Principal Cloud Engineer

Principal Cloud Engineer at Western Governors University

Western Governors University (WGU) is reimagining higher education through technology and innovation. We’re seeking a Principal Cloud Engineer to help design and build the next generation of cloud infrastructure that powers accessible, high-quality education for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide. Grade:
Technical 411;
Pay Range: $ - $.

• Design, build, and optimize AWS-based infrastructure for scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Serve as WGU’s Kubernetes expert, leading cluster design, deployment automation, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
• Implement and manage Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and CI/CD pipelines using tools like Terraform, Ansible, and Cloud Formation.
• Define and maintain High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies to meet RTO/RPO targets.
• Partner with engineering, product, and architecture teams to ensure cloud infrastructure supports academic and business objectives.
• Automate provisioning, monitoring, and deployments to accelerate delivery and reduce operational overhead.
• Mentor engineers and promote Dev Ops, security, and cloud architecture best practices across teams.

• Expert-level hands‑on experience with AWS services and distributed systems design.
• Deep Kubernetes expertise, including cluster configuration, scaling, networking, and observability.
• Strong proficiency with automation and configuration management tools such as Terraform, Ansible, and Cloud Formation.
• Scripting and programming skills in Python, Bash, or Node.js.
• Solid knowledge of cloud networking, security, and monitoring.
• Experience with observability tools like Cloud Watch, New Relic, or Prometheus.
• Proven success implementing CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure automation at scale.
• Excellent communication, documentation, and collaboration skills.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or related field (or equivalent relevant experience).
• AWS Certified Dev Ops Engineer – Professional and AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (both required).
• 6+ years of experience managing production cloud or IT workloads.
• 3+ years of hands‑on experience with core AWS services (VPC, IAM, EC2, ELB, RDS, Route
  53, S3).
• 3+ years of experience building CI/CD pipelines using Code Build, Code Pipeline, and/or Code Deploy.
• 3+ years of experience automating infrastructure with Terraform, Ansible, and Cloud Formation.
• 3+ years using AWS governance and compliance tools such as Config, Inspector, and Lambda.

• Experience integrating AWS with on‑prem or hybrid enterprise technologies.
• Expertise with serverless computing (Lambda, Step Functions) and cloud cost optimization.
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks (HIPAA, FERPA, PCI, SOX).
• JSON/YAML fluency and API integration experience.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading cross‑functional technical initiatives.

At WGU, you’ll help shape the future of education through cloud innovation. You’ll join a mission‑driven team that values collaboration, autonomy, and purpose — working on systems that truly make a difference in learners’ lives.

This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, however management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require.

Full‑Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours):
This is a full‑time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for…