Sr Prin Cloud Engineer

Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job number one is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7. _ _

This position is not eligible for immigration sponsorship, e.g., H-1B, TN, etc. Please do not apply if you will need immigration sponsorship for a work visa now or in the future, including sponsorship for H-1B, TN, etc., now or in the future. We are unable to hire individuals with CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT for this position as the position is not eligible for participation in the H-1B lottery program and is not eligible for current or future immigration sponsorship for a work visa.

Location : This is a hybrid (virtual/onsite) position with required onsite days on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday assigned to One Energy Plaza located in Jackson, MI. The selected candidate must be within a commutable distance or willing to relocate (relocation package is available for those that qualify). 

General Summary of Job Responsibilities

The Senior Principal Cloud Engineer is a top-tier technical leader responsible for defining and executing the enterprise cloud strategy across CMS Energy. This role provides architectural vision, influences long-term technology roadmaps, and ensures the organization’s cloud platform scales effectively to meet evolving business needs.

Operating at the intersection of technology and business, the Senior Principal Cloud Engineer collaborates with executives, engineering leaders, and security stakeholders to drive cloud transformation initiatives. This role guides the organization’s adoption of modern cloud paradigms—including platform engineering, large-scale automation, zero-trust security, and cloud-native application models—while serving as a coach, mentor, and advocate for engineering excellence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Represent the organization externally through speaking engagements, publications, and participation in cloud architecture communities.

• Provide thought leadership in platform architecture, cloud-native design, and emerging technologies (e.g., AI workloads, edge computing).

• Lead major transformations, such as legacy system decomposition, multi-cloud adoption, and enterprise-wide platform re-architecture.

• Establish technical direction for cloud infrastructure and platform engineering teams, aligning design standards, tooling, and security practices.

• Mentor across the organization, including Principal Engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, technical depth, and cross-team collaboration.

• Define and evolve enterprise cloud strategy in alignment with business goals, industry trends, and regulatory requirements.

• Influence executive leadership and board-level stakeholders on strategic technology investments, trade-offs, and transformation risks.

• Own cloud vendor and partner relationships, including evaluating new services, optimizing contracts, and ensuring alignment with architectural principles.

• Drive enterprise AI and automation strategy by establishing scalable foundations (tools, patterns, and guardrails) and aligning initiatives to measurable business outcomes.

• Ensure AI and automation solutions operate within governance expectations, including security, compliance, and architectural standards, while supporting structured intake, prioritization, and delivery models.

• Lead execution of high-priority AI and automation initiatives by guiding solution delivery from intake through implementation, ensuring outcomes are achieved efficiently, consistently, and aligned with defined value targets.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Enterprise Architecture Leadership: Proven track record of designing and evolving infrastructure for complex, distributed systems at scale.

• Cloud Vision & Strategy: Ability to define a long-term vision for cloud operations, including automation, security, compliance, and resilience.

• Organizational Influence: Trusted advisor to C-level stakeholders and mentor to senior technical staff.

• Cloud Platform Engineering: Deep understanding of scalable, self-service platforms and modern developer experience (DevEx) principles.

• Innovation Leadership: Ability to stay ahead of industry shifts and prototype and validate forward-looking solutions (e.g., AIOps, cloud-native data architectures).

• Policy & Risk Management: Strong familiarity with risk trade-offs in highly regulated or complex environments, particularly in areas such as data sovereignty, cost governance, and business continuity.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, and ten (10+) years of experience in cloud architecture, DevOps, infrastructure automation, or technical leadership

• [OR] Associate’s degree and twelve (12+) years of experience in cloud architecture, DevOps, infrastructure automation, or technical leadership

• [OR] High School Diploma/GED and fourteen (14+) years of experience in cloud architecture, DevOps, infrastructure automation, or technical leadership

Why should you join our team?

At Consumers Energy, we offer more than just a place to work. We foster a culture that supports career development, growth, and stability, and we take pride in offering our co-workers excellent benefits and compensation packages. We are deliberately creating an inclusive culture that makes our diverse team of co-workers feel valued, supported, and empowered every day. We're a company made up of thousands of people, all with different stories to share and work to do, but we stand united in our company purpose: world class performance delivering hometown service.

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation packages

• Medical, Dental and Vision

• 401k with company match

• Paid parental leave

• Up to 13 paid Holidays

• Paid time off

• Educational Assistance Program

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:

We, at CMS Energy, value Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. It is part of our DNA. We treat our employees with respect, we treat each other fairly and we value the opinions of others. We are passionate about building and nurturing an environment where everyone feels included. We don’t discriminate. We seek to learn about each other and better understand our unique differences. Our uniqueness makes us authentic. We create safe spaces where everyone can be who they truly are. We invite difficult conversations and uncomfortable topics. We value diverse perspectives; this is what makes us great together. We harbor an inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to share their backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. Our Employee Resource Groups, Women in Energy (WE), Minority Advisory Panel (MAP), Pride Alliance of Consumers Energy (PACE), GENERGY, capABLE, Interfaith and Veterans Advisory Panel (VAP) are key enablers to living the values of our company culture: Caring, Empowered, Deliberate, Agility, and Ownership.

All qualified applicants will not be discriminated against and will receive consideration for employment without regard to protected veteran status, disability, race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.