Job Summary
We are seeking a professional Azure Cloud Engineer and Administrator to join our 30+ person ITS team at Hillsdale College. You will be responsible for designing, implementing, and managing cloud infrastructure that supports the College’s growing portfolio of web applications and microservices for its digital outreach platform that reach over 10 million people, including online.hillsdale.edu. Working closely with the College’s software development team, this role focuses on Microsoft Azure technologies, including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), B2C authorization and authentication, Azure Front Door, networking, logging, and Application Insights. The role requires a strong focus on Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to ensure secure, scalable, and version-controlled, repeatable infrastructure deployments that can be reviewed, tested, and automatically deployed alongside application code.
You will work closely with our System Administrators who manage the College’s hybrid Azure and on-premises Active Directory environment. This position requires deep technical expertise in Azure services, IaC tools, and collaboration with Systems Administrators, Network Administrators, Service Desk, and Academic Support teams to maintain a reliable, standardized, and secure cloud ecosystem.
The ideal candidate will have five or more years of experience managing Azure cloud environments that host applications with over 5 million monthly active users, with at least one year in a lead or administrative role, and advanced skills in implementing IaC using tools like Terraform, ARM templates, or Bicep. Collaboration and continuous improvement with other IT teams are critical to aligning cloud infrastructure with the College’s academic and operational goals.
While technical proficiency is essential, the successful candidate must serve with humility and empathy, fostering cross-team collaboration, and driving continuous improvement to optimize cloud infrastructure and ensure compliance with security and operational standards.
Essential Job Functions
Cloud Infrastructure Management and Support
- Design, deploy, and manage Azure cloud infrastructure (e.g., Virtual Machines, Azure App Services, Azure Kubernetes Service, Blob Storage, Virtual Networks) using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles to ensure scalability, security, and performance.
- Implement and maintain IaC workflows using tools like Terraform, Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, or Bicep to automate infrastructure provisioning and configuration.
- Maintain and version-control Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) artifacts in Git-based repositories, supporting automated, auditable, and scalable infrastructure within a DevOps environment.
- Leverage Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) to automate the provisioning of tailored development environments for engineering, testing, and security use cases.
- Maintain, secure and extend Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines for prod and non-prod environments.
- Maintain and extend the Azure AKS Kubernetes environment for custom application development for web-scale, internet-facing applications.
- Monitor and optimize Azure resources for cost efficiency, performance, and reliability using tools like Azure Monitor, Azure App Insights, Azure Advisor, and Cost Management.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex cloud infrastructure issues, including connectivity, performance bottlenecks, and security vulnerabilities, to minimize disruption to College operations.
- Deploy and manage Azure security tools (e.g., Azure Security Center, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault) to protect cloud resources and ensure compliance with data privacy and security standards.
- Implement Azure budget management practices including budget creation, cost allocation, resource tagging strategies, and automated alerting to ensure cloud spending remains within approved limits and supports financial planning and chargeback processes.
- Support the integration and management of cloud-based applications, including Microsoft 365, collaboration tools (e.g., Teams, SharePoint), and custom applications hosted in Azure.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of a knowledge management system to document cloud configurations, IaC scripts, troubleshooting guides, and best practices for team and user self-service.
- Provide periodic after-hours support to address critical cloud infrastructure issues and meet the demands of a 24/7 residential campus.
Operational Excellence
- Implement and refine ITIL-aligned processes (e.g., change management, incident management, configuration management) to ensure proactive cloud infrastructure administration and minimize service disruptions.
- Collaborate with Systems Administrators, Network Administrators, Service Desk, and Academic Support teams to align cloud infrastructure with organizational needs and drive continuous improvement in IT service delivery.
- Actively seek opportunities to automate repetitive cloud management tasks using IaC and scripting to increase efficiency, reduce errors, lower operating costs, and improve service levels.
- Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (e.g., cloud uptime, resource utilization, security compliance, deployment success rates) to drive operational improvements and confirm value delivery.
- Prepare and present reports for ITS leadership on cloud infrastructure health, security compliance, cost optimization, and performance metrics.
- Review and support change requests to ensure minimal risk to cloud infrastructure stability and IT services.
- Engage in at least 40 hours of continuing education annually to stay current with Azure services, IaC tools, cloud security practices, and ITIL methodologies.
