1. Role Overview
The AWS Cloud Engineer will be responsible for designing, maintaining, and optimizing cloud infrastructure and data platforms to support enterprise data operations, analytics workloads, and cost‑efficient cloud consumption. The role blends hands‑on engineering with FinOps discipline to ensure scalable, resilient, automated, and cost‑optimized cloud environments within AWS.

2. Key Responsibilities
Cloud Infrastructure Engineering

Design, implement, and maintain scalable cloud architectures using AWS services (EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, API Gateway).
Develop IaC templates using Terraform/CloudFormation to standardize and automate cloud deployments.
Manage network components including VPC design, subnets, security groups, routing, NAT/IGWs, and private connectivity.
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines (CodePipeline, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, etc.).
Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting with CloudWatch, AWS X-Ray, OpenSearch, and other tooling.

Data Platform & Operations Support

Support data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration workflows (AWS Glue, Step Functions, Lambda, EMR, Kinesis, Kafka).
Maintain data lake and data storage patterns using S3, Lake Formation, Athena, Redshift, DynamoDB, and RDS.
Optimize data pipelines for performance, reliability, and observability.
Implement data governance, access control, encryption, and tagging standards.
Troubleshoot production data workflows and cloud infrastructure issues.

FinOps & Cost Optimization

Monitor cloud spend and cost anomalies using AWS Cost Explorer, Budgets, and CloudWatch metrics.
Tag resources and enforce cloud cost governance for showback/chargeback.
Implement optimization strategies including:

Right‑sizing EC2, RDS, Redshift, and EMR
Choosing appropriate storage tiers (S3 IA, Glacier)
Using Spot Instances, Savings Plans, and Reserved Instances
Eliminating idle or underutilized resources


Provide monthly or weekly cost reports and insights to engineering, data teams, and leadership.
Build dashboards and automated alerts to highlight inefficiencies.


3. Required Skills & Experience
Technical Skills

Strong proficiency in AWS core compute, networking, security, and storage services.
Infrastructure‑as‑Code using Terraform or AWS CloudFormation.
Strong scripting ability (Python, Bash, PowerShell).
Experience with CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows.
Knowledge of distributed systems, data pipeline tooling, and streaming platforms.
Understanding of AWS Well‑Architected Framework and cloud security best practices.
Monitoring/observability: CloudWatch, Prometheus/Grafana, Datadog, etc.

Data Engineering & Operations

Experience with ETL/ELT workflows and orchestration tools.
Understanding of analytical data stores and data modelling fundamentals.
Hands‑on experience with AWS analytics services: Glue, Athena, Redshift, EMR.
Ability to triage and resolve issues with data pipelines and cloud applications.

FinOps Competencies

Strong understanding of AWS billing, pricing models, and savings strategies.
Ability to interpret cost reports and recommend improvements.
Experience with cost‑optimization tooling (CloudHealth, Flexera, AWS Cost Explorer).
Able to work cross‑functionally to drive cost‑efficient engineering behaviours.


4. Certifications (Preferred)

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate or Professional
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate
FinOps Certified Practitioner


5. Soft Skills

Able to collaborate with Data Engineering, BI, Finance, and Product teams.
Strong documentation and communication skills.
Analytical mindset with a proactive cost‑conscious approach.
Ability to manage multiple workloads and prioritize effectively.


6. Deliverables & KPIs

Highly available, automated AWS infrastructure for production workloads.
Stable and observable data pipelines with minimal disruptions.
Monthly or quarterly FinOps reports with actionable recommendations.
Reduction in unnecessary cloud spend (e.g., x% YOY).
Compliance with security, governance, and tagging standards.
Improved deployment velocity and reduced operational toil.


Due to the nature and urgency of this post, candidates holding or who have held high level security clearance in the past are most welcome to apply. Please note successful applicants will be required to be security cleared prior to appointment which can take up to a minimum 10 weeks. LA International is a HMG approved ICT Recruitment and Project Solutions Consultancy, operating globally from the largest single site in the UK as an IT Consultancy or as an Employment Business & Agency depending upon the precise nature of the work, for security cleared jobs or non-clearance vacancies, LA International welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people with diverse experience and backgrounds.

Award Winning LA International, winner of the Recruiter Awards for Excellence, Best IT Recruitment Company, Best Public Sector Recruitment Company and overall Gold Award winner, has now secured the most prestigious business award that any business can receive, The Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade, for the second consecutive period.