well as IaaS and PaaS cloud solutions, troubleshooting problems, with an emphasis on technical problem solving

• Level 2: 2 years
• Level 3: 4 years
• Level 4: 5 years

Experience with automation, deploying Infrastructure as code through Agile process and pipelines. Strategic implementations and maintenance of these solutions. Experience with deployment / administration of Cloud technologies

• Level 2: 2 years
• Level 3: 4 years
• Level 4: 5 years

Experience in project management and delivery leadership

• Level 3: 1 year
• Level 4: 2 years

Experience in cloud and infrastructure architecture

• Level 4: 2 years

Required Education

• High-School Diploma or GED in general field of study

Required Licenses

• N/A

Required Certifications

• N/A

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Preferred Work Experience

Experience with implementing and maintaining public, private and hybrid virtualization, converged and hyperconverged compute and storage platforms as well as IaaS and PaaS cloud solutions, troubleshooting problems, with an emphasis on technical problem solving

• Level 1: 2 years
• Level 2: 3 years
• Level 3: 5 years
• Level 4: 7 years

Experience with automation, deploying Infrastructure as code through Agile process and pipelines. Strategic implementations and maintenance of these solutions. Experience with deployment / administration of Cloud technologies

• Level 1: 2 years
• Level 2: 3 years
• Level 3: 5 years
• Level 4: 7 years

Experience in designing and implementing multiple tier architecture solutions, developing high-performance and secure systems, and system integration.

• Level 2: 2 years
• Level 3: 5 years
• Level 4: 7 years

Experience in project management and delivery leadership

• Level 2: 2 years
• Level 3: 5 years
• Level 4: 7 years

Experience in cloud and infrastructure architecture

• Level 2: 1 year
• Level 3: 2 years
• Level 4: 3 years

Interface with executive level team members

• Level 4: 2 years

Preferred Education

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, or related field

Preferred Licenses

• N/A

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect
• Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer
• AWS Solutions Architect
• CCNA Cloud

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Level 1 - Performs job functions under general supervision or peer review
• Level 2 - Performs job functions with moderate supervision and or peer review
• Level 3 - Performs job functions with minimal supervision
• Level 4 - Performs job functions in an architect / lead capacity

• Provide implementation and experience during all cloud adoption activities.
• Serve as technical owner and IT focal point for all public, private and hybrid cloud IaaS and PaaS solutions including containerization solutions.
• Setup and maintain monitoring, metrics & reporting systems for fine-grained observability and actionable alerting.
• Diagnose and troubleshoot cloud related issues escalated by service desk teams or routed via incident management in a 24x7 environment
• Communicates effectively with Development and Operations teams to align on requirements, driving SDLC requirements, capabilities, and limitations pertinent to delivering highly resilient applications.
• Collaborate on standards and policies for cloud IaaS and PaaS service adoption, providing clarity for enabling compliant and secure Cloud solutions that meet project and initiative milestones.
• Researches and benchmarks best practices and/or products in the area of cloud technologies. Routinely gathers and assesses changing business needs. Analyzes and modifies enterprise technology strategy and architecture. Analyzes how business processes interact with technology to create value for the business
• Establish cloud computing templates and implementation guidance for applications that leverage laaS solutions to meet BCBSAZ use cases. Integrate application design strategies to include the design of loosely coupled cloud resources to allow for a redundant and resilient end user application design.
• Has an ‘Automation First” mindset . Responsible for evaluating and implementing orchestration, automation, and tooling solutions to ensure consistent processes and repetitive tasks are performed with the highest level of accuracy and reduced defects
• Collaborate on a cloud goverance model and maintain it. This includes configuration, access and cost management.
• Ensures cloud solutions are production ready and meet the defined specifications, and that the solution can be maintained via production support methodologies and resources.
• Collaborate on and execute on near/mid/long term cloud strategy and roadmaps (0-60 months), in adherence to, and in support of enterprise standards, policy, strategy and roadmaps.
• Apply engineering concepts to design cloud solutions that meet operational requirements, such as scalability, maintainability, security, reliability, extensibility, flexibility, availability and manageability.
• Assist with developing the service level agreements (SLAs) and deployment of key performance measures.
• Collaborate in the Cloud Center of Excellence agenda and follow up; acting as the cloud subject matter expert.
• Works across IT areas including Enterprise Architecture,  Software Delivery teams, Production Support and Operations teams to ensure adequate system performance based on business requirements and industry best practices.
• Ensures cloud solutions meet internal Legal, Compliance and Privacy policies and requirements.
• Report on cloud consumption monthly.
• Responsible for cloud specific content/collateral, document the current state and future state architecture.
• Develop and implement cloud solutions that are designed for HIPAA and other regulatory compliance such as PCI, NIST or HITRUST, optimal access and usefulness, and leverage existing technologies when possible.
• Participate in internal and external audits and remediate findings.
• Participate in research and development efforts (proofs of concept, prototypes), as subject matter expert, when introducing new technologies.
• Educate and influence others in order to gain buy-in on proposed solutions.
• Perform cost-benefit and return on investment analyses for proposed systems to aid management in making implementation decisions.
• Keep current and informed of cloud technologies and best practices.
• Collaborate well with peers and team members in the areas of technical skills and competencies.
• The position requires a full-time work schedule.  Full-time is defined as working at least 40 hours per week, plus any overtime as requested or needed to perform job responsibilities.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

