Role Summary -
The Cloud Operations Engineer will be responsible for managing, optimising, and securing Blinx Healthcare's AWS-based infrastructure. This role ensures that our cloud environments are scalable, cost-efficient, and compliant with NHS and healthcare security standards, supporting mission-critical healthcare applications.
The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in AWS services, including Step Functions, Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), zoning, monitoring, security, and cost optimisation. They will work closely with engineering, DevOps, security, and product teams to maintain high availability, performance, and security while ensuring cost-effective cloud operations.
Key Responsibilities -
AWS Cloud Infrastructure Management & Optimisation:
* Design, implement, and maintain AWS cloud infrastructure using best practices for scalability, high availability (HA), and resilience.
* Manage AWS Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), subnets, availability zones, and peering configurations to ensure secure, well-architected networking.
* Configure and optimise AWS Step Functions to support workflow automation, service orchestration, and event-driven architectures.
* Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using CloudFormation to automate provisioning and management of cloud resources.
Security, Compliance & Monitoring:
* Implement AWS security best practices, ensuring compliance with NHS IG, GDPR, and ISO 27001 requirements.
* Manage IAM roles, permissions, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enforce least-privilege access control.
* Deploy AWS security services, such as GuardDuty, Security Hub, WAF, AWS detective, and Macie, to monitor for threats and enforce security policies.
* Ensure proper encryption at rest and in transit, leveraging AWS Key Management Service (KMS) and SSL/TLS certificates.
* Support incident response, security logging, and forensic investigations using AWS CloudTrail and CloudWatch Logs.
Cost Optimisation & Performance Efficiency:
* Continuously monitor and optimise AWS spend, implementing cost governance, reserved instances, and rightsizing strategies.
* Use AWS Cost Explorer, Budgets, and Trusted Advisor to track, analyse, and optimise cloud costs.
* Implement autoscaling, spot instances, and serverless architectures to reduce operational expenses without compromising performance.
* Develop and enforce tagging strategies to improve cost visibility and resource management.
* Evaluate and optimise storage costs, using S3 lifecycle policies, Intelligent Tiering, and Glacier for archival.
Monitoring, Logging & Operational Resilience:
* Set up real-time monitoring, alerting, and logging using CloudWatch, CloudTrail, AWS X-Ray, and third-party tools (e.g., Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, Intruder).
* Define and implement metrics, dashboards, and automated alerts to proactively monitor system health, performance, and anomalies.
* Automate log aggregation and analysis to improve observability across distributed systems.
* Conduct performance tuning and troubleshooting to optimise AWS-based services, network configurations, and database access patterns.
Automation & Operational Efficiency:
* Automate deployment, scaling, and failover of cloud services using AWS Lambda, Step Functions, and EventBridge.
* Develop CI/CD pipelines for secure and efficient software delivery, integrating AWS-native services.
* Implement backup, disaster recovery (DR), and high-availability strategies using AWS-native tools.
* Drive proactive capacity planning, ensuring that cloud infrastructure scales efficiently to meet demand while minimising unnecessary costs.
Collaboration & Continuous Improvement:
* Work closely with Software Engineers, DevOps, and Security Teams to align cloud operations with product and compliance requirements.
* Provide guidance on AWS best practices, sharing knowledge and improving cloud operational efficiency across teams.
* Stay up to date with new AWS services, security enhancements, and cost optimisation techniques, implementing improvements where beneficial.
Skills & Experience Required -
* Proven experience as a Cloud Operations Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer (SRE), or AWS Infrastructure Engineer.
* Strong hands-on expertise in AWS services, including EC2, S3, RDS, Redshift, Lambda, Step Functions, and VPC networking.
* Deep understanding of AWS zoning, availability zones, and high-availability architectures.
* Experience configuring AWS VPCs, subnets, route tables, NAT gateways, VPNs, and security groups.
* Strong understanding of AWS monitoring, logging, and observability tools, including CloudWatch, CloudTrail, AWS Config, and X-Ray.
* Expertise in AWS security best practices, including IAM, KMS encryption, WAF, GuardDuty, and Security Hub.
* Experience with cost optimisation strategies, including reserved instances, spot instances, and S3 lifecycle management.
* Knowledge of AWS Cost Explorer, Budgets, and Trusted Advisor for cost tracking and optimisation.
* Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using CloudFormation.
* Proficiency in scripting/automation using Python, Bash, or AWS SDKs.
* Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows in AWS environments.
* Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to diagnose and resolve networking, performance, security, and cost-related issues.
Desirable Skills -
* Experience working in healthcare or regulated industries with NHS IG, GDPR, or ISO 27001 compliance requirements.
* Knowledge of serverless architectures, including API Gateway, EventBridge, and Lambda integrations.
* Experience implementing cost governance frameworks for multi-team cloud environments.
* Familiarity with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments, including AWS Outposts, VPNs, and on-prem integrations.
* Hands-on experience with Kubernetes (EKS) and container orchestration in AWS.
* Certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Security Specialty, or AWS Advanced Networking Specialty.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
* Company pension
* On-site parking
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Warrington WA4 4FS