Title: Sr. GCP Cloud Engineer
Position Type: Contract
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Senior Cloud Engineer (GCP) – Embedded Architecture & Delivery
Overview
We are seeking a Senior Cloud Engineer with deep Google Cloud Platform (GCP) expertise to embed within application development teams and drive high-quality cloud architecture and implementation.
This role combines hands-on engineering with architectural leadership, ensuring teams select and implement the right GCP services and patterns.
You will operate as a technical leader across multiple teams, owning cloud-related decisions, accelerating delivery, and raising the overall engineering maturity of our application development organization.
What You’ll Do
Own and guide GCP architecture decisions for application teams, ensuring scalability, security, and cost-efficiency
Embed with development teams to accelerate delivery on high-priority initiatives
Act as a bridge between application teams and platform engineering, leveraging shared capabilities while adapting them to real-world needs
Design and implement infrastructure using Terraform, including:
Internal enterprise modules
Google Cloud Foundation Fabric (CFF) modules
Custom extensions where needed
Contribute directly to delivery with a hands-on approach (~50% coding/building)
Troubleshoot complex infrastructure and platform issues; serve as a Tier 3 escalation point
Help define and mature CI/CD and DevSecOps practices using GitLab and enterprise standards
Guide teams in adopting secure, scalable patterns across networking, IAM, and service design
Upskill and mentor developers on cloud-native development and infrastructure practices
Provide pragmatic guidance—balancing best practices with delivery speed
What You Bring
Core Experience
Strong hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in production environments
Proven ability to design and implement cloud architectures, not just operate them
Deep experience with Terraform in enterprise environments
Experience working with or extending modular IaC frameworks (e.g., CFF or similar)
Background supporting or embedding within application development teams
Technical Skills
GCP services across compute and application platforms (e.g., GKE, Cloud Run, Compute Engine)
Strong understanding of:
IAM and security design
Networking (VPCs, connectivity, service access)
Observability and troubleshooting
CI/CD experience, preferably with GitLab pipelines
Familiarity with Internal Developer Platforms (IDP) concepts (e.g., Humanitec or similar)
Ways of Working
Comfortable owning decisions and influencing without authority
Able to move between teams and contexts quickly
Strong troubleshooting mindset—able to dig into complex issues and resolve them hands-on
Passion for mentoring and elevating other engineers
Pragmatic: knows when to standardize and when to adapt
Nice to Have
Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification
Experience with Google Cloud Foundation Fabric (CFF)
Experience building or operating Internal Developer Platforms
Exposure to DevSecOps and enterprise security practices
Role Characteristics
50/50 split between hands-on engineering and architectural guidance
No on-call responsibilities, but acts as a senior escalation point
Floats across teams, with the ability to focus deeply on critical initiatives
Reports into Application Development leadership while partnering closely with Platform Engineering
Why This Role Matters
This role is critical to ensuring our application teams can move fast without compromising on architecture, security, or scalability. You will directly shape how cloud is used across the organization and help teams build the right way from the start.