Senior GCP Cloud Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 18, 2026. First seen by Alion on Aug 2, 2026.
SnapDrum builds and deploys AI-native engineering teams for technology companies in the UK and US.
We work with ambitious businesses that have strong product, cloud and AI roadmaps but need additional execution capacity to turn those plans into dependable production systems.
Our engineers are selected for more than technical knowledge. We look for people who can communicate clearly, understand business context, work responsibly with modern AI tools and take ownership of real delivery outcomes.
The opportunity
We are building a shortlist of experienced Google Cloud engineers for an upcoming US client engagement.
You will work as an embedded member of the client’s technical team, helping design, deploy and operate production systems on Google Cloud Platform.
This is not a role for someone whose experience is limited to certification study or personal projects. We are looking for an engineer who has worked with GCP in a real production environment and can explain the decisions, trade-offs and outcomes behind their work.
What you will do
- Design and implement secure, scalable systems on Google Cloud Platform.
- Support cloud migrations, platform modernization and production deployments.
- Build and maintain infrastructure using tools such as Terraform.
- Configure networking, identity, permissions and secure access controls.
- Develop and improve CI/CD pipelines.
- Implement logging, monitoring, alerting and observability.
- Investigate production incidents and performance problems.
- Improve reliability, resilience, cost efficiency and operational processes.
- Work closely with client engineers, product teams and technical stakeholders.
- Communicate risks, blockers and technical decisions clearly.
- Create practical documentation that helps the client team operate independently.
- Use AI-assisted development tools responsibly while validating all technical output.
Required experience
- Strong hands-on experience working with GCP in production.
Experience with several relevant GCP services, such as:
- Compute Engine
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- Cloud Run
- Cloud Functions
- BigQuery
- Cloud SQL
- Pub/Sub
- Cloud Storage
- IAM
- VPC networking
- Cloud Monitoring and Logging
- Experience with infrastructure as code, preferably Terraform.
- Experience with containers, Docker and modern deployment practices.
- Understanding of cloud security, least-privilege access and secrets management.
- Experience with CI/CD and source-control workflows.
- Ability to diagnose technical problems systematically.
- Strong spoken and written English.
- Ability to work independently while escalating risks early.
- Availability for meaningful overlap with US or UK working hours, depending on the engagement.
Certification
A current Google Cloud certification is strongly preferred, particularly one of the following:
- Professional Cloud Architect
- Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
- Professional Cloud Developer
- Professional Data Engineer
- Associate Cloud Engineer
Certification alone will not determine selection. All shortlisted candidates will complete a practical technical assessment.
Strong candidates will also demonstrate
- Ownership of production systems rather than only assisting on them.
- Clear architectural judgment and the ability to explain trade-offs.
- Experience working directly with overseas clients or distributed teams.
- Strong documentation and stakeholder communication.
- Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, Python, Go or TypeScript.
- Familiarity with AI infrastructure, data platforms or MLOps.
- Responsible use of Claude Code, GitHub Copilot or similar AI development tools.
What we value
We value people who:
- tell the truth when something goes wrong;
- communicate blockers before deadlines are missed;
- ask thoughtful questions when requirements are unclear;
- care about security and production quality;
- take responsibility for outcomes;
- accept feedback and improve quickly;
- use AI to increase their effectiveness without outsourcing their judgment.
Hiring process
1. Application and eligibility review
2. Short asynchronous video interview
3. Practical GCP architecture and troubleshooting assessment
4. Live technical interview
5. Communication and ownership interview
6. Credential and reference verification
7. Client interview
8. Offer and onboarding
Location and working model
Remote from Sri Lanka
- Full-time client engagement
- Working-hours overlap will depend on the client
- Some UK or US meeting availability will be required
Compensation
Competitive compensation based on experience, technical depth, certification level and required working-hours overlap. The range will be discussed before the final interview stages.