Cloud Engineer

POSITION OVERVIEW

This position supports the AWS cloud infrastructure for the VISTA (Vehicle Importation Safety and Tracking Application) project at NHTSA. The role focuses on managing multi-account AWS environments, maintaining 72 Lambda functions across four environments, API Gateway backend operations, and security services implementation.

This is a specialized mid-level cloud engineering role that can be combined with other project work to create a full-time position.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

AWS Infrastructure Management (50% of role)

• Manage infrastructure across four AWS accounts (dev, test, stage, prod)

• Maintain and troubleshoot 72 Lambda functions (18 per environment)

• Support API Gateway backend serving Salesforce frontend

• Implement and maintain AWS security services (GuardDuty, IAM policies)

• Monitor CloudWatch logs and metrics for operational issues

• Manage S3 buckets, RDS PostgreSQL instances, SQS queues, and SNS topics

• Handle VPC networking and security group configurations

Lambda Function Maintenance (30% of role)

• Ongoing Python runtime upgrades (migrating from Python 3.9 to 3.13)

• Deploy Lambda function updates through standard PR approval process

• Troubleshoot Lambda function failures and performance issues

• Update Lambda layers and dependencies

• Optimize Lambda memory allocation and timeout configurations

• Implement error handling and retry logic improvements

Infrastructure as Code (15% of role)

• Maintain Terraform configurations for AWS resource management

• Review and approve infrastructure changes

• Ensure Terraform state consistency across environments

• Document infrastructure architecture and decisions

• Support infrastructure changes for new features

Security & Compliance (5% of role)

• Deploy GuardDuty Malware Protection to production (immediate priority: VISTA-1650)

• Maintain IAM roles and policies following least-privilege principles

• Support federal compliance requirements and ATO processes

• Address security findings and vulnerabilities

• Coordinate with security team on remediation efforts

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS

AWS Services (Expert Level)

• Lambda (function development, layers, event sources)

• API Gateway (REST APIs, authentication, throttling)

• S3 (bucket policies, lifecycle rules, event notifications)

• RDS PostgreSQL (basic connectivity and troubleshooting)

• SQS/SNS (queue management, DLQ configuration)

• GuardDuty, CloudWatch, IAM

• VPC networking and security groups

Infrastructure as Code

• Terraform (current version 1.11.2) for AWS resource management

• Understanding of Terraform state management

• Git/GitHub Enterprise for version control

• Infrastructure best practices and patterns

Programming & Scripting

• Python 3.13 (strong proficiency required for Lambda functions)

• boto3 (AWS SDK for Python)

• Basic understanding of SQL for troubleshooting database connectivity

• Windows cmd batch scripting

• AWS CLI for operational tasks

Federal Environment Experience

• Experience with government security requirements

• Understanding of ATO processes and compliance

• Comfortable with GFE (Government Furnished Equipment) restrictions

• Experience with CAC/PIV authentication and ADFS/zAccount credentials

REQUIRED SOFT SKILLS

• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities

• Self-directed and able to work independently

• Clear technical documentation skills

• Ability to respond to production issues calmly and methodically

• Comfortable explaining infrastructure decisions to non-technical stakeholders

FEDERAL COMPLIANCE & SECURITY CLEARANCE

• Must be able to obtain and maintain required federal background checks

• Work is performed on Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)

• All work must comply with NHTSA and DOT security policies

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Windows 11 GFE with cmd prompt (not PowerShell/bash)

• Enterprise GitHub and Atlassian (Jira/Confluence) tools

• Remote work with government-provided equipment

• Coordination with Halvik team and NHTSA government stakeholders

Halvik's pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.