Google Cloud DevOps Engineer (Temporary Contract)

Job Description

About You

You're looking for a challenge where you can take ownership of building and maintaining Google Cloud infrastructure for a large-scale operational platform. You will work closely with a platform lead to stand up Kubernetes workloads (GKE clusters and/or Helm-based deployments, final architecture still being finalized with the client), CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native monitoring, with the heaviest infrastructure work taking place during the first two months as the platform comes online, followed by pipeline maintenance and deployment support through acceptance.

This is a platform-focused DevOps role where strong Terraform, Kubernetes, CI/CD, and Git expertise are essential. You will work within defined Dev/QA access boundaries and contribute to a structured delivery process.

Note: This role operates under a 5-month contractor model, with at least 4 hours of daily overlap with U.S. Eastern business hours required.

You Bring to Applaudo the Following Competencies:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field is desired, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience with Terraform on Google Cloud, including building and maintaining infrastructure from an existing baseline and building new modules from scratch where none exist (e.g., GKE)
• Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, including both GKE cluster setup/management and Helm chart packaging and deployment.
• Working knowledge of Cloud Run for containerized service deployment.
• Experience deploying and maintaining Cloud Composer (Airflow-based) for orchestration, including environment configuration.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines and environment promotion workflows, using Cloud Build and Artifact Registry.
• Experience implementing and maintaining Google Cloud-native monitoring, alerting, and logging using Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging.
• Strong Git fundamentals, including branching strategies, pull requests, and structured commit practices.
• Experience working within structured engineering environments involving documented designs, code reviews, and ticket-based delivery.
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code or similar tools as part of daily development workflows.
• Excellent communication skills in English, required to collaborate effectively with U.S.-based teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to maintain at least 4 hours of daily overlap with U.S. Eastern business hours.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Cloud Build and Artifact Registry.
• Experience working in security-conscious or government environments.

You Will Be Accountable for the Following Responsibilities:

• Build and configure Kubernetes workloads (GKE clusters and/or Helm chart deployments) and Google Cloud project environments using an existing Terraform baseline and custom modules.
• Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines and environment promotion workflows on Cloud Build.
• Deploy and maintain Cloud Composer environments supporting the data engineering team's orchestration needs.
• Support Cloud Run deployments as part of the broader infrastructure footprint.
• Configure and maintain Google Cloud-native monitoring, alerting, and logging.
• Produce, maintain, and support deployment packages through system acceptance.
• Maintain disciplined Git practices, including branching, pull requests, and commit hygiene across infrastructure and deployment work.
• Troubleshoot infrastructure, deployment, and CI/CD pipeline issues within assigned environments.
• Collaborate with platform and engineering teams to align infrastructure implementation with broader architecture and delivery standards.
• Operate within defined Dev/QA environment access boundaries and follow applicable security and operational requirements.
• Contribute to technical documentation, code reviews, and ticket-based delivery processes.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience with Terraform on Google Cloud Platform.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes (GKE and/or Helm-based deployments).
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines on Cloud Build and environment promotion workflows.
• Experience with GCP-native Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging.
• Experience with Cloud Composer or Apache Airflow orchestration.
• Strong Git fundamentals, including branching, pull requests, and commit discipline.
• Conversational English proficiency.

Additional Information