Job Description
3rd Line Cloud Engineer - Azure
Reading, mostly office based | £45,000 to £50,000 | Permanent, full time
We are seeking an experienced Azure engineer to take technical ownership of the cloud infrastructure we manage on behalf of our clients.
The position operates as the final point of escalation for Azure related issues, receiving work that cannot be resolved by our first and second line teams. It is not solely a reactive role. You will be involved in project work from the outset, contributing to scoping and design as new pieces of work come into the business, and remaining engaged through implementation and handover.
Azure is the specialism and the reason for the appointment. A working understanding of Microsoft 365 and modern workplace is expected, since the two sit alongside one another in every client environment and identity spans both, but the depth we require is on the Azure side.
Responsibilities
- Acting as the senior escalation point for Azure issues raised by the service desk
- Diagnosing complex faults across virtual machines, virtual networking, storage, identity and backup
- Contributing to project scoping, design and delivery as new work enters the business, including migrations, onboarding and infrastructure change
- Designing and building client Azure and hybrid environments
- Reviewing client subscriptions for security, resilience and cost, and making recommendations accordingly
- Administering Windows Server, Active Directory and hybrid identity
- Supporting colleagues on Microsoft 365 escalations where these intersect with identity or infrastructure
- Contributing to the development of the second line team through mentoring and knowledge sharing
- Maintaining accurate documentation and resolving the underlying causes of recurring issues
Requirements
- Demonstrable third line or senior support experience, ideally within a managed service provider
- Strong Azure infrastructure knowledge across virtual machines, virtual networks, network security groups, storage accounts, backup and site to site connectivity, including the ability to diagnose performance issues rather than resolve them by resizing
- A sound grasp of subscriptions, resource groups, role based access control and the relationship between consumption and cost
- Solid identity knowledge, including Entra ID, hybrid synchronisation and its failure modes, conditional access policy design, and the ability to establish the cause of an access failure from sign in logs
- Confident use of the available diagnostic tooling, including activity and audit logs, resource health and Log Analytics
- Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and modern workplace, sufficient to understand how Exchange Online, Intune and Teams interact with the infrastructure you support
- Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy and DNS administration within hybrid environments
- A structured approach to diagnosis, establishing cause rather than applying workarounds, and sound judgement as to when a Microsoft case is warranted and what evidence it requires
- The ability to communicate clearly with technical colleagues and non technical stakeholders alike
Desirable
AZ 104 or AZ 305 certification, PowerShell and Graph scripting, Bicep or Terraform, Hyper V or VMware, backup and disaster recovery tooling, and familiarity with RMM and PSA platforms.
Package and working arrangements
£45,000 to £50,000 depending on experience,
22 days holiday plus bank holidays,
Private healthcare, Company Pension,
Onsite parking.
Pay: £45,000.00-£50,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Private medical insurance
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Reading RG2: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Education:
- Certificate of Higher Education (preferred)
Experience:
- 3rd Line : 4 years (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
