GCP Cloud Engineer

GCP Cloud Engineer

Improvix Technologies | Federal Program | Washington, DC

Compensation: $180,000-$220,000

Location: Washington, DC — hybrid, 4 days onsite and 1 day telework per week

Clearance: Active Secret clearance required; Top Secret preferred. We sponsor new and upgraded clearances for qualified candidates.

Employment Type: Full-Time

IN A CLEARED ENVIRONMENT, CLICKOPS DOESN’T SURVIVE THE AUDIT

In a commercial shop you can fix something in the console at two in the morning and reconcile the Terraform later. Nobody loves it, but it works. Federal doesn't operate that way. Every change has to be reproducible, reviewable, and explainable to an assessor who shows up months after you've forgotten why you made it. The console is where you look. The repository is where you change things.

Improvix Technologies is hiring a GCP Cloud Engineer to design, build, and run secure cloud infrastructure for a federal customer in Washington, DC. Compute Engine, GKE, VPC, IAM, BigQuery — defined in Terraform, deployed through pipelines, and built to satisfy FedRAMP and NIST requirements from the first commit rather than during remediation.

You'll work alongside engineers, cybersecurity staff, and government stakeholders to modernize systems and automate the infrastructure underneath them. Four days onsite, one day telework. An active Secret clearance is required; if you don't hold a Top Secret yet, we'll sponsor the upgrade.

WHY ENGINEERS TAKE THIS ROLE

• Automation is the baseline, not the stretch goal. Infrastructure as Code isn't a maturity goal somebody put on a roadmap here — it's how the environment is built, because in a cleared federal setting it has to be. You'll never have to argue for the time to automate something.
• Cleared GCP depth is rare. GCP is the third hyperscaler in most federal estates, which makes engineers with real GCP depth and a clearance genuinely hard to find. That scarcity works in your favor for the rest of your career.
• A Top Secret clearance, sponsored. You hold a Secret today; we'll process and support the upgrade. That clearance follows you, and it compounds with the cloud specialization.
• Breadth across the platform. Compute, containers, networking, identity, and data — Compute Engine through GKE to BigQuery. You won't be siloed onto one service for two years.
• Compliance as code, not paperwork. FedRAMP and NIST controls get implemented in Terraform and enforced in pipelines, not tracked in a spreadsheet by someone else. Security work here is engineering work.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

Cloud Infrastructure

• Design, build, and maintain secure, scalable, and resilient infrastructure in Google Cloud Platform.
• Architect and operate across Compute Engine, GKE, Cloud Functions, VPC, IAM, and BigQuery.
• Design the network and identity layers — VPC topology, firewall rules, service accounts, and least-privilege IAM that survives contact with a growing set of teams.

Infrastructure as Code

• Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, with Infrastructure Manager and Ansible where they fit.
• Build reusable modules and patterns so the environment stays consistent as it grows, rather than accumulating snowflakes.
• Keep deployed state and committed code the same thing. Drift is the problem this role exists to prevent, not to document after an assessor finds it.

CI/CD & Automation

• Support and optimize CI/CD pipelines using GitLab CI, Jenkins, or Cloud Build.
• Automate the deployment path so releases are routine rather than events, and collaborate with developers to streamline their workflows.
• Write the scripts and tooling that remove manual steps — in Python, Bash, or Go — and document them well enough that someone else will use them.

Security & Compliance

• Implement federal cloud compliance standards including FedRAMP and NIST, and enforce security and governance best practices.
• Partner with cybersecurity staff through ATO activities and continuous monitoring, supplying the architecture and configuration evidence assessors actually request.
• Build controls into the infrastructure definition so compliance is the default state rather than a remediation backlog.

Reliability & Performance

• Monitor, troubleshoot, and improve system performance to meet uptime, reliability, and SLA commitments.
• Diagnose problems across the stack — Linux, networking, containers, and the GCP services above them.
• Optimize cost alongside performance: right-sizing, storage tiering, and knowing which workloads actually need what they were given.

