Job Summary
The Senior Azure Cloud & Platform Engineer is responsible for designing, building, automating, and operating the Bank's Microsoft Azure cloud platform in support of its technology modernization strategy. This role plays a key part in establishing the Azure foundation, cloud engineering standards, automation frameworks, and operational practices that will enable scalable, secure, and resilient technology capabilities across the organization.
The Senior Azure Cloud & Platform Engineer leverages deep expertise in Azure cloud services, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Kubernetes, identity and access management, cybersecurity, automation, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and platform reliability engineering. Working closely with Infrastructure, Network Engineering, Information Security, Application Development, Enterprise Architecture, Risk Management, and Audit teams, this position helps design and deliver secure, compliant, and reusable cloud solutions that support the Bank's business objectives.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build, implement, and support enterprise-class Microsoft Azure infrastructure and platform services that align with the Bank's strategic technology objectives.
- Establish, maintain, and continuously enhance Azure Landing Zones, including management groups, subscriptions, resource organization, governance policies, identity integration, logging, security controls, and compliance standards.
- Develop and maintain standardized, reusable cloud platform architectures and engineering patterns that enable secure, scalable, and efficient adoption of Azure services across the organization.
- Engineer universally available, scalable, resilient, and secure cloud solutions, including backup, business continuity, and disaster recovery capabilities.
- Support the modernization, transformation, and migration of approved on-premises applications, systems, and infrastructure workloads to Microsoft Azure.
- Build, maintain, and optimize Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform, Bicep, and Azure-native deployment technologies.
- Develop reusable Terraform modules, CI/CD pipelines, and automated deployment frameworks utilizing Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and Git-based repositories.
- Automate provisioning, configuration management, compliance validation, monitoring, and operational processes using PowerShell, Azure CLI, Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages.
- Design, deploy, administer, and support Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) environments, including cluster lifecycle management, scaling, security, observability, networking, and integration with Azure Container Registry.
- Implement and administer Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Managed Identities, Key Vault, Azure Policy, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud in accordance with least-privilege access and Zero Trust security principles.
- Design and maintain enterprise monitoring and observability solutions utilizing Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, dashboards, metrics, and alerting frameworks.
- Collaborate closely with Information Security, Risk Management, Compliance, Audit, Infrastructure, Network Engineering, and Application Development teams to embed security, governance, and regulatory controls into cloud solutions.
- Participate in incident response, problem management, root cause analysis, production support activities, and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance platform reliability and performance.
- Establish and maintain cloud governance standards, resource tagging strategies, cost management practices, budgeting visibility, and optimization initiatives to ensure efficient cloud consumption.
- Develop and maintain technical documentation, operational runbooks, standards, procedures, and architecture diagrams related to Azure platform services.
- Evaluate emerging Azure technologies, cloud engineering practices, and automation capabilities, providing recommendations that support the Bank's cloud strategy and operational maturity.
- Serve as a subject matter expert and mentor to team members, promoting cloud engineering best practices, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning throughout the organization.
- Participate in after-hours support, scheduled maintenance activities, and on-call rotations as required to ensure platform availability and operational stability.
Compliance Responsibilities
Complies with all applicable state and federal banking laws, regulations, and internal policies related but not limited to lending, operations, and deposit requirements, including Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements, Financial Elder Abuse reporting laws, Sexual Harassment prevention policies, information security and privacy requirements.
Required Knowledge
- Strong experience designing, implementing, and supporting production Microsoft Azure environments, including enterprise-scale Azure Landing Zones and cloud governance frameworks.
- Demonstrated hands-on expertise with Terraform and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles, including the development and maintenance of reusable modules and automated deployment patterns.
- Experience designing, deploying, and supporting containerized platforms utilizing Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Kubernetes, Docker, Azure Container Registry (ACR), and related container technologies.
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Managed Identities, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Azure Policy, Key Vault, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
- Experience implementing and supporting CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Git, or comparable source control and automation platforms.
- Experience configuring and supporting enterprise monitoring, logging, and observability solutions utilizing Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, dashboards, and alerting tools.
- Proficiency in automation and scripting using PowerShell, Azure CLI, Python, Bash, or similar technologies to support provisioning, configuration management, and operational efficiency.
- Working knowledge of Azure networking services, including Virtual Networks (VNets), Subnets, Network Security Groups (NSGs), DNS, Private Endpoints, Load Balancers, Routing, ExpressRoute, VPN connectivity, and hybrid cloud architectures.
