Lead Azure & Infrastructure Engineer

The focus for this role will be leading Azure efforts as we consolidate multiple environments into a single tenant, reduce overall footprint, and drive standardization across the organization. We’re ideally looking for candidates located in the CST or EST time zones, preferably near one of our key locations to allow for occasional onsite collaboration. Position Details: Location: Los Angels, CA (Remote) - prefer someone in CT or EST time Type: 6 month contract with extension or conversion expected

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Azure Engineer to drive two connected missions: the consolidation of our clients Azure environments into a single enterprise-scale cloud platform, and the day-to-day ownership of on-premises infrastructure across all sites. This is a hybrid cloud and infrastructure engineering role — you will own the full stack from physical servers and Hyper-V environments through to Azure landing zones and governance. You will play a critical role in building a secure, scalable, and cost-efficient Azure foundation that supports long-term growth, while simultaneously maintaining and modernizing the on-premises infrastructure that powers our client's manufacturing and operations sites.

What You'll Do

Azure Tenant Consolidation & Platform

• Lead consolidation of multiple Azure tenants, subscriptions, and environments into a unified enterprise Azure platform
• Design and implement Azure landing zones, subscription models, and resource organization strategies
• Standardize and optimize:

◦ Networking (VNets, peering, hybrid connectivity) ◦ Compute and storage services ◦ Disaster recovery and high availability architectures

• Drive cost optimization initiatives:

◦ Rightsizing resources and eliminating redundant environments ◦ Reserved instances and savings plans

• Implement and enforce Azure governance: Azure Policy, RBAC, tagging standards, and cost controls
• Lead identity integration using Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), including cross-tenant trust and access models
• Partner with security teams to implement Zero Trust architecture and compliance controls
• Provide technical leadership, roadmap planning, and executive-level updates

On-Premises Infrastructure

• Own and manage Hyper-V environments across all client sites
• Manage physical server infrastructure including Dell PowerEdge servers — hardware lifecycle, rack and stack, capacity planning
• Maintain Active Directory (on-prem) site health, replication, and DNS/DHCP across all sites
• Manage Azure DNS and on-prem Windows DNS for all entities
• Maintain and operate Synology NAS and backup tooling across the environment
• Build and maintain a server golden image pipeline for standardized OS deployments

Security & Patching

• Deploy and manage Defender for Servers P2 across all Arc-onboarded on-premises servers
• Implement Azure Arc to extend Azure governance, policy, and Defender coverage to on-prem infrastructure
• Implement Azure Update Manager for unified patch management across Azure VMs and Arc-enabled servers
• Define and maintain patch cadence, compliance reporting, and maintenance windows across all entities

Backup & Resilience

• Define and execute a unified backup strategy across Azure VMs, on-prem servers, and NAS
• Configure recovery vaults, retention policies, and offsite replication
• Define and validate RTOs and RPOs per entity and workload tier
• Ensure disaster recovery and high availability architectures are documented and tested

What You Bring Required

• 7+ years of experience in Azure cloud engineering and infrastructure
• Proven experience consolidating Azure tenants, subscriptions, or large-scale environments
• Deep expertise in Azure networking — VNet design, VPN/ExpressRoute, segmentation
• Strong experience with Azure compute, storage, and platform services
• Hands-on experience with Azure governance — Policy, RBAC, management groups
• Experience managing on-premises Windows Server environments including Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP
• Experience with Hyper-V in a multi-site or multi-entity environment
• Strong experience with cloud cost optimization and financial governance (FinOps)
• Experience with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) for identity and access management
• Ability to lead complex, multi-team cloud and infrastructure transformation efforts

Nice to Have

• Experience with M&A or multi-entity environment consolidation
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code — Terraform, Bicep, ARM
• Experience with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and observability platforms
• Experience with Azure Arc and Azure Update Manager
• Experience with Defender for Servers and Microsoft Defender for Cloud
• Knowledge of hybrid environments — on-prem to Azure transition
• Microsoft Azure certifications — Solutions Architect, Security, Network

Blackstone Talent Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackstone Technology Group, a global IT services and software firm that implements technological solutions across commercial industry verticals and the US Federal Government. Blackstone's global talent augmentation practice was founded in 1998. Blackstone Talent Group has offices in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Colorado Springs, and Washington, DC. We specialize in providing clients the best talent across a variety of industries and sectors.