Azure Cloud Networking Engineer

Role - Azure Cloud Networking Engineer

Location - Chicago IL- Remote

Job type- W2 Contract

Job description Below

Azure Cloud Engineer specializing in networking to design, implement, secure, and maintain cloud infrastructure on Microsoft Azure. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Azure networking, network security, connectivity, troubleshooting, and infrastructure automation.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and manage Azure Virtual Networks (VNets), subnets, route tables, NSGs, and network security architecture.
• Configure and manage Azure VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall, Application Gateway, Load Balancer, and NAT Gateway.
• Implement connectivity between Azure, on-premises data centers, and other cloud environments.
• Configure VNet peering, Private Endpoints, Private DNS Zones, and service endpoints.
• Monitor and troubleshoot network connectivity, latency, routing, DNS, and security issues.
• Implement hub-and-spoke and other scalable Azure network architectures.
• Manage Azure Network Watcher, NSG flow logs, connection troubleshooting, and traffic monitoring.
• Work with DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS, DHCP, routing, NAT, VPN, and firewall concepts.
• Implement network security using Azure Firewall, NSGs, Azure DDoS Protection, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
• Support highly available and disaster-recovery-ready network architectures.
• Automate infrastructure provisioning and configuration using Terraform, ARM/Bicep, PowerShell, or Azure CLI.
• Implement and maintain infrastructure through CI/CD pipelines.
• Collaborate with security, DevOps, infrastructure, and application teams.
• Maintain network diagrams, architecture documents, runbooks, and operational procedures.
• Participate in incident response, root-cause analysis, and performance optimization.

Required Skills

Azure Networking

• Azure Virtual Network and subnetting
• VNet Peering
• Azure VPN Gateway
• ExpressRoute
• Azure Firewall
• Application Gateway / WAF
• Azure Load Balancer
• NAT Gateway
• Private Link / Private Endpoint
• Private DNS
• Route Tables / UDR
• Network Security Groups
• Azure Network Watcher

Networking Fundamentals

• TCP/IP, OSI model
• IPv4/IPv6
• DNS and DHCP
• Routing and switching concepts
• NAT
• VPN/IPSec
• Firewalls and proxies
• Load balancing
• Network troubleshooting

Automation / DevOps

• Terraform
• Azure CLI / PowerShell
• ARM Templates or Bicep
• Git
• CI/CD pipelines
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700)
• Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
• Cisco CCNA/CCNP or equivalent networking certification

Good to Have

• Experience with Azure Landing Zones
• Hub-and-spoke and Virtual WAN architectures
• Azure Firewall Premium
• ExpressRoute Global Reach
• Network security and Zero Trust architecture
• Kubernetes/AKS networking
• Hybrid cloud networking
• Experience with Terraform modules and reusable IaC

Experience with enterprise-scale Azure environments