Azure Engineer, Infrastructure Operations

About the position The Information Technology Operations Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) is seeking a skilled Azure Engineer, Infrastructure Operations to design new solutions, improving processes, solving problems, and ensuring the smooth operation of our Azure/Microsoft 365 tenant. The Azure Engineer will be responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing cloud solutions across Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 environments. This role involves managing technical projects, ensuring system reliability, and driving innovation through best practices in cloud architecture and security. The ideal candidate will have proven expertise in Azure services, automation, and integration, as well as strong collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams on complex technical initiatives. This is a one-year fixed-term position with a possibility of renewal and reports to the Deputy Director of Information Technology, based in Charlotte. The successful candidate will be expected to work from the office as needed and must be based within commuting distance of the following HRW offices: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington, Miami, Nairobi, Johannesburg, São Paulo, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Amsterdam or Brussels. Work hours should preferably align with U.S. time zones to ensure effective collaboration with core teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and Administration: Identify, propose, and develop designs, maintenance, and administration procedures and projects to ensure our tenant meets organizational needs and best practices.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify, analyze, propose, and develop opportunities for the continuous improvement of HRW SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS systems.
• Roadmap Management: Work in partnership with other teams to define and manage the roadmap for Azure and Microsoft 365 environments.
• Project Execution: Advise on and manage the planning and execution of processes and projects related to HRW SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS systems.
• Support Services: Provide support services to internal Tier 1 and 2 support teams via defined escalation paths. Support Escalation: Serve as support escalation for helpdesk staff.
• Documentation: Manage, research, analyze, and create documentation for internal teams and assist other IT teams (as needed). Operational Documentation: Build, update, or assist in operational and configurational documentation for all SaaS applications supported by IT.
• Technical Training: Advise and support the technical training of other members of the IT teams.
• System Administration: Administer SaaS, cloud (Azure, AWS), Linux/Unix systems, and on-premises servers, including design, implementation, and support of critical systems.
• Cloud Hosting: Experience with public cloud hosting (Azure), including build and deploy from GitHub.
• Support Escalation: Serve as support escalation for helpdesk staff.
• Identity Access Management: Support existing SSO integrations with Azure AD and perform new integrations as required.
• Application Monitoring: Monitor and maintain current SaaS applications with daily tasks, utilizing change, incident, and project management.
• Backup Review: Review backups daily and troubleshoot any issues; and
• Perform other tasks as required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent level of experience in the IT field.
• A minimum of seven years of experience in a related field.
• Knowledge in administering Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, Entra ID, Defender) and Azure (VMs, application hosting, virtual networks, DNS).
• Demonstrated experience deploying and managing services through Azure Pipelines and GitHub.
• Knowledge of troubleshooting infrastructure issues.
• Proficiency with IT Service Management Process and tools (Fresh Service or similar).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools, such as CloudFormation, Terraform, or Ansible.
• Understanding Linux containers and workload scheduling technologies (AKS, Docker, Kubernetes).
• Understanding networking concepts (TCP/IP, Routing, Load Balancing, DNS).
• Demonstrated skills in programming/scripting (PowerShell, Python).
• Understanding OS security fundamentals for publicly accessible servers.
• Experience with source control systems and managing development across branches.
• Working knowledge of database concepts, database structures, relational databases, and related applications.
• Experience with device management tools (Intune, JAMF Pro).
• Good understanding of REST and MS Graph API services.

Nice-to-haves

• Familiarity with general endpoint troubleshooting, and support functions is desired.
• Familiarity with the administration of SharePoint, Teams and Power Platform.
• Azure and Microsoft 365 certifications are a plus.

Benefits

• HRW seeks exceptional applicants and offers competitive compensation and employer-paid benefits.

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