AWS Cloud Engineer

On behalf of The Home Office, we are looking for an AWS Cloud Engineer Inside IR35 for a 12 month remote contract with visits to Croydon on an ad hoc basis.

SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active SV clearance.

The Home Office covers three systems Homeland Security, Public Safety and Borders, and Immigration and Citizenship. These systems work collaboratively to deliver our cross-cutting priorities, whilst providing increasingly efficient and secure services for the public. These are difficult areas that can rapidly change in the global environment we work in - this makes us one of the most exciting and stimulating government departments in which to work.

As an AWS Cloud Engineer, your main responsibilities will be:

Essential:

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Proficiency in designing, implementing, and maintaining infrastructure using Terraform, demonstrating a deep understanding of IaC principles to ensure scalability, reliability, and security.
• AWS Expertise: Extensive hands‑on experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS), including but not limited to EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, Redshift, and VPC configurations, along with a thorough understanding of AWS best practices.
• Git/GitLab/Pipelines: Strong command of Git/GitLab for version control, including implementing CI/CD workflows using GitLab CI.
• DevOps Methodologies: In‑depth knowledge of DevOps principles and practices, with the ability to orchestrate and automate end‑to‑end CI/CD pipelines for software deployment, testing, and monitoring.
• Scripting and Programming: Proficient in multiple programming languages (e.g., Terraform, Python, Bash, Ansible). Able to design, code, test, correct, and document programs and scripts. Experience reviewing specifications and defining test conditions and procedures. Have directed code reviews and promote refactoring techniques to enhance an enterprise level application codebase.
• Containerisation and Orchestration: Working knowledge of containerisation technologies such as Docker and container orchestration tools like Kubernetes, enabling efficient deployment and scaling of containerised applications.
• Security and Compliance: Strong understanding of security best practices in cloud and infrastructure management, ensuring the implementation of robust security measures and compliance standards within the environment.
• Experience: A track record of 6+ years as a Platform / DevOps Engineer, with hands‑on experience.

Preferred:

• Management of AWS Control Tower, Landing Zone along with the use methodologies like Account Factory for Terraform (AFT) or AWS Landing Zone Accelerator (LZA).
• Management of forward and reverse proxy solutions e.g. the open‑source products like Suricate or Fortinet solutions, along with experience of using AWS Native gateway products like AWS Network Firewall and WAF.
• Experience with Ansible, Salt, Puppet.
• GitLab CI and Artifactory administration (self-hosted ideally).
• AWS Data services: Glue, Athena, Lake Formation, QuickSight.
• Exposure to Entra ID and Microsoft Active Directory.
• GitLab Runners.
• AWS Grafana & Prometheus.

Soft Skills:

• Strong troubleshooting and critical thinking.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and lead technical discussions.
• Time management and attention to detail.
• Patience and pragmatism when dealing with stakeholders.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, the Home Office guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

The Home Office guarantees to interviewveterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".