Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, Principal (Contractor)

At H&P our people are our strength.

Since 1920 Helmerich and Payne has been the industrys most trusted partner in drillingproductivity and reliability. As the world changes so does our approach. We are changing the landscape of drilling by using cutting-edge rig technologies and drilling solutions to build upon a century ofsuccess all while continuing to deliver better outcomes for our customers.

At H&P our people are our strength. We strive to continually lead with our Core Values that enable employees to develop on their H&P Journey. We believe that doing the right thing means creating a more diverse equitable and inclusive workplace that empowers our people to bring their authentic selves to work every day.

Some companies offer career paths. We offer a Journey of a Lifetime. Lets go far together.

Hear directly from our employees and leaders about their unique journeys at Helmerich and Payne.

Location: Tulsa OK

Work Type: Onsite or Hybrid

#LI-Onsite #LI-Hybrid

This is a contract position providing services to Helmerich & Payne (H&P) through a third-party staffing agency. If you are selected for this role you will be an employee of the agency and not H&P.

Duration: Contract minimum of 6 months with potential for extension to full time hire

At a Glance:

The Cloud Infrastructure Engineer Principal (Contractor) is the most senior IT cloud engineering role globally within H&P. This role serves as the technical authority for H&P cloud architecture engineering standards automation resiliency and platform reliability across Microsoft Azure Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and related hybrid infrastructure services.

The role translates business rig technology application cybersecurity data and infrastructure requirements into secure reliable cost-efficient and scalable cloud solutions. The Principal Cloud Engineer Contractor leads technical direction without direct people-management accountability sets engineering standards for internal teams and partners and ensures cloud platforms support uninterrupted drilling operations real-time rig data flow global integration employee productivity and H&P growth.

What you will do:

The following items represent the essential functions and accountabilities for this position. This description is not meant to be all inclusive nor to prevent other duties from being assigned when necessary. Responsibilities may change at any time with or without notice. Regular and reliable attendance is essential and required in performance of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Serve as H&Ps enterprise-level technical authority for cloud engineering cloud architecture and hybrid cloud platform design across Azure GCP and related infrastructure services.
• Define and maintain cloud architecture patterns landing-zone standards platform guardrails network integration models identity dependencies monitoring standards tagging standards and operational readiness expectations.
• Design and guide implementation of highly available resilient secure and recoverable cloud solutions that support critical business applications real-time rig data global integration automation analytics and operational continuity.
• Lead Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation practices using technologies such as Terraform Bicep ARM templates PowerShell Python YAML Azure DevOps GitHub and CI/CD pipelines to reduce manual work and improve repeatability.
• Partner with IT and functional teams to translate requirements into cloud platform designs that balance speed cost security reliability and maintainability.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership for cloud migrations modernization platform integration disaster recovery backup readiness observability secrets management and cloud-native service adoption.
• Establish and improve cloud operations practices including monitoring alerting logging performance management capacity planning incident triage root cause analysis and operational runbooks.
• Lead technical troubleshooting for cloud related major incidents (P1/P2 incidents) and make critical technical decisions to restore service quickly and safely.
• Translate outage impact reliability risk capacity constraints and technical debt into clear business language for IT leadership business stakeholders and executive audiences when needed.
• Guide junior senior contractor and managed-service engineers through cloud design reviews implementation reviews change planning testing knowledge transfer and technical coaching.
• Evaluate new cloud services vendor capabilities automation opportunities and architectural alternatives; recommend solutions that align to H&P strategy security posture operational needs and cost expectations.
• Partner with Cybersecurity and Governance Risk & Compliance on cloud security posture identity and access controls network segmentation vulnerability remediation data protection audit readiness and compliance-aligned architecture.
• Oversight of technical quality for cloud-related change controls implementation plans backout plans validation plans peer reviews and post-change documentation in accordance with H&P standards.
• Support cloud financial management (FinOps) by validating consumption recommending rightsizing and modernization opportunities improving tagging/reporting discipline and ensuring support contracts and cloud services deliver intended value.
• Maintain clear architecture documentation decision records operational playbooks diagrams standards and knowledge articles so H&P can operate cloud platforms consistently across regions and support models.
• Drive continuous improvement through automation AI-enabled visibility dashboards reliability engineering process simplification and lessons learned from incidents projects and operational reviews.

What you need:

• Expert knowledge of Microsoft Azure infrastructure services including: Azure compute Azure networking Azure Monitor Log Analytics Azure Policy Azure Backup Azure Site Recovery Azure Kubernetes Service and common Azure platform governance patterns.
• Advanced working knowledge of GCP infrastructure services networking identity monitoring logging security controls and hybrid connectivity patterns.
• Advanced knowledge of hybrid infrastructure operations including cloud connectivity DNS routing firewalls load balancing F5 VPN private connectivity identity integration virtualization Nutanix and datacenter dependencies.
• Strong Infrastructure as Code and automation capability including Terraform Bicep ARM templates GitHub Azure DevOps PowerShell Python YAML JSON automated testing and repeatable deployment practices.
• Strong understanding of cloud security least privilege privileged access secrets management encryption logging vulnerability remediation policy-as-code and secure-by-design engineering practices.
• Demonstrated ability to architect resilient systems with high availability disaster recovery backup and recovery alignment monitoring failure-mode thinking and operational runbooks.
• Strong IT service management capability including change control incident management problem management documentation operational readiness and service ownership principles.
• Ability to lead technical work across internal teams contractors managed-service providers vendors and business partners without relying on formal reporting authority.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to explain cloud engineering decisions in terms of operational continuity cost risk reliability security rig operations and business value.
• Commitment to H&P values including Actively C.A.R.E. service attitude innovative spirit teamwork and doing the right thing.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelors degree in information technology computer science engineering or a related field is preferred. Equivalent combinations of education technical certifications and directly relevant experience may be considered.
• 10 or more years of progressive experience in infrastructure cloud engineering cloud architecture systems engineering platform engineering or related enterprise technology disciplines.
• 5 or more years of hands-on experience designing engineering and operating Azure-based solutions in a complex enterprise environment. Extra consideration for 2 years experience within Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Experience supporting mission-critical 24x7 operational environments is strongly preferred. Experience in energy drilling industrial or other high-availability environments is preferred.
• Professional certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert Azure Administrator Associate Azure Security Engineer Associate Google Professional Cloud Architect Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer Terraform Associate Kubernetes ITIL or equivalent credentials are preferred.

The job level and associated compensation for this position will be determined based on the candidates experience qualifications and alignment with the roles requirements. Final compensation for this role may vary depending on individual factors.

H&P is committed to employing a diverse workforce. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race color religion sex national origin age sexual orientation gender identity gender expression veteran status or disability.

Thank you for your interest in joining our team!