GPS - Azure Senior Platform Engineer - Assistant Director

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From strategy to execution, the Government & Public Sector (GPS) practice of Ernst & Young LLP provides a full range of consulting and audit services to help our Federal, State, Local and Education clients implement new ideas to help achieve their mission outcomes. We deliver real change and measurable results through our diverse, high-performing teams, quality work at the highest professional standards, operational know-how from across our global organization, and creative and bold ideas that drive innovation. We enable our government clients to achieve their mission of protecting the nation and serving the people; increasing public safety; improving healthcare for our military, veterans and citizens; delivering essential public services; and helping those in need. EY is ready to help our government build a better working world.

Our GPS Technology Organization is a structure within the US GPS practice that implements and maintains a new operate and technology model designed specifically to support U.S. defense and Government engagements.

The opportunity

This role supports large, complex government cloud programs within Azure Government environments and is accountable for the successful delivery of platform and infrastructure capabilities at scale. The Assistant Director owns outcomes across multiple workstreams, translating business and mission needs into secure, scalable, and sustainable cloud platforms. The role operates at the intersection of strategy and execution, guiding technical direction, enabling delivery teams, and influencing stakeholders across product, engineering, and platform organizations. In addition to hands on technical leadership, the role is responsible for developing team capability, driving continuous improvement, and making informed trade offs to balance delivery, quality, risk, and long term platform health within government and security constrained environments

Your key responsibilities

• Own the delivery of cloud platform and infrastructure capabilities across multiple initiatives, ensuring alignment with business, mission, and security requirements
• Set and guide technical direction for Azure Government platforms, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and operationally sustainable
• Establish and evolve DevSecOps practices and automation approaches to improve delivery consistency, quality, and reliability
• Make informed technical and delivery trade off decisions, balancing speed, quality, security, risk, and long term platform health
• Lead architecture and design efforts, reviewing and approving solutions to ensure alignment with standards, constraints, and desired outcomes
• Oversee risk, dependency, and issue management across delivery efforts, escalating and resolving proactively as needed
• Influence stakeholders across product, engineering, and leadership teams to align priorities and drive execution without direct authority
• Develop and grow engineering talent through coaching, feedback, and delegation, strengthening overall team capability
• Promote operational excellence by continuously improving processes, tooling, and ways of working

Skills and attributes for success

• Demonstrates accountability for outcomes, taking ownership of decisions and following through to execution
• Applies sound judgment when operating in ambiguity, making trade offs that consider delivery impact, risk, and long term sustainability
• Influences outcomes across teams and stakeholders through credibility, collaboration, and clear communication
• Communicates complex technical and delivery topics effectively to technical, business, and executive audiences
• Adapts approach as priorities, constraints, and requirements evolve while maintaining delivery momentum
• Develops people and teams by providing clear direction, timely feedback, and opportunities for growth
• Promotes a culture of quality, risk awareness, and continuous improvement
• Demonstrates curiosity and continuous learning, staying current with evolving technologies, delivery practices, and firm direction

To qualify for the role, you must have

• 7+ years in engineering roles working with private/public cloud IaaS, PaaS, and/or SaaS
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or equivalent experience
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) and Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
• Strong hands-on experience:
• Infrastructure as Code & CI/CD - designing and delivering with tools such as Bicep, Azure DevOps, ARM templates, or Ansible
• Containers and orchestration - experience building and running containerized workloads using technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps, or Helm for packaging and deploying services at scale
• Networking fundamentals - strong foundation designing and troubleshooting VNets, subnets, network security groups (NSGs), routing (UDRs), and basic load-balancing scenarios, with enough depth to reason about hub-and-spoke or similar topologies and diagnose common connectivity issues
• Cloud security principles - solid understanding of concepts such as shared responsibility, least privilege, identity-driven security, network segmentation, encryption, and logging/monitoring, and how to apply them for customers driven by regulatory compliance requirements, such as: NIST, FedRAMP
• Identity and access - understanding of Microsoft Entra ID, Azure RBAC, Entra ID RBAC, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and managed identities for Azure resources
• Windows and Linux administration - hands-on experience managing, troubleshooting, and hardening server workloads, including patching, performance tuning, and applying security baselines (e.g., DISA STIG or equivalent)
• Scripting / programming - practical automation experience using PowerShell (Python or similar scripting languages is a plus but not required
• Experience with government security frameworks (e.g., NIST controls)
• Hands-on delivery in Agile environments (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or similar)
• Strong written and verbal communication and the ability to work effectively on distributed teams

Ideally, you'll also have

• Ability to obtain and maintain Top-Secret Security Clearance

• Deeper hands-on experience with:

• Git-based source control and branching strategies

• AWS/GCP cloud experience / knowledge

• Azure DevOps Pipelines and broader Azure platform services

• Ansible and Bicep for advanced automation and configuration

• Azure Policy and multi-tenant / multi-subscription design patterns

• Advanced Azure networking experience - hands-on exposure to one or more of: VPN Gateway or ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall or other NVAs, Virtual WAN hubs, Application Gateway or similar L7 gateways, and more complex hybrid or multi-region network designs

• Additional relevant certifications, such as:

• AZ-400, AZ-500, AZ-700

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or CKAD / CKNS

• Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation

What we look for

• A self-starter, independent-thinker, curious and creative person with ambition and passion
• History of continuous learning and continuous progression

What we offer you

At EY, we'll develop you with future-focused skills and equip you with world-class experiences. We'll empower you in a flexible environment, and fuel you and your extraordinary talents in a diverse and inclusive culture of globally connected teams. Learn more.

• We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you'll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job in all geographic locations in the US is $111,100 to $207,800. The base salary range for New York City Metro Area, Washington State and California (excluding Sacramento) is $133,300 to $236,100. Individual salaries within those ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.
• Join us in our team-led and leader-enabled hybrid model. Our expectation is for most people in external, client serving roles to work together in person 40-60% of the time over the course of an engagement, project or year.
• Under our flexible vacation policy, you'll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You'll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.

Are you ready to shape your future with confidence? Apply today.

EY accepts applications for this position on an on-going basis.

For those living in California, please click here for additional information.

EY focuses on high-ethical standards and integrity among its employees and expects all candidates to demonstrate these qualities.

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