Cloud Platform Engineer (Contractor)

Cloud Platform Engineer (Contractor)

Engagement type: Contractor working directly for Full Stack Energy, supporting a US-based client engagement

Location: Remote (must work hours overlapping with US Pacific Time / California business hours)

Working for: Full Stack Energy, on behalf of a US-based energy and climate analytics consultancy client

About the Role

You’ll be joining Full Stack Energy as a contractor, working on behalf of a US-based firm that supports regulators, utilities, investors, and policymakers with rigorous energy and climate modeling that informs real-world decisions. Their analyses shape regulatory proceedings, grid planning, and long-term decarbonization strategies.

As Cloud Platform Engineer, you’ll design and operate the cloud infrastructure that powers large-scale modeling and analytics for this engagement. Your work will ensure the reliability, security, and transparency of systems used to produce high-impact, client-facing analyses and reports that directly support the energy transition.

This role suits engineers who are equally comfortable writing and reasoning about code as they are operating infrastructure — you’ll be expected to read, write, and debug real software, not just configure dashboards.

The Role

This is a hands-on platform ownership role. Working as part of a small technology team, you will be the resident expert for cloud systems and will need to wear multiple hats as required: software developer, data scientist, IT support, etc.

You will own the architecture and governance of the client’s AWS, GitHub, and related environments, implementing the standards, automation, and guardrails that allow the client’s teams to move quickly without losing discipline.

You will work closely with software engineers, data scientists, analysts, and corporate IT while directly implementing infrastructure improvements. This is nota ticket-based operations role — it requires a high level of autonomy with authority over cloud architecture and provisioning.

Beyond the infrastructure work itself, you’ll be expected to learn the domain: how energy markets, grid planning, and decarbonization modeling actually work, so that the platform decisions you make are informed by what the analysts and modelers on the other end actually need.

Working Hours

This is a remote contract position. The candidate must be able to work hours that overlap meaningfully with US Pacific Time (California) business hours for meetings and collaboration.

Typical Duties

Design and evolve the client's cloud infrastructure

Ensure all infrastructure is provisioned through infrastructure-as-code and automated workflows

Define and enforce tagging, security, and governance standards

Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and/or AWS services

Troubleshoot complex infrastructure and container orchestration issues

Implement and maintain integrations between internal systems, third-party applications, and external partners

Deploy and manage containerized applications using Docker, Kubernetes (EKS, ECS), and Helm

Integrate and manage monitoring and logging solutions such as DataDog and CloudWatch

Work with security and legal teams to support data and access governance requirements

Optimize cloud cost and performance; enable project-level cost attribution

Contribute to platform documentation, runbooks, and best practices to support adoption and operational readiness

Other software and data duties as needed

Genuine programming ability — comfortable reading, writing, and debugging real code, not just operating infrastructure through a UI

Prior experience in cloud, platform, or DevOps engineering in a professional capacity

Demonstrated ownership of cloud architecture in a production environment

Willingness and ability to learn new domain concepts quickly — you won't arrive knowing energy markets or grid planning, but you'll be expected to pick up the concepts that matter for the systems you're building

Clear communication and ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams

Hands-on experience with core AWS services (e.g., IAM, EC2, S3, VPC, CloudWatch, quotas)

Deep experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, OpenTofu, or equivalent)

Strong scripting and automation skills in Bash, Python, or PowerShell

Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, ideally using GitHub Actions

Experience with Docker and Kubernetes

Working knowledge of cloud security principles and identity management

You thrive on change and treat new tools, platforms, and ways of working as opportunities rather than disruptions

You enjoy learning and are open to rethinking how you approach solutions

You're genuinely curious about the energy industry and want to understand the systems your code supports, not just the code itself

You are comfortable operating with high autonomy

You establish standards and implement them

You prefer automation and structural fixes over manual work

You apply governance proportionally — enabling innovation while protecting production systems

You work collaboratively and help each member of your team do their finest work, aware that each brings different experience, techniques, and qualifications

You are motivated by enabling high-impact work in the transition to a low-carbon energy system

You take ownership of your work, proactively seeking out answers and enjoy finding creative solutions

Requirements

• Genuine programming ability — comfortable reading, writing, and debugging real code, not just operating infrastructure through a UI
• Prior experience in cloud, platform, or DevOps engineering in a professional capacity
• Demonstrated ownership of cloud architecture in a production environment
• Willingness and ability to learn new domain concepts quickly — you won't arrive knowing energy markets or grid planning, but you'll be expected to pick up the concepts that matter for the systems you're building
• Clear communication and ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams
• Hands-on experience with core AWS services (e.g., IAM, EC2, S3, VPC, CloudWatch, quotas)
• Deep experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, OpenTofu, or equivalent)
• Strong scripting and automation skills in Bash, Python, or PowerShell
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, ideally using GitHub Actions
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Working knowledge of cloud security principles and identity management
• Things That Set You Apart
• You thrive on change and treat new tools, platforms, and ways of working as opportunities rather than disruptions
• You enjoy learning and are open to rethinking how you approach solutions
• You're genuinely curious about the energy industry and want to understand the systems your code supports, not just the code itself
• You are comfortable operating with high autonomy
• You establish standards and implement them
• You prefer automation and structural fixes over manual work
• You apply governance proportionally — enabling innovation while protecting production systems
• You work collaboratively and help each member of your team do their finest work, aware that each brings different experience, techniques, and qualifications
• You are motivated by enabling high-impact work in the transition to a low-carbon energy system
• You take ownership of your work, proactively seeking out answers and enjoy finding creative solutions
• Interested candidates should apply through Full Stack Energy.