• Required Job Skills (Applies to All Levels)
• Intermediate skill in use of office equipment, including copiers, fax machines, scanner and telephones
• Intermediate PC proficiency
• Intermediate proficiency in spreadsheet, database and word processing software
• Knowledge of Cloud IaaS and PaaS solutions
• Knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Linux Operating Systems
• Knowledge of hypervisors such as VMware, Microsoft or Nutanix
• Knowledge of containerization solutions such as Docker, Azure AKS or other Kubernetes platforms
• Knowledge of on premise compute platforms such as Cisco, HP or Dell EMC
• Knowledge of on premise storage platforms such as Pure, NetApp or Dell EMC
• Knowledge of automation for implementing Infrastructure as Code and Agile pipelines using solutions such as VMWare vRealize, Terraform, Chef, Puppet, Ansible or Powershell.
• Knowledge of network concepts including routing and firewall controls
• Knowledge of deploying, monitoring and maintaining servers
• Knowledge of identity and access controls
• Knowledge of security controls
• Knowledge of cloud security principals, architectures, and best practices (levels 3 and 4)
• Knowledge of security concepts like authentication, authorization, perimeter security, access control, least privledge, confidentiality, and integrity (levels 3 and 4).
• Knowledge of network security systems, authentication mechanisms, threats, and controls (levels 3 and 4).

Required Professional Competencies (Applies to All Levels)

• Has integrity and trust, is self-driven and collaborative
• Ability to utilize analytical skills, take appropriate risks, while dealing with ambiguity and make effective decisions using available data.
• Ability to be approachable, develop peer relationships and build synergy with a diverse team in an ever-changing environment
• Anticipate downstream technical needs and steer architectural designs to appropriately factor in considerations.
• Analytical skills to support independent and effective decisions.
• Ability to be customer focused with verbal and written communications skills and the ability to interact professionally with a diverse group of executives, managers, and subject matter experts.
• Knowledge of modern enterprise solutions.
• Be driven for results and work effectively with management, project managers, business analysts, developers, engineers, architects, system administrators, and QA to conceive, design, and deliver successful solutions.
• Work with all levels of management and functional areas in BCBSAZ and understand the potential implications of system changes to those areas.
• Ability to be self-aware and emotionally intelligent, able to give and receive constructive feedback and continue self-development.

Required Architecture and Leadership Experience and Competencies

• Ability to prioritize tasks and work with multiple priorities, sometimes under limited time constraints. (Applies to Levels 2 - 4)
• Ability to provide mentoring and peer review to team members (Applies to Levels 3 and 4)
• Provide leadership, promote teamwork, meet objectives and exercise independent judgment (Applies to Level 4)
• Ability to build synergy with a diverse team in an ever-changing environment (Applies to Level 4)
• Design and deliver complex architectures along with supporting documents. (Applies to Level 4)

PREFERRED COMPETENCIES

Preferred Job Skills (Applies to All Levels)

• Expert knowledge designing highly redundant, scalable, multi-tier enterprise transaction processing systems from front end to back end.
• Expert knowledge and experience with a variety of governance standards and frameworks
• Expert knowledge and experience in deploying and supporting a variety of cloud security concepts (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) and mobile architectures
• Experience moving workloads from on premise to laaS and PaaS.
• Experience with automation for implementing Infrastructure as Code and Agile pipelines using solutions such as VMWare vRealize, Terraform, Chef, Puppet, Ansible or Powershell.
• Experience with containerization solutions such as Docker, Azure AKS or other Kubernetes platforms
• Expert knowledge of HIPAA, NIST, HITRUST security and privacy standards.
• In depth knowledge of healthcare and health plan data structures and business processes and workflows.
• Demonstrated thorough understanding of modern enterprise infrastructure and cloud solutions, hands-on experience with Infrastructure hypervisor, compute and storage platforms.
• Knowledge of Security, Application Development, Infrastructure and Operations.
• Knowledge of cloud security principals, architectures, and best practices (levels 1 and 2).
• Knowledge of network security systems, authentication mechanisms, threats, and controls (levels 1 and 2).
• Knowledge of multi-factor technologies and their implementation.
• Knowledge of modern authentication, multi-factor technologies, implementation and appropriate use cases.
• Knowledge of security concepts like authentication, authorization, perimeter security, access control, least privledge, confidentiality, and integrity (levels 1 and 2).
• Knowledge of encryption, key management, and appropriate use cases
• Knowledge of implementing IT strategy, enterprise architectures and security architectures
• Knowledge of third-party auditing and cloud risk assessment methodologies

Preferred Professional Competencies (Applies to All Levels)

• Strong analytical skills to support independent and effective decisions
• Ability to prioritize tasks and work with multiple priorities, sometimes under limited time constraints.
• Perserverance in the face of resistance or setbacks.
• Able to operate at highly varying levels of abstraction including business strategy, product strategy, technical design and implementation.
• Strong project management and delivery skills

Preferred Architecture and Leadership Experience and Competencies

• Experience implementing projects and working collaboratively with other departments levels (Levels 2 - 4)
• Demonstrated ability to lead and deliver multiple large initiatives at a time (Applies to Levels 3 and 4)
• Present to executive leadership about designs and ongoing projects (Applies to Levels 3 and 4)

Our Commitment

AZ Blue does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other protected group.

Thank you for your interest in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.  For more information on our company, see azblue.com.  If interested in this position, please apply.