Sr. Azure Cloud Engineer

Resource 1 is seeking a Sr. Azure Infrastructure Engineer for a 12-month hybrid remote contract (2 days onsite in Chicago, 3 days remote). In this role, you will act as the Azure SME, providing both strategic guidance and hands-on expertise as the client expands its Azure footprint and implements Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365). You will design and implement secure, scalable Azure infrastructure, establish governance and best practices, and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure Azure supports enterprise applications, data platforms, and D365 workloads.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as an advisor on Azure adoption strategy, governance, security, and compliance frameworks.
• Evaluate current Azure/M365 environments, remediate gaps, and enforce governance baselines.
• Design and implement Azure infrastructure solutions, including networking, AKS, monitoring, and automation.
• Lead the buildout and security of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters for data and application workloads.
• Establish security best practices, including RBAC, identity management (Azure AD/Entra ID), encryption, and key management.
• Provide recommendations and develop reference architectures for scalability, high availability, disaster recovery, and cost optimization.
• Collaborate with application, ERP, and data teams to align Azure infrastructure with business solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Monitor and optimize Azure performance, compliance, and cost efficiency.
• Deliver documentation, training, and knowledge transfer to empower client IT staff.
• Advise leadership on long-term cloud roadmap and mentor internal teams.

Required Skills & Experience:

• 7-10+ years of IT infrastructure engineering experience, with 5+ years focused on Microsoft Azure.
• Proven expertise in Azure governance, security, networking, and infrastructure buildouts.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of Azure Active Directory (Entra ID), RBAC, tenant/subscription management, and hybrid cloud environments.
• Experience designing and implementing Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) solutions.
• Strong background in Microsoft 365 services (Teams, Defender, baseline security).
• Excellent communication and consulting skills; proven ability to work with both executive and technical stakeholders.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have:

• Experience supporting Microsoft Dynamics 365 environments (infrastructure alignment, security validation, integrations).
• Relevant Microsoft certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect, Azure Security Engineer, Azure Administrator).

Medical insurance and a 401(k) plan is offered to all eligible W2 employees.