Documentation & Knowledge Sharing

• Contribute documentation, automation scripts, and runbooks that are genuinely useful at 2 a.m. to someone who isn't you.
• Share what you learn with the team, so capability spreads rather than concentrating in one person's head.

WHAT YOU BRING

These are the requirements — everything in “Bonus Points” below is genuinely optional. If you meet this list, apply.

• 4+ years of cloud engineering experience, including at least 2 years working hands-on in GCP environments.
• Strong hands-on expertise across Compute Engine, Cloud Functions, VPC, IAM, GKE, and BigQuery.
• Experience building infrastructure as code with Terraform, and familiarity with Ansible or Infrastructure Manager.
• Working knowledge of CI/CD tooling — GitLab CI, Jenkins, or Cloud Build.
• Solid understanding of Linux administration, networking, and containerization with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience delivering in Agile or Scrum environments.
• Scripting ability in Python, Bash, or Go — enough to automate the thing you'd otherwise do twice.
• U.S. citizenship and an active Secret clearance; Top Secret preferred, and we'll sponsor the upgrade.
• Ability to work onsite in Washington, DC four days per week.

BONUS POINTS

• GCP Professional Cloud Architect or Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification.
• Experience supporting federal government programs and ATO processes.
• Migration experience moving GCP workloads off Deployment Manager onto Terraform or Infrastructure Manager — that work is live across the industry right now.
• Familiarity with AWS or Azure alongside GCP.
• Policy-as-code or guardrail tooling — Organization Policy, Sentinel, OPA, or similar.
• Experience with GCP observability tooling: Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, and trace or profiling.
• Background working in an environment with restricted network access or assured workloads.

WORKING HERE

Improvix Technologies delivers secure, modern, integrated technology solutions that keep the nation's most critical systems running. We're small enough that a good idea reaches a decision-maker in a day, and close enough to the mission that you'll know exactly what your work supports.

A straight answer on schedule: four days onsite in Washington, DC and one day telework. The onsite requirement is driven by the environment you'll be working in — it isn't a preference we'd quietly trade away later, so we'd rather you know now than find out in week two.

On the clearance: an active Secret is the floor and it's non-negotiable, because you'll need access from day one. Top Secret is preferred, and if you don't have one we'll sponsor and support the upgrade. The adjudication takes as long as it takes, and we'll tell you where it stands rather than going quiet on you.

On how we work: if your instinct when something breaks is to fix it in the console and move on, this environment will frustrate you — and you'll frustrate the auditors. We're looking for the engineer whose instinct is to fix it in the module, open the merge request, and leave the environment in a state anyone can reconstruct.

Ready to apply? Send us your résumé. If there's an environment you brought under Terraform, a pipeline that made deployments boring, or a compliance requirement you turned into code instead of a checklist, tell us about it — that's the conversation we want to have.

WHY IMPROVIX

At Improvix Technologies, we don't just deliver IT solutions — we deliver mission success. Our teams support critical government programs by building secure, innovative, and scalable technology that enables agencies to operate more efficiently and securely.

We believe great technology starts with great people. That's why we invest in our employees' growth, well-being, and long-term success. Our benefits include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Three weeks of paid annual leave that increases with tenure
• Life insurance and disability coverage
• Transit and commuting benefits
• Professional development and paid training opportunities
• Performance-based incentives

At Improvix, you'll join a collaborative, mission-focused environment where your expertise drives meaningful impact.

Pay Range Statement

The compensation range above reflects the minimum and maximum base salary Improvix in good faith expects to pay for this position at the time of posting. The final offer will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, certifications, clearance level and contract requirements. Improvix does not ask for or consider an applicant's salary history.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Improvix Technologies, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Improvix is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the application and employment process. If you require assistance or accommodation, please contact our Human Resources team.

Security Clearance / Citizenship Requirements

Due to the nature of our government contracts, U.S. citizenship may be required for certain positions, and some roles may require the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.

Pay Transparency Statement

Improvix Technologies will not discharge or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants for discussing, disclosing, or inquiring about their own compensation or the compensation of others.