Senior Cloud Engineer
Senior Cloud Engineer
Toronto, ON, CA, M5J 2P1
**This is a contract role with a contract duration of 6-12 months at a pay rate of 90-95$/hr 40 hrs a week**
Senior Cloud Engineer (AWS / Terraform / Security & Production Readiness)
Location: Toronto / Montreal (Hybrid – mandatory)
Experience: 7–10+ years
Employment Type: Full-time / Contract
Role Overview
We are looking for a Senior Cloud Engineer to lead production readiness, secure cloud deployment, and live cutover of a regulated, high-assurance platform.
This role is critical in ensuring that AWS production environments are secure, compliant, and operationally resilient, with a strong focus on infrastructure as code (Terraform), security controls, key management, and production deployment practices.
You will work at the intersection of cloud engineering, security, and platform operations, supporting a high-stakes production launch and vendor integrations.
Key Responsibilities
1. Production Environment Setup & Governance
- Establish and configure AWS production environments (ca-central-1) separated from non-production accounts
- Implement multi-account governance and federation models aligned with enterprise standards
- Apply infrastructure-as-code (Terraform) modules to enforce:
- Service Control Policies (SCPs)
- Data residency controls
- MFA enforcement and root access restriction
- Public access protections (e.g., S3 hardening)
- Configure monitoring, alerting, and centralized logging using CloudWatch and log aggregation solutions
2. Security & Key Management Infrastructure
- Implement and manage customer-managed KMS keys, including asymmetric key configurations
- Deploy and maintain secure key custody frameworks, including:
- Application service keys (rotating)
- Blockchain validator keys
- Privacy/encryption keys for sensitive transaction layers
- Ensure secure handling of secrets via AWS Secrets Manager with automated rotation
3. CI/CD & Production Deployment
- Activate and manage production CI/CD pipelines with environment gating and approvals
- Deploy applications and infrastructure using controlled release mechanisms
- Lead production deployments of pre-validated components (from dev & staging) including:
- Encryption and signing mechanisms
- Security-sensitive platform components
4. Production Readiness & Runbook Validation
- Validate and refine production runbooks against real-world system behaviour
- Identify and address gaps between staging and production environments
- Ensure operational readiness, incident response alignment, and monitoring coverage
5. Vendor Integration & Cutover
Own the end-to-end integration and production cutover of critical third-party services:
- KYC systems (e.g., Persona)
- Transition from mock → sandbox → production
- Compliance platforms (e.g., sanctions, PEP screening)
- Ensure secure data flows and operational stability
- Custody / MPC platforms (multi-party computation)
- Support secure key ceremonies and production rollout
6. Hypercare & Production Support
- Support live production cutover and stabilization phases
- Monitor platform health, performance, and security posture
- Rapidly respond to incidents during hypercare period
Required Skills & Experience
- 7+ years in cloud engineering / platform engineering roles
- Strong hands-on experience with AWS (multi-account environments)
- Deep expertise in Terraform (modular design, IaC best practices)
- Proven experience implementing:
- Cloud security frameworks (IAM, SCPs, KMS, Secrets Manager)
- Monitoring & observability (CloudWatch, logging pipelines)
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines and controlled production deployments
- Strong understanding of:
- Production readiness and release management
- Secure architecture and data protection controls
- Experience supporting high-risk production cutovers or regulated environments
Nice to Have
- Experience with blockchain or cryptographic key management systems
- Exposure to MPC (multi-party computation) or custody platforms
- Familiarity with compliance/KYC integrations
- AWS certifications (Solutions Architect / DevOps / Security)
What You Bring
- Ownership mindset with ability to lead production-critical initiatives
- Strong problem-solving skills in high-pressure environments
- Ability to work across engineering, security, and vendor teams
- Clear communication and documentation skills