Junior Cloud Engineer
Rockville, MD
Delivery /
Full-Time /
Remote
We are Skyward.
That is, a love for people, for improvement, for human advancement through information technology. We are a people-centered business with a desire to serve others. We are diverse and unified; creative and collaborative; a collection of complementary, not competing talents. And though on the surface we remain relaxed, beneath, a torrent of energy links us to our civic tech mission.
We stand by our values, and we won’t compromise on any of them.
Integrity: We’re conscientious, intentional, and empathetic. Our words and actions align. That’s our character. Please don’t ask us to play another part, we’re poor actors.
Compassionate: If we may borrow a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” Because our team is thoughtful and supportive, caring deeply for each other, our clients, and our work, this comes naturally.
Inquisitive: We remain students by failing openly and turning lessons into solutions.
Unconventional: For us, life isn’t what happens outside of work. Work happens inside of life and our culture erases the line often dividing the two.
Authentic: Made possible only because we embody the values listed above. We’re relaxed and fun yet intensely curious and driven. Team members are placed with thought, care, and precision to ensure that Trust, Truth, and Transparency continue to represent our brand.
Because of that, we continue Onward, Upward, and Skyward.
We need a Junior Cloud Engineer.
Are you the type who sees a cloud diagram and starts mentally optimizing routes, tightening security groups, and imagining better ways to connect systems? Do you thrive in environments where integration challenges meet mission-driven work? If you’re someone who’s excited to grow their skills by building secure, scalable cloud infrastructure, and who’s especially passionate about networking and interagency integration, we need to hear from you.
Let's go Skyward together.
What you'll do:
- Be part of a team supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by securing an environment for researchers who are studying ways to improve the quality and reduce the cost of care provided to chronically ill Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
- Design and implement secure, scalable cloud infrastructure in AWS that enables smooth, compliant data exchange between systems and agencies.
- Work on new connectivity configurations, from VPNs to direct connect setups to VPC peering, to ensure reliable, high-performance system-to-system communication.
- Collaborate with developers, data engineers, and CMS stakeholders to ensure new systems and services are properly integrated into the cloud environment.
- Build tools and automation pipelines to support system monitoring, deployment, and performance analysis.
- Participate in root cause analysis meetings when issues arise. No blame, just lessons and improvements.
- Help define and uphold service-level objectives (SLOs/SLAs), cost controls, and best practices for cloud infrastructure.
What we’d like you to have:
- Strong foundational experience in cloud computing, networking, and DevOps practices.
- Proficiency with AWS services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, Lambda, etc.).
- Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools like CloudFormation, Terraform, or AWS CDK.
- Experience scripting in Python, Bash, or similar.
- Working knowledge of application and network load balancers.
- Hands-on experience with proxy and firewall configuration using Fortinet, or similar technologies.
- Understanding of secure networking principles, especially in multi-agency or federal cloud environments.
- A problem-solving mindset, attention to detail, and eagerness to learn.
- Comfortable working in a collaborative, fast-moving DevSecOps environment.
What would blow us away:
- You’ve supported CMS or other large-scale federal data systems.
- You’ve worked on projects involving cross-agency integrations, secure system connectivity, or healthcare data infrastructure.
- You stay curious about emerging tech like LLMs, NLP, or serverless architectures, and how they impact cloud design.
Even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, we encourage you to apply. At Skyward, we’re focused on hiring individuals with the right skills and passion to grow, not just checking off every box.
And now the important part. What we offer you:
- Medical, dental, vision insurance (fully paid for employees)
- 15 days of paid leave
- 7 days of sick leave
- 2 days bereavement leave
- 11 paid Federal holidays
- Up to 40 hours for jury duty
- 401K with 4% employer contribution (and no vesting period)
- Up to 4 weeks of paid paternity and maternity leave
- Company provided laptop
- $5,000 per year for professional development
- $600 per year for technical supplies and equipment
- $2,000 referral bonus
- Life and disability insurance
- HSA and FSA
- Legal Shield and ID Shield Voluntary Benefits
- Opportunity to work in a collaborative, motivated team focused on modernizing government services with cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions. Who says government work can't be exciting!
$85,000 - $100,000 a year
We believe great work deserves great pay. That’s why we ensure our compensation is not only competitive but also fair and transparent, as required by Maryland law. Expect a salary that matches your skills, experience, and the value you bring to the table — because you’re worth it!
At Skyward, we are committed to creating an environment where everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or background, can thrive. We support flexible working hours and remote opportunities to help maintain a healthy work-life balance for all employees, including caregivers and those with unique needs.
Offers of employment with Skyward are contingent upon acceptable results of a background investigation.
Applicants must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust security clearance due to the nature of our work as a government contractor.
