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)