• Location: Mechanicsville, Virginia
• Remote: Remote
• Type: Contract
• Job #12737

DataStaff, Inc. is in need of an Azure DevOps Cloud Engineer for a long-term contract opportunity with one of our direct clients in Richmond, VA.

*This role is remote

Job Description:
The DevOps and Cloud Engineer supports the Tolling modernization by building secure, automated deployment processes and ensuring reliable delivery and updates of services. The role standardizes CI/CD, improves availability, and cost efficiency.

Responsibilities:
Core Responsibilities: DevOps & Cloud Engineering

CI/CD Engineering & Release Automation

• Design, build, and maintain CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps (YAML and Classic) for microservices and APIs.
• Establish reusable pipeline templates, release standards, and guardrails for compliant, repeatable deployments.
• Implement secure secrets and key management using Azure Key Vault and managed identities in pipelines.
• Automate database deployment workflows (e.g., DACPAC/SQLCMD) and integrate migration steps into releases.
• Enable blue/green or automated rollback strategies to minimize downtime and risk.

Environment Consistency & Observability

• Standardize provisioning and configuration across Dev/QA/Prod environments; codify configuration baselines.
• Build monitoring dashboards and actionable alerts for pipeline and deployment health (App Insights, pipeline logs).
• Uphold DevOps best practices tailored to a compliant government environment.

Azure Resource Engineering & Governance

• Implement and maintain Azure services and governance standards (e.g., App Services, Function Apps, API Gateways/API Management, AKS) supporting Tolling workloads.
• Support identity and access management (e.g., Entra ID SSO and role assignments) following least-privilege principles.
• Ensure solutions are fault-tolerant and highly available; coordinate change requests and rollback procedures.

Monitoring, Troubleshooting & Reliability

• Monitor Azure services and application workloads to ensure uptime and performance; perform diagnostic deep-dives with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.
• Triage production incidents, drive timely resolution, and document root cause findings; participate in operational cycles and maintenance readiness checks.

Compliance, Data Flows & Cost Awareness

• Consider PCI or comparable regulatory requirements when evaluating system behavior, logging, and integrations.
• Understand end-to-end data flows across tolling systems (e.g., roadway data, financial transactions, reporting) and support optimization of integrations.
• Contribute to cloud cost visibility and optimization recommendations; align operational choices with governance and budget goals.

Collaboration & Communication

• Partner with architects, developers, DBAs, and engineers to align deployments with secure network and identity configurations; communicate clearly with stakeholders.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Azure application deployment engineering (e.g., App Services, Functions, Containers, APIs).
• Scripting & automation (PowerShell and/or Python).
• Experience with Azure administration/engineering in production environments.
• Experience designing CI/CD standards or DevOps frameworks for microservices.
• Azure certifications (e.g., AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-400) preferred.

Required Skills:

• 4 Years - Azure DevOps CI/CD (YAML & Classic)
• 3 Years - Azure App Services / Functions / APIs / Containers
• 3 Years - Secure Secrets & Key Management (Key Vault, RBAC, managed identities)
• 1 Year - SQL Deployment Automation (DACPAC, SQLCMD, CI/CD-integrated DB migrations)
• 3 Years - Environment Provisioning & Configuration (Dev/QA/Prod standardization)
• 3 Years - Logging & Observability (App Insights, pipeline logs, dashboards, alerts)
• 2 Years - Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/Bicep/ARM)
• 1 Year - Identity & Access (Entra ID), least-privilege IAM
• 1 Year - PCI or similar compliance frameworks

Desired Skills:

• 1 Year - AKS / Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• 1 Year - Governance & Compliance Automation (Azure Policy, RBAC, pipeline guardrails)
• 1 Year - Cloud Cost Analysis & Optimization

This position is available on a corp-to-corp basis or as a W2 position with a competitive benefits package. DataStaff, Inc. offers medical, dental and vision coverage options as well as paid vacation, sick and holiday leave. As many of our opportunities are long-term, we also have a 401k program available for employees after 6 months.