Lead AWS Cloud Engineer

Position: Lead AWS Cloud Engineer

Location: Juno Beach, FL (Hybrid)

Contract: 12+ Months and Extendable

Client: NextEra Energy

Must be in FL.

Description:

Position Summary
NextEra Energy is seeking an experienced Senior Full Stack Cloud Engineer to lead technical innovation within our Smart Grid 2.0 initiative. This senior-level position requires a technical leader who can design and implement highly secure, end-to-end cloud solutions, from IoT device integration to AI-powered analytics platforms. The ideal candidate combines deep AWS expertise with hands-on IoT experience and AI/ML implementation skills, capable of building sophisticated proof-of-concepts while mentoring development teams in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities
Cloud & IoT Solutions Implementation (50%)

·        Design and implement secure & scalable cloud-native architectures (Microservices, Serverless, Container) using comprehensive AWS stack

·        Build end-to-end IoT solutions from device connectivity through data analytics

·        Develop real-time streaming data pipelines from hardware devices and sensors

·        Design and implement time-series database solutions and data engineering frameworks

·        Create robust proof-of-concepts (POCs) from ground-up using AWS services

Big Data & Analytics Platform Development (25%)

·        Implement and optimize big data solutions using Amazon Kinesis, Glue, EMR, Redshift, and Timestream

·        Design data lakes and warehouses for massive IoT data ingestion and analysis

·        Build real-time analytics dashboards and reporting frameworks

·        Optimize query performance and data processing workflows to match business needs

·        Develop data governance and security frameworks aligning with enterprise guidelines

AI/ML Implementation & Innovation (15%)

·        Lead implementation of AI-driven solutions for smart grid applications

·        Develop predictive analytics and anomaly detection systems for grid operations working with Data Scientists

·        Deploy, optimize and integrate Generative AI, machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing models for high value use cases

·        Prototype AI solutions using AWS AI/ML services (SageMaker, Bedrock, etc.)

Technical Leadership & Mentoring (10%)

·        Guide and mentor junior developers and team members

·        Lead technical design reviews and architecture decisions

·        Drive best practices for cloud development and DevOps methodologies

·        Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions

·        Champion bias-for-action culture while maintaining high technical standards

Required Qualifications
Education & Experience:

·        Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field; Master's preferred

·        Minimum 8-10 years of full-stack software development experience

·        At least 5 years of hands-on AWS cloud platform experience with developing solutions using multiple services

·        Minimum 3 years leading technical teams or mentoring developers

Core Technical Skills:

·        Expert-level knowledge of AWS cloud services ecosystem (EC2, Lambda, IoT Core, Kinesis, S3, DynamoDB, Redshift, Glue, RDS, Bedrock etc.)

·        Proven experience with real-time streaming data processing and analytics

·        Hands-on expertise with time-series databases (Amazon Timestream, InfluxDB, or similar)

·        Strong background in data engineering and ETL/ELT pipeline development

·        Proficiency in multiple programming languages (Python, Java, C#, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript)

·        Solid understanding of DevOps practices with hands-on experience using SonarQube(or similar) to drive code quality and developer productivity

AI/ML & Big Data Expertise:

·        Demonstrated experience implementing AI-driven solutions in production environments

·        Hands-on experience with AWS AI/ML services (SageMaker, Bedrock, Comprehend, Rekognition)

·        Proven track record with big data technologies (Amazon EMR, Redshift, Spark, Hadoop)

·        Experience deploying machine learning models, deep learning algorithms

IoT & Systems Integration:

·        Deep hands-on IoT knowledge including device connectivity, protocols, and data ingestion

·        Experience with IoT platforms and edge computing solutions

·        Understanding of industrial communication protocols (MQTT, OPC-UA, Modbus, DNP3)

·        Proficiency in containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS)

Preferred Qualifications
Industry-Specific Experience:

·        Experience in energy industry, utility operations, or industrial companies

·        Understanding of industrial IoT applications in critical infrastructure

Advanced Technical Skills:

·        AWS certifications (Solutions Architect Professional, ML Specialty, IoT Specialty)

·        Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK)

·        Knowledge of edge AI and distributed computing architectures

·        Strong background in cybersecurity for IoT and cloud environments

·        Experience with digital twin implementations and simulation platforms

·        Experience leveraging AI-powered development tools (GitHub Copilot, or similar) to enhance code generation, debugging, and development velocity

Leadership & Innovation:

·        Track record of spearheading innovative technology initiatives

·        Experience leading cross-functional technical projects

·        Strong presentation skills

·        Proven ability to balance rapid prototyping with production-ready solutions

Collaboration & Communication:

·        Excellent written and verbal communication skills

·        Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

·        Experience working in agile/scrum methodologies

·        Strong cross-functional collaboration skills

To Apply: Submit your resume, cover letter, and portfolio highlighting your AI/ML implementations, IoT projects, and cloud implementation work. Include specific examples of POCs you've built from scratch and teams you've mentored.