Lead Cloud Operations Engineer

Lead Cloud Operations Engineer – Azure & Kubernetes Overview Our client is seeking a Lead Cloud Operations Engineer to provide technical leadership while remaining hands-on in the design, implementation, and support of enterprise-scale cloud infrastructure within Microsoft Azure. This role is ideal for a senior cloud professional who enjoys solving complex infrastructure challenges, mentoring engineering teams, and driving automation, scalability, security, and operational excellence. The successful candidate will play a key role in building and maintaining highly available, secure, and scalable cloud environments while partnering closely with engineering, DevOps, and customer-facing teams. Key Responsibilities Lead technical direction and best practices for Azure cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes (AKS) environments.Design, implement, and maintain Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform.Build, deploy, and support Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) production environments.Implement GitOps deployment strategies utilizing ArgoCD, Helm, and Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines.Design and administer Azure Application Gateway, Load Balancers, WAF, SSL termination, and ingress controllers.Manage Azure Key Vault, certificates, secrets management, and cloud security best practices.Build and maintain Azure Container Registry (ACR) repositories, image lifecycle management, and security scanning.Develop automation using Python, Bash, or Shell scripting to improve operational efficiency.Monitor infrastructure health, performance, availability, and security across cloud environments.Lead incident response, root cause analysis (RCA), problem resolution, and post-incident reviews.Optimize Azure infrastructure for performance, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency (FinOps).Troubleshoot Kubernetes clusters, networking, storage, identity, and authentication issues.Establish infrastructure standards, governance, compliance, and operational procedures.Mentor junior engineers through technical leadership, architecture guidance, and code reviews.Collaborate with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers to support cloud operations and platform initiatives.Support high availability, disaster recovery, backup strategies, and multi-region cloud deployments.Participate in on-call support and collaborate across multiple time zones when required. Required Qualifications 8+ years of Cloud Infrastructure or Cloud Operations Engineering experience.5+ years of hands-on Microsoft Azure experience within enterprise production environments.5+ years supporting and administering Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).Expert-level experience with Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC).Strong experience with Azure DevOps or comparable CI/CD platforms.Hands-on experience with ArgoCD, GitOps deployment methodologies, and Helm.Experience managing Azure Application Gateway, WAF, load balancing, SSL certificates, and ingress.Strong knowledge of Azure Key Vault, secrets management, and identity/security best practices.Experience supporting Azure Container Registry (ACR) and container image lifecycle management.Strong Linux administration and troubleshooting experience.Proficiency with automation scripting using Python, Bash, or Shell.Solid understanding of networking concepts including TCP/IP, DNS, routing, firewalls, VPNs, load balancing, and network troubleshooting.Proven experience leading technical initiatives while mentoring engineering teams.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. Preferred Qualifications Microsoft Azure Certifications (AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-700, or equivalent).Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD).Experience with cloud security platforms such as Microsoft Defender or Wiz.Azure API Management (APIM) experience.Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity planning (Azure Backup, Site Recovery).FinOps and cloud cost optimization experience.Experience working within regulated enterprise environments (financial services, banking, healthcare, insurance, etc.).Knowledge of compliance frameworks including SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or similar.Experience with Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics, and Application Insights. Technical Environment Microsoft AzureAzure Kubernetes Service (AKS)TerraformAzure DevOpsArgoCDHelmGitOpsAzure Application GatewayAzure Key VaultAzure Container Registry (ACR)LinuxPythonBash / ShellDockerKubernetesAzure MonitorAzure Log AnalyticsApplication InsightsPrometheusGrafana ,