Lead Azure Cloud Engineer

The Lead Azure Cloud Engineer will oversee the design, implementation, and management of hybrid cloud solutions, with a strong focus on Microsoft 365 services, including Office 365, SharePoint Online, Intune, and Exchange Online. This role involves providing strategic leadership in the integration of on-premises Active Directory with Azure Active Directory and ensuring the scalability, security, and efficiency of the organization’s cloud infrastructure. The Lead Cloud Engineer will mentor team members & lead where necessary, drive innovative solutions, and act as a subject matter expert for all hybrid cloud initiatives.

 

Key Responsibilities:

• Guide and support Azure and Infrastructure engineers, fostering their professional development and encouraging growth within the organization.
• Lead performance management, professional development, and hiring for the Azure and Infrastructure engineering team.
• Lead and collaborate with Azure and infrastructure engineers to design, build Azure landing zones and foundational services to support large-scale VMware-to-Azure migrations.
• Plan, execute, and support the migration of workloads from on-premises virtualized environments to Azure using approved tools, patterns, and architectures.
• Deploy, configure, and manage Azure infrastructure components including virtual machines, networking, storage, identity, and security services.
• Maintain and operate the Azure environment, ensuring availability, performance, security, and cost optimization.
• Identify and execute strategies for cost reduction.
• Implement and enforce Azure best practices related to governance, security, monitoring, and resiliency.
• Support application and project teams by provisioning Azure resources and advising on cloud-appropriate designs.
• Participate in troubleshooting and resolving Azure infrastructure incidents and performance issues.
• Contribute to automation and infrastructure-as-code initiatives to standardize deployments and reduce manual effort.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, standards, and operational procedures for Azure services.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to continuously improve cloud platform capabilities and migration outcomes.
• Lead cyber-recovery capabilities, including isolated recovery environment (IRE) design, immutable backups, and ransomware-resilient architecture.
• Design and enforce a Zero Trust security model using Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM).
• Design, implement, and maintain a global IT infrastructure DR strategy.

Minimum Requirements

• 8+ years of IT infrastructure experience, including 5+ years of experience working with Microsoft Azure cloud services.
• Hands-on experience with Azure IaaS (VMs, networking, storage) and PaaS (App Services, SQL, Functions, etc.).
• Strong background in virtualization technologies, preferably VMware vSphere/ESXi.
• Experience migrating workloads from on-premises environments to Azure.
• Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code tools such as ARM templates, Bicep, or Terraform.
• Solid understanding of networking (VPN, ExpressRoute, load balancers, firewalls, DNS).
• Knowledge of cloud security, identity and access management (Microsoft Entra ID), and compliance best practices.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in hybrid cloud environments.
• Familiarity with scripting/automation (PowerShell, Python, or similar).
• Prior experience leading or mentoring a team of infrastructure engineers, including performance management and hiring.
• Experience designing backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions in Azure, including immutable backup patterns.
• Hands-on experience with Azure Migrate, Azure Site Recovery, and Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) / Well-Architected Framework (WAF).
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Azure certifications (e.g., AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-700, or equivalent).
• Experience with hybrid cloud solutions integrating Azure with VMware or other on-premises systems.
• Familiarity with DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, etc.).
• Strong cloud security experience and cloud security certifications.
• Exposure to backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity in Azure.
• Knowledge of containerization and orchestration (AKS, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong communication and collaboration skills to work across infrastructure, security, and application teams.
• Experience designing or operating cloud infrastructure in regulated industries (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part