Senior Systems and Azure Cloud Engineer

Overview:
Insight Global is seeking an experienced Senior Systems and Azure Cloud Engineer on a contract-to-hire basis for an oil and gas client in the Houston area. They will lead the design, deployment, and optimization of Azure infrastructure. This role blends hands-on technical execution with architectural strategy and plays a key role in supporting our ongoing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by evaluating and integrating infrastructure, applications, and users into our enterprise cloud environment.
You'll work closely with infrastructure, application, and network engineering teams to ensure secure, scalable, and compliant solutions across hybrid environments.
In alignment with evolving executive priorities, this role will also support the deployment and enablement of AI infrastructure within Azure — ensuring the underlying compute, networking, security, and governance models are designed to support application teams leveraging AI and machine learning solutions.

Responsibilities:
Manage Azure IaaS infrastructure, including Virtual Machines (VMs), Virtual Networks (VNets), Network Security Groups (NSGs), load balancers, and VPN gateways or ExpressRoute.
Design and implement Azure Landing Zones as a foundation for scalable, compliant, and governed cloud workloads.
Standardize identity, networking, and security, including Azure AD, RBAC, NSGs, tagging, and subscription management.
Lead cloud migrations and integrate acquired environments with minimal disruption.
Evaluate acquired systems — users, applications, servers, and networks — for alignment with enterprise standards.
Deploy and support Azure-based AI infrastructure for application teams, including compute, GPU-enabled workloads, networking, and secure data access patterns aligned with enterprise governance.
Optimize Azure as our primary cloud platform; experience with AWS or GCP is a plus.
Implement security best practices: RBAC, encryption, private endpoints, and compliance controls.
Collaborate across engineering disciplines to deliver unified, high-performing solutions.
Monitor cloud environments and respond to performance or availability issues.
Drive cost control through tagging, automation, and optimization strategies.
Automate provisioning and configuration using scripting and policy-based tools.
Support governance and compliance standards across identity, data, and infrastructure.
Research and evaluate cloud-native tools such as container orchestration, service mesh, and AI/ML platform integrations to support application team initiatives.
Provide architecture recommendations aligned with evolving business needs, cloud innovation, and C-suite technology vision.

We are a company committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments where people can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day. We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer that believes everyone matters. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment regardless of their race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic factors, age, disability, protected veteran status, military or uniformed service member status, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to HR@insightglobal.com.To learn more about how we collect, keep, and process your private information, please review Insight Global's Workforce Privacy Policy: https://insightglobal.com/workforce-privacy-policy/.

Required Qualifications:
Degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
10+ years in IT, with 7+ in cloud infrastructure or architecture roles.
5+ years of hands-on Azure experience, including AD, SQL, Policy, Terraform, and DR.
Proven ability to integrate infrastructure, apps, and users during M&A.
Deep knowledge of Azure Networking, Identity, Landing Zones, and Governance.
Proficient in scripting (PowerShell or equivalent) and technical documentation.

Technical Requirements:
Expert-level experience with Azure networking and security (VNets, NSGs, VPN gateways).
Experience with Azure Route Server (ARS).
Experience with app registrations, OAuth, and SSO integrations.
Familiarity with hybrid cloud networking and segmentation.
Knowledge of enterprise security practices and least-privilege enforcement.
Experience with Azure Monitor, SolarWinds, or similar monitoring platforms.
Solid understanding of SaaS, PaaS, DaaS, and IaaS models.
Awareness of compliance, logging, and continuous monitoring best practices.
Exposure to Azure AI services, GPU-based compute, or high-performance computing environments supporting AI/ML workloads.
Experience designing infrastructure to support data-intensive or AI-driven application environments in Azure.

Azure Solutions Architect Expert / AWS Solutions Architect
CISSP – Cybersecurity and risk management
CCSP – Cloud security best practices
CISM – Governance and information security management

Benefit packages for this role will start on the 1st day of employment and include medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as HSA, FSA, and DCFSA account options, and 401k retirement account access with employer matching. Employees in this role are also entitled to paid sick leave and/or other paid time off as provided by applicable law.