Principal Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Wilson Sonsini is the premier legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide. We represent companies at every stage of development, from entrepreneurial start-ups to multibillion-dollar global corporations, as well as the venture firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance and advise them. The firm has approximately 1,100 attorneys in 17 offices: 13 in the U.S., two in China, and two in Europe. Our broad spectrum of practices and entrepreneurial spirit allow exceptional opportunities for professional achievement and career growth.

The Principal Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, under the direction of the Senior Manager of Infrastructure, will collaborate with our internal IT teams to design, analyze, and maintain several key aspects within our firmwide cloud footprint. The Principal Cloud Infrastructure Engineer should be a well‑rounded professional who can work well across teams and have excellent time management skills to balance various workloads and responsibilities. This person will lead efforts to design, architect, advise and implement various workflows and services related to cloud platforms. This person will work to ensure our systems and architecture comply with our security standards, policies, and risk guidance.

This role can be hybrid or virtual/remote.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Act as the technical subject matter expert and sounding board for questions and decisions related to Microsoft Azure and other cloud solutions.
• Bridge the gap between the IT Infrastructure team and IT Applications team as it relates to integrating application development and IT Infrastructure leveraging primarily Microsoft technologies such as Azure DevOps, Power Platform, Graph API, Foundry, as well as new technologies as they are released.
• Ensure that solutions that are built follow vendor best practices for performance, cost, data protection, and security.
• Assist in the development of technology roadmaps, covering lifecycle planning, capacity planning, obsolescence, availability of support, and vendor roadmaps.
• Perform root cause analysis to quickly recover from service interruptions, and to prevent recurring problems in the environment.
• Create and maintain clear documentation on services and applications.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• 7+ years of experience as a senior cloud systems administrator or comparable experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing and designing Azure environments. Advanced knowledge of Azure best practices as it relates to deployment, scaling, data protection, and security.
• 5+ years of experience managing Kubernetes clusters. Advanced knowledge of container technologies such as Kubernetes and how it integrates with other components within an Azure tenant.
• 5+ years of experience with application development pipelines and integration with IT Infrastructure.
• 4+ years of Infrastructure as Code experience with Terraform or Bicep.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Azure and its integration with other Microsoft cloud based solutions.
• Functional understanding of application development solutions such as Logic Apps and Function Apps as it relates to integration with various components of IT Infrastructure.
• Functional understanding of Azure DevOps & CI/CD.
• Experience with Power Platform, Azure DevOps, Foundry, Copilot, Graph API, Logic Apps, Function Apps.
• Experience planning and designing cycle projects (feasibility, planning, outline design, stakeholder management).
• Experience as a ‘bridge-manager’ who establishes relationships between different functional teams.
• Comfortable presenting to large groups and is an expert at explaining technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Self‑starter, take charge, highly motivated, positive demeanor and able to juggle multiple assignments simultaneously.
• Experience with the legal vertical preferred.
• BA preferred.

The primary location for this job posting is in Palo Alto, but other locations may be listed. The actual base pay offered will depend upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to the selected candidate’s qualifications, years of relevant experience, level of education, professional certifications and licenses, and work location. The anticipated pay range for this position is as follows:

Palo Alto, New York, San Francisco: $163,200 – $220,800 per year.
Austin, Boston, Century City, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle: $147,050 – $198,950 per year.

The compensation for this position may include a discretionary year‑end merit bonus based on performance. We offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package.

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).