GCP Cloud Engineer / Developer

Title: GCP Cloud Engineer / Developer

Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

Employment Type: 3 Month Contract-to-Hire (W2 Only)

Work Authorization: US Citizen or Green Card Required

Overview

We are seeking a GCP Cloud Engineer / Developer who can design, build, and scale cloud-native solutions on Google Cloud Platform.

This role is not about maintaining systems - it is about standing up modern cloud infrastructure, automating deployments, and enabling scalable, secure application delivery.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on builder who can operate across cloud engineering, DevOps, and application development to deliver measurable outcomes.

Performance Objectives

First 30 Days – Assess & Stabilize

• Evaluate current GCP environment, architecture, and deployment pipelines
• Identify gaps across infrastructure, security, and automation
• Gain alignment with engineering and business stakeholders

60 Days – Build & Automate

• Implement or enhance Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred)
• Establish or improve CI/CD pipelines (Cloud Build, Jenkins, GitLab)
• Begin optimizing application deployment workflows

90 Days – Scale & Optimize

• Deliver scalable, production-ready cloud infrastructure
• Improve system performance, reliability, and cost efficiency
• Implement monitoring, alerting, and observability across environments

Ongoing Success

• Ensure secure, compliant, and resilient cloud architecture
• Continuously optimize cost, performance, and deployment speed
• Support engineering teams with best practices and reusable patterns

Key Responsibilities

• Design and deploy scalable GCP infrastructure using:
• Compute Engine
• Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
• App Engine
• Build and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using:
• Terraform (preferred)
• Google Cloud Deployment Manager
• Develop and optimize CI/CD pipelines:
• Cloud Build, Jenkins, GitLab
• Implement monitoring and observability:
• Google Cloud Operations Suite (Stackdriver)
• Manage security and compliance:
• IAM policies
• Encryption
• Network security (VPCs, firewalls, load balancers)
• Support data-driven solutions:
• BigQuery
• Cloud SQL
• Cloud Storage

Technical Requirements

• Strong experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Hands-on experience with:
• Terraform / IaC
• Docker & Kubernetes (GKE)
• CI/CD pipelines
• Programming proficiency in:
• Python, Java, Go, or Bash
• Strong understanding of:
• Networking (VPCs, firewalls, load balancing)
• Cloud security and IAM
• Experience with:
• Git (GitHub / GitLab)
• Agile development environments

What We’re Really Looking

We want someone who can:

• Take a cloud environment and make it scalable, automated, and production-ready
• Reduce manual work through automation and pipelines
• Improve system performance while controlling cloud costs
• Work across teams and own delivery - not just tasks

Preferred Qualifications

• Google Cloud certifications:
• Professional Cloud Architect
• Professional Cloud Developer
• Experience in regulated environments (HIPAA, PCI, etc.)
• Exposure to multi-cloud environments (AWS/Azure)

This Role Is NOT

• Not a support-only role
• Not a ticket-based cloud admin
• Not limited to one tool or silo

Must Have:

• GCP hands-on experience
• Terraform / IaC
• CI/CD pipeline experience
• Kubernetes (GKE)