Senior DevOps Engineer (Contract)

Location: Remote (on-site emergency availability required) Employment Type: Independent Contractor (LLC) Experience Level: Senior (7+ years)

Salary: $72-$82/hr.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior DevOps Engineer to provide senior-level systems administration and Azure platform support. This hands-on role is approximately 75% traditional Windows Systems Administration and operational support and 25% troubleshooting and support for a custom Azure-native messaging platform. The ideal contractor is a strong senior systems administrator with deep Microsoft enterprise skills, Azure troubleshooting, scripting and automation experience, strong customer service, and the ability to own complex incidents through resolution. This is not intended to be a pure DevOps platform-engineering role.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer and support Windows Server environments, including configuration, patching, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, security hardening, and operational improvement.
• Manage Microsoft Entra ID and Active Directory, including hybrid identity, Exchange Hybrid, Microsoft Teams and eDiscovery, users, groups, access controls, and permissions.
• Administer DNS/Infoblox, SSL/TLS certificates, privileged access functions, enterprise FTP services, file shares, and NTFS permissions.
• Respond to service requests and incidents, serve as an escalation point for complex infrastructure issues, and support after-hours maintenance, on-call activities, and emergency operations when required.
• Support and troubleshoot a custom Azure-native messaging solution through log/telemetry analysis, root-cause analysis, configuration review, deployment troubleshooting, and reliability improvements.
• Troubleshoot Azure Service Bus, API Management, Azure Functions or similar compute services, Cosmos DB or Azure SQL, Key Vault, Managed Identity/RBAC, and Azure networking for PaaS services.
• Use PowerShell, Python, Terraform/Terragrunt, Git/GitHub, C#, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, KQL, and approved AI-assisted engineering tools for automation, infrastructure-as-code, validation, observability, troubleshooting, refactoring, and documentation.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in systems administration, infrastructure engineering, or enterprise IT operations with demonstrated senior-level technical ownership and problem-solving skills.
• Strong hands-on Windows Server administration experience in an enterprise environment, including performance, security, patching, troubleshooting, and core infrastructure services.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Active Directory, hybrid identity, Exchange Hybrid, Microsoft Teams/eDiscovery, DNS, certificate management, access controls, and file permissions.
• Strong PowerShell scripting and operational automation experience; experience using Python for administration, API checks, validation, reporting, log analysis, or repeatable troubleshooting workflows.
• Experience supporting Microsoft Azure environments and troubleshooting Azure-hosted applications/services, including platform configuration, deployments, messaging, identity, and monitoring.
• Working experience with Terraform or Terragrunt and Git/GitHub; strong customer-facing support and cross-team collaboration skills; must be available on-site during emergencies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Azure Government (AzureUSGovernment), Azure PaaS networking, Azure observability, and integration/message-flow troubleshooting.
• Ability to read, troubleshoot, and make targeted corrections to C#/.NET and Python code; experience with Kubernetes or containerized workloads is beneficial but not required.
• Experience leveraging approved generative AI or AI-assisted development tools for DevOps scripting, Terraform/IaC, debugging, root-cause and log/KQL analysis, refactoring, deployment validation, and runbook creation; ability to validate AI-generated output and safeguard credentials and sensitive information.
• Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Windows Server Hybrid Administrator, Azure Administrator, Azure Solutions Architect, Azure DevOps Engineer, or HashiCorp Terraform Associate.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience accepted. Operational documentation and runbook experience is also preferred.

Why Contract with Us?

• Contract is with local government entity
• Serve in a high-impact senior technical role supporting mission-critical public services across traditional Microsoft enterprise technologies and modern Azure-native services.
• Support a strategic Azure-hosted messaging platform while strengthening automation, reliability, and troubleshooting capabilities through an independent contractor engagement with competitive hourly compensation.