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

Halviks 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.

Required Experience:

IC