Senior Cloud Operations Lead

Senior Cloud Operations Lead to work in the National Capital Region covering the Pentagon, Falls Church, and Fairfax . Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award. The War Data Platform (WDP) is a key initiative within the U.S. Department of War's (DoW) AI-First strategy introduced in early 2026. The WDP focuses on operational warfighting data and aims to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) on the battlefield. The WDP extends to Unclassified, Secret, and Top Secret environments, and supports collaboration between Combatant Commands, Joint Staff directorates, Senior Executive Service leaders, and operational analysts. The Senior Cloud Operations Lead serves as the technical and managerial authority for enterprise cloud operations across the WDP Core Integration portfolio, directing cloud service delivery, System Operations Plan governance, and multi-enclave infrastructure management across AWS GovCloud/NIPRNet, SC2S/SIPRNet, and C2S/JWICS environments to sustain mission-critical platform availability, security, and operational readiness. In this role, the Senior Cloud Operations Lead unifies engineering execution, operational planning, and stakeholder coordination to ensure cloud infrastructure remains resilient, compliant, and continuously aligned to warfighter mission requirements. Directs enterprise cloud operations supporting mission-critical infrastructure for Department of War stakeholders and major operational programs such as War Data Platform (WDP) Core Integration, Joint All-Domain analytics initiatives, and multi-enclave Amazon Web Services environments. Develops, maintains, and executes the System Operations Plan detailing all operational requirements, system behaviors, maintenance dependencies, and execution procedures required for program success. Produces initial and recurring updates to the System Operations Plan aligned with Government review cycles, operational objectives, and evolving platform capabilities, incorporating feedback from Contracting Officer Representatives and Technical Points of Contact to maintain full compliance with program mandates. Leads operational planning, engineering synchronization, and cloud service delivery across distributed teams using Amazon Web Services management consoles and Infrastructure as Code, CloudFormation, Identity and Access Management, Virtual Private Cloud architectures, network segmentation designs, and cross-domain transfer mechanisms. Develops cloud operations deliverables including operational runbooks, system design artifacts, architecture diagrams, capacity forecasts, service performance assessments, and mission reporting packages supporting audit readiness and command-level oversight. Guides cloud engineers in applying availability, scalability, and security controls across production, staging, integration, and development enclaves while maintaining configuration discipline and enterprise resilience. Oversees monitoring strategies using CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Grafana, GuardDuty, and operational logging pipelines to track system performance, service-level compliance, and incident patterns. Directs workload migration, modernization efforts, release preparation, maintenance windows, and cutover events aligned with program roadmaps and defense mission timelines. Coordinates with leadership, cybersecurity teams, acquisition personnel, and engineering leads to manage cloud service provider interactions, contract dependencies, and operational risks. Provides structured mentorship, prioritization, and daily technical guidance to cloud engineering personnel, driving operational readiness, reducing mission impacts, and strengthening cloud capability maturity across the enterprise. Performs other duties as assigned. Required Skills Current Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret (TS) security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). 10 or more years of progressive experience in cloud operations, cloud infrastructure engineering, or a closely related discipline, with demonstrated experience supporting enterprise-scale federal or defense programs across multiple classification enclaves. Hands‑on proficiency with Amazon Web Services cloud platforms, including demonstrated operational experience with CloudFormation, IAM, VPC architecture, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, and related AWS‑native services across IL2, IL5, IL6, and JWICS environments, specifically AWS GovCloud, SC2S, and C2S. Possess one or more certifications from AWS (Amazon Web Services). Demonstrated experience developing, maintaining, and submitting formal System Operations Plans or equivalent operational documentation in compliance with Government‑defined requirements, Contracting Officer Representative review cycles, and PWS obligations. Proven ability to lead and coordinate distributed cloud engineering teams across development, integration, staging, and production environments, including experience directing maintenance windows, workload migrations, and release cutover events in a mission‑critical operational setting. Experience implementing and overseeing Infrastructure‑as‑Code and Configuration‑as‑Code practices, including enforcement of configuration baselines, change management controls, and audit‑ready documentation across multi‑enclave classified cloud environments. Demonstrated ability to develop and manage cloud operations monitoring pipelines, service‑level performance dashboards, and incident response procedures that maintain operational visibility and support continuous compliance reporting to senior Government leadership. Strong problem‑solving and decision‑making capabilities, with a proven ability to weigh the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and identify the most appropriate solution. Highly developed interpersonal and oral/written communication skills, with the ability to effectively and professionally interact with a diverse set of stakeholders. Desired Skills Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) eligibility. Active AWS certification at the professional or specialty level, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional, or AWS Certified Security - Specialty, demonstrating advanced proficiency in enterprise cloud architecture and operations within Federal or defense environments. Familiarity with Risk Management Framework (RMF) processes, FedRAMP Moderate baseline compliance requirements, and Authorization to Operate (ATO) lifecycle activities as they apply to cloud service provider management and operational security across NIPRNet, SIPRNet, and JWICS. Experience implementing and operationalizing Zero Trust Architecture controls within cloud‑native environments, including identity‑centric access enforcement, network micro‑segmentation, encrypted traffic inspection, and continuous monitoring capabilities aligned to DoW cybersecurity policy. Background supporting AI/ML platform delivery, enterprise data pipeline operations, or analytics infrastructure programs within a DevSecOps‑integrated cloud environment, including experience maintaining operational parity across Unclassified, Secret, and Top‑Secret enclaves. Prior experience coordinating cloud service provider contract management, capacity planning, and cost optimization activities within a large‑scale federal program, including demonstrated ability to translate acquisition constraints and contracting dependencies into actionable operational risk mitigation strategies. ECS Federal LLC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis any characteristic protected by law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local jurisdiction law. #J-18808-Ljbffr ECS