[Remote] Cloud Systems Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Red Cell Partners is an incubation firm building and investing in technology-led companies in healthcare, cyber, and national security, including DEFCON AI, an insights company using artificial intelligence, mathematical optimization, data analytics, and software engineering. DEFCON AI is seeking a Cloud Systems Engineer to own AWS, Azure, Microsoft 365, and Entra ID infrastructure, including cloud operations, identity administration, automation, security, compliance, monitoring, and AI platform administration.

Responsibilities

• Administer and maintain AWS and Azure environments, including day-to-day operations of virtual machines, networking, and storage across both providers
• AWS: deploy, maintain, and optimize EC2, RDS, S3, IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, and CloudTrail; manage VPCs, subnets, routing tables, security groups, and NACLs
• Azure: administer virtual machines, virtual networks and NSGs, storage accounts, Azure Files, Key Vault, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Site Recovery across subscriptions
• Build and manage hardened VM images and golden images for consistent, repeatable deployments
• Implement and support high availability, auto-scaling, backup, and disaster recovery configurations
• Support multi-account and multi-subscription governance structures — AWS Organizations, Azure Management Groups, and equivalent landing-zone constructs
• Own the Microsoft 365 tenant end to end: Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and licensing
• Administer the identity plane — Conditional Access policies, MFA enforcement, RBAC and least privilege, privileged access, hybrid identity, and application registrations. and role assignments, and conditional access policies
• Run the full user lifecycle: provisioning, onboarding, role changes, offboarding, and access reviews, automated wherever the volume justifies it
• Manage the endpoint fleet through Intune, including compliance policies, configuration profiles, patching, and device lifecycle
• Administer single sign-on and provisioning integrations (SAML, SCIM) between Entra ID and the SaaS platforms we operate
• Support data governance and protection through Purview, sensitivity labels, and DLP policy where applicable
• Design and maintain infrastructure using Terraform — modular design, remote state management, and workspace strategy — across both AWS and Azure
• Build reusable, secure baseline modules for network architecture, IAM roles, logging, monitoring, and encryption
• Automate operational workflows in PowerShell, Bash, and Python, including Microsoft Graph API automation for identity and tenant tasks
• Integrate infrastructure provisioning and security controls into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or equivalent) and maintain version-controlled infrastructure repositories
• Implement automated drift detection and remediation, and enforce policy-as-code guardrails
• Apply and maintain hardening baselines (CIS Benchmarks, DISA STIGs) across Linux and Windows systems and cloud tenants
• Configure and monitor AWS CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, and Config alongside Microsoft Defender and Entra ID sign-in and audit logging
• Support SIEM integration (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or equivalent) and assist with incident response
• Maintain the vulnerability management lifecycle: patching, remediation tracking, and reporting
• Support compliance aligned to NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, and FedRAMP or SOC 2 as applicable, including evidence collection for assessments
• Administer the AI platforms in our environment — Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, AWS Bedrock, and Microsoft 365 Copilot — including seats and licensing, SSO and provisioning, retention and data controls, connector and agent governance, and spend limits
• Enforce and communicate standards for what data may be placed into AI tooling, particularly where CUI or controlled data is involved
• Partner with engineering, security, and operations to deliver reliable, scalable services
• Produce and maintain architecture diagrams, runbooks, SOPs, and audit evidence artifacts without being asked for them
• Contribute to capacity forecasting, resource planning, and cloud cost management

Skills

• 5+ years in systems administration, cloud operations, or infrastructure engineering
• 3+ years hands-on administering AWS in production, including virtual machine administration, networking, and IAM
• 2+ years administering a Microsoft 365 tenant with real admin rights — Entra ID, Exchange Online, Conditional Access, licensing, and user lifecycle. Help-desk support of Microsoft 365 does not meet this bar
• Hands-on Microsoft Azure administration in a production environment
• Demonstrated automation of operational workflows using PowerShell, Bash, or Python; working Terraform experience
• Strong understanding of IAM, encryption (KMS, TLS), and network segmentation
• Experience with Linux (RHEL or Amazon Linux) and Windows Server in a cloud context
• Experience working in Department of Defense or Department of War environments and applying their security requirements
• Disciplined documentation habits — runbooks, SOPs, and configuration records maintained as a matter of course
• US Citizenship Required. All work must be performed within the United States
• Microsoft 365 GCC High tenant experience
• Terraform depth including modular design, state management, and leading IaC migrations from legacy tooling
• Container platform experience — Docker with ECS, EKS, or AKS
• AWS certifications (Solutions Architect, SysOps Administrator, Security Specialty) or Azure equivalents (AZ-104); Microsoft 365 Administrator (MS-102); CompTIA Security+
• AWS Control Tower, Landing Zones, or Azure Landing Zone governance tooling
• SIEM platform experience (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel)
• Administration of AI platforms at the tenant or account level - Anthropic, OpenAI, Bedrock and Copilot
• Managed service provider background administering across many client tenants
• Regulated-industry experience: defense (CMMC, NIST 800-171), healthcare (HIPAA), or financial services (SOC 2)
• Active DoD security clearance (Secret or above), or eligibility to obtain and maintain one

Benefits

• A fully remote, results-based environment
• Competitive bonus and equity package
• 100% employer paid, comprehensive health insurance including medical, dental, and vision for you and your family
• Unlimited PTO, with your manager's approval
• Flexible work environment where you manage your work day
• 14 weeks of fully-paid parental leave
• Career track opportunity with potential for rapid advancement with strong performance as the firm grows
• Paid maternity and paternity for 14 weeks at employees' normal pay
• Opportunities for professional development and continued learning
• Optional 401K, FSA, and equity incentives available
• Mental health benefits are available through Tara Mind
• Cost effective GLP-1 solutions available through Crux

Company Overview