Cloud Engineer II

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country-and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future-consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Job Description

The Cloud Engineer II is a mid-level technical contributor responsible for implementing, maintaining, and supporting scalable, secure, and highly available cloud environments. This role operates within established architectural patterns to deploy and manage cloud-based systems supporting university operations and digital learning experiences.

The ideal candidate brings hands-on AWS expertise, strong automation skills, and a passion for reliability, observability, and continuous improvement. You'll collaborate closely with platform, infrastructure, and application engineering teams to support enterprise initiatives and operational excellence.

• Execute software deployments across cloud environments using established processes and operational runbooks

• Implement and maintain monitoring and observability solutions aligned with engineering standards

• Develop and maintain automation for infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and deployment workflows

• Troubleshoot application and system performance issues and implement optimization improvements

• Identify and resolve operational issues to maintain uptime, resiliency, and service health

• Contribute to initiatives that improve scalability, reliability, operational efficiency, and engineering maturity

• Monitor cloud resource utilization and support cloud cost optimization and FinOps efforts

• Document technical configurations, operational procedures, and support processes

• Communicate technical risks, blockers, and delays to senior engineers and leadership

• Collaborate with application development, platform engineering, and infrastructure teams to deliver projects successfully

• Participate in maintenance activities, operational support, and innovation initiatives

• Participate in on-call rotations and incident response activities

• Share knowledge and mentor junior engineers when appropriate

• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

• Solid understanding of AWS core services and cloud architecture fundamentals

• Working knowledge of DevOps practices, Agile methodologies, and IT service management frameworks such as ITIL

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar technologies

• Proficiency administering Linux systems in production environments

• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes

• Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using tools such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Argo CD, or AWS-native services

• Proficiency in scripting and automation using Bash and at least one programming language such as Python, Java, or Node.js

• Familiarity with observability and monitoring tools such as CloudWatch, Dynatrace, Prometheus/Grafana, or New Relic

• Understanding of Git workflows and trunk-based development practices

• Familiarity with modern engineering tooling, including emerging GenAI and agentic AI solutions that enhance developer productivity

• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities

• Effective communication, collaboration, and technical documentation skills

• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a collaborative engineering team

• Strong customer service mindset and operational ownership

• Experience with cloud cost optimization and FinOps practices

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience

• 3-5 years of experience in cloud or infrastructure engineering roles with hands-on AWS experience

• 2+ years of Linux systems administration experience

• Experience working with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices

• Experience collaborating with cross-functional engineering teams

• At least one AWS Associate-level certification or equivalent practical experience

• Experience supporting higher education or distance education environments

• Experience with serverless technologies such as AWS Lambda

• Proficiency in multiple programming languages such as Python, Java, or Go

• Familiarity with compliance and data protection frameworks including PII, PCI, SOX, HIPAA, FTI, and FERPA

• Experience working with JSON and YAML configuration formats

At Western Governors University (WGU), you'll join a mission-driven organization focused on expanding access to education through innovation and technology. Our engineering teams build modern, scalable platforms that directly impact students nationwide while fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence.

If you're passionate about cloud engineering, automation, and building reliable systems that make a meaningful difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Position & Application Details

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.