- Strong understanding of cloud security principles and frameworks, including Zero Trust, identity and access management, encryption, secrets management, vulnerability management, compliance controls, high availability, business continuity, and disaster recovery.
- Experience supporting regulated environments with an understanding of governance, risk management, audit requirements, and security best practices.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Ability to analyze complex technical issues, perform root cause analysis, and implement effective solutions in a fast-paced production environment.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Proven ability to collaborate across Infrastructure, Information Security, Application Development, Network Engineering, Architecture, Risk, Compliance, and Audit teams.
- Strong organizational, documentation, analytical, and problem-solving skills with a commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, lead initiatives independently, and deliver high-quality results with minimal supervision.
- Commitment to maintaining technical expertise through continuous learning and staying current with emerging cloud technologies and industry best practices.
Equipment Operated
- Operates standard electronic computers and customary office equipment required to perform essential job functions.
- Use of equipment is required, with or without reasonable accommodation, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Physical Requirements & Work Environment
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Nothing in this description is intended to limit the availability of reasonable accommodation under applicable law.
- Ability to perform repetitive movements associated with office and computer-based work.
- Ability to sit and or stand for extended periods of time to perform essential job functions.
- Ability to lift, carry, or move objects weighing up to 25 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Ability to use hands and fingers to manage, manipulate, or feel objects and operate standard office equipment.
- Work is primarily performed in an office environment with a controlled temperature and standard office conditions.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field preferred; or an equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant work experience.
- Minimum of 7 years of experience in infrastructure engineering, platform engineering, DevOps, systems engineering, cloud engineering, or related technology disciplines.
- Minimum of 4 years of significant hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure, including the design, implementation, automation, and support of enterprise cloud environments.
- Experience working within a regulated industry, preferably banking, financial services, healthcare, insurance, or other environments with stringent compliance and security requirements.
- Working knowledge of industry security and compliance frameworks, including NIST, CIS Controls, FFIEC, PCI DSS, SOC 2, SOX, or similar regulatory and governance standards.
- Experience planning and executing migrations of VMware, virtualized infrastructure, and traditional data center workloads to Microsoft Azure.
- Experience implementing and supporting Azure services such as Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Microsoft Sentinel, Azure SQL, Azure Storage, Azure Networking, and other Azure Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings.
- Understanding of FinOps principles, cloud financial management, cost optimization strategies, budgeting, forecasting, and resource utilization best practices.
- Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and support universally available, secure, and scalable cloud platforms in enterprise environments.
- Experience collaborating with Infrastructure, Security, Application Development, Architecture, Risk Management, Compliance, and Audit teams in support of cloud initiatives and operational excellence.
- Preferred Certifications - One or more of the following certifications are preferred:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Hashi Corp Terraform Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (preferred)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate (preferred)
Minimum Absence Requirement
Some positions within the Bank have been designated as sensitive positions due to access to critical systems, records, or processes. In accordance with Bank policy and sound internal‑control practices, employees in sensitive positions are required to complete a mandatory consecutive absence from essential duties each calendar year to support segregation of duties and independent review.
The required absence will be scheduled in coordination with management to ensure continuity of operations. Administration of absence, including paid or unpaid status, will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local wage and hour and leave laws, including California requirements.
Required Minimum Absence for This Position: Two (2) Consecutive Weeks
Officer Title Eligibility
For qualified positions, the Bank may designate an Officer Title based on the role’s job level, scope of responsibility, and alignment with established competency frameworks. Eligibility for an Officer Title designation is contingent upon the employee meeting defined competency, performance, and experience requirements and is governed by applicable Bank policies, governance standards, and required approval processes.
- This position is eligible for the following Officer Title(s): Vice President
Compensation
The listed range represents the full compensation range for this position. Placement within the range will be determined based on factors including skills, relevant experience, job‑related qualifications, geographic location, and internal equity, in accordance with Bank compensation policies.
- Exempt Salary Range: $129,584 – $240,656 per year
Disclaimer
This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Employees may be required to perform other duties as assigned, consistent with business needs and applicable law.
Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach reserve the right to modify, amend, or discontinue job duties or requirements at any time. Nothing in this job description creates a contract of employment, either express or implied, or alters the at‑will nature of employment.
09.03.26