Lead Cloud Operations Engineer- Azure

Zafin is an AI platform company helping regulated institutions modernize how critical work is designed, governed, and delivered. Our technology enables organizations to move faster while maintaining the governance, accountability, and control required in highly regulated environments.

Our portfolio includes Zafin AIOS , an agent orchestration platform for governed AI work; the Zafin Banking Platform , which helps banks modernize product, pricing, offers, billing, loyalty, and relationship management; and Zafin IO , an integration platform that connects data, systems, and workflows across complex enterprise environments.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Zafin partners with leading financial institutions across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. As AI transforms the future of financial services, we’re building the platforms that help regulated organizations adopt AI responsibly and at scale.

What's the Opportunity? Reporting to the Senior Manager, Cloud Operations, the Lead Cloud Operations Engineer is a senior‑level technical role responsible for leading a team of cloud engineers and hands‑on technical execution in Azure/Kubernetes environments. You will be building scalable, reliable, and efficient infrastructure while mentoring junior engineers, maintaining best practices, and ensuring optimal performance, security, and cost-effectiveness in a customer‑facing role.

This is a technical leadership position for someone who wants to stay close to infrastructure while growing a team. You will roll up your sleeves daily, pair with engineers on complex problems, and drive automation initiatives that reduce toil and improve platform reliability.

What You Will Do Lead technical strategy and best practices for Azure cloud operations and AKS deployments

Design, implement, and maintain infrastructure-as-code using Terraform and Azure DevOps

Manage Kubernetes deployments with ArgoCD, Helm, and GitOps patterns for auditability and compliance

Architect and manage Azure Application Gateway, load balancing, WAF, and ingress strategies

Oversee secrets and certificate management using Azure Key Vault and implement security best practices

Build and maintain Azure Container Registry (ACR) pipelines and image scanning workflows

Mentor and guide junior engineers on technical tasks, code reviews, and cloud architecture decisions

Build automation solutions to reduce manual toil and improve operational efficiency

Manage and troubleshoot AKS clusters, networking, storage, and identity/access control

Own incident response, RCA documentation, and presentation to stakeholders

Monitor infrastructure health, performance, and security posture; identify and resolve bottlenecks

Work with peers to establish and enforce infrastructure standards and compliance controls across client environments

Communicate proactively with customers and internal teams on infrastructure health and roadmap

Maintain security, backup, disaster recovery, and high‑availability strategies

Drive cost optimization and FinOps practices across cloud infrastructure

Support offshore hours and multiple time zones as needed

What You Need to Succeed Must Haves 8-12 years of cloud/infrastructure engineering experience

5+ years of hands‑on Azure cloud platform experience (VMs, networking, identity, monitoring)

5+ years with Kubernetes, specifically Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) production experience

Expert‑level Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices

Strong Azure DevOps or equivalent CI/CD platform experience

Hands‑on experience with ArgoCD or GitOps deployment patterns for Kubernetes

Proficiency with Helm for Kubernetes package management and templating

Azure Application Gateway configuration and management (load balancing, WAF, SSL termination)

Azure Key Vault and secrets management implementation and best practices

Azure Container Registry (ACR) operations, image scanning, and registry maintenance

Proficiency in Linux administration and troubleshooting

Automation scripting (Python, Bash/Shell) to reduce manual operational tasks

Strong networking knowledge: TCP/IP, DNS, load balancing, VPCs, firewall rules, network troubleshooting

Demonstrated ability to mentor and guide junior engineers

Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent hands‑on experience

Nice to Have Azure certifications (AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-700 Networking, or equivalent)

Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD)

Cloud security scanning tools experience (Wiz, Microsoft Defender)

Azure API Management for API governance and rate limiting

Backup and disaster recovery solutions (Azure Backup, Site Recovery)

FinOps and cost optimization expertise across cloud resources

Compliance and governance frameworks (SOC2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, regulatory reporting)

Domain knowledge of banking, financial services, enterprise data platforms, or regulated industries

Experience with GitOps and advanced Kubernetes patterns

Observability and monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Log Analytics, Application Insights)

Additional Job Details Expected Salary Range: $110,000 - $135,000

Vacancy Status: Open Position to be filled

Mode of Work: Hybrid

Use of AI: Zafin may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or other forms of automated technology to screen and/or assess applicants for this position. Zafin will not utilize AI for conducting interviews and/or making hiring decisions.

What's in it for you Zafin welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Zafin is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information collected from all applicants throughout the recruitment process. The methods by which Zafin contains uses, stores, handles, retains, or discloses applicant information can be accessed by reviewing Zafin’s privacy policy at https://zafin.com/privacy-notice/. By submitting a job application, you confirm that you agree to the processing of your personal data by Zafin described in the candidate privacy notice.

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