Sr. Cloud Engineer (1 of 2)

About the role

The Senior Cloud Engineer will be accountable for driving the configuration and operation of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) cloud infrastructure services. The Senior Cloud Engineer will coordinate the partnership with a broad range of developers, engineers, business partners, and key University stakeholders to provide best-in-class cloud services.

Responsibilities

• Cloud Engineering
  Drives the configuration and operation of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) cloud infrastructure to meet the needs of a broad range of university customers by collaborating with developers, engineers, and business analysts.
  Coordinates collaboration with key stakeholders, including with vendor partners, to deliver cloud services.
  Drives the design and implementation of a secure, scalable, and robust cloud infrastructure.
  Standardizes, builds, and supports a portfolio of reusable cloud components, services, and interfaces to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of UCSF cloud infrastructure.
  Ensures cloud solutions follow security and compliance controls and performs routine audit of systems and software to maintain compliance with established standards and policies.
  Provides training and technical guidance for development teams moving to or utilizing the cloud infrastructure.

• Problem Solving
  Works closely with UCSF’s Platform Services, Infrastructure Services (IS), and Information Technology (IT) leadership to identify, implement, and support cost-effective, leading solutions for cloud engineering.
  Monitors customer and stakeholder needs.
  Provides troubleshooting support for issues escalated by the Customer Experience team.

• Customer Service
  Builds and maintains strong relationships with customers, partners, and stakeholders to ensure that consistent, reliable service is delivered to a range of university stakeholders.
  Utilizes best practices established around user experience and support to make decisions and define future platform services.

• Continuous Improvement
  Keeps up to date with changes in laws, regulations, and cloud technologies that may affect Platform Services operations and informs senior management and staff.
  Facilitates innovation and continuous improvement by leveraging the latest industry knowledge.

• Project Planning and Management
  Contributes to the successful execution of cloud infrastructure projects, ensuring the support, maintenance, and security of existing platforms.

• Communications and Training
  Creates, updates, and maintains comprehensive documentation of the server infrastructure, including server configurations, installed software, licenses, patch levels, and any changes to the server environment.
  Documents policies and procedures, including security and backup protocols, incidents and resolution processes, and compliance.
  Manages and shares technical knowledge within the team, ensuring that crucial information is accessible and understood by relevant stakeholders.
  Trains and mentors junior employees. This involves passing on technical expertise, guiding them in understanding cloud services processes, and providing hands-on training to ensure they are equipped to maintain and enhance the Platform Services systems.
  Maintains consistent communication with senior leaders to resolve escalations and provide updates.
  Proactively communicates with other departments and central IT units within UCSF to safely support UCSF’s cloud service’s needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of experience/training, in one or more of the following fields: computer science, computer information systems, etc.
• 5+ years of experience in one or more of the following fields: information technology, computer science, engineering, etc.
• Associate-level cloud certification in AWS, Azure, GCP, or equivalent cloud platform, or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated experience in information technology with a focus on platform engineering and cloud services.
• Advanced knowledge of the design, development and application of technology and systems to meet business needs.
• Advanced experience migrating on-premises workloads to cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP, including support for hybrid and virtualized environments.
• Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure and applications, including GitHub Actions or similar tools.
• Experience applying DevOps practices, including infrastructure automation, continuous delivery, and collaboration across development and operations teams.
• Extensive knowledge of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and integration with cloud data providers.
• Experience with Linux, Windows, containerization, and orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes.
• Demonstrated experience with cloud-based automation tools and processes.
• Proven experience provisioning and maintaining cloud-based infrastructure.
• Strong ability to adapt technology solutions to meet user needs.
• Demonstrated understanding of system dependencies and how changes impact interconnected systems and users.
• Advanced troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in production cloud environments, including incident response, root cause analysis, and performance optimization.
• Strong proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and Ansible, including development of reusable modules, templated configurations, and automated infrastructure workflows.
• Strong customer focus with the ability to triage issues, manage escalations, and deliver solutions that meet service-level agreements, institutional policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to communicate technical information and ideas to diverse colleagues and stakeholders.
• Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with team members, stakeholders, and customers.
• Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to scope solutions based on available resources and timelines.
• Experience participating in activities to advance an inclusive environment that values equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Ability to think creatively and propose innovative ideas, including the incorporation of new technologies or processes.
• Ability to work with agility in a fast-paced environment.