GCP Data Engineer

Contract Hartford, CT (Hybrid) Job Description Must be expert level GCP

Must have exp with large enterprise Cloud migration

Understand technology, cloud migration experience, DevOps, Monitoring Tools, Database understanding, containerization, microservices, etc.

Creating terraform scripts for automation, GCP IAM security background.

Network/infrastructure background as well.

Interview process will be manager and a peer, some of tech leads?, GCP Cloud Engineering team will participate as part of the rounds too.

Must be able to drive, communicate well, execute with urgency, own it, etc.

General Questions What is the primary purpose of this role? (New development, maintenance, migration, etc.) – Cloud CoE does not own applications. We support Aetna Technology application development teams who own applications. The team is not a traditional IT team. We get involved in support, migration activity, security remediation, etc. Exception to this is new development through the Enterprise Cloud Intake process where if an area requires a certain skill set which they do not have and my team does, we can be a supplier if you will for that team’s initiative.

What kind of applications are being developed? (Web, desktop, APIs, cloud services, microservices, etc.) – See above, we don’t really develop apps, nor own apps.

What level of experience is required for database management? (Basic CRUD operations vs. complex queries, indexing, and optimization ) – We aren’t looking for a hardcore DBA, but need people who have DB understanding..how apps connect to databases, what issues may arise when the app is in the cloud and the database is OnPrem. We are on the app dev side, not infrastructure.

What database technologies are used? (SQL - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server | NoSQL - MongoDB, DynamoDB, etc.) – majority of database landscape is SQL, mainframe apps are DB2, we have a few POCs underway leveraging MongoDB.

Does the role require experience with Azure and GCP, or is proficiency in just one sufficient?

• Cloud capabilities across all 3 major providers is desired – Azure, GCP and AWS. Majority of existing Aetna applications in the cloud are Azure, small footprint of GCP and AWS. However, new development is aligned to GCP.

What type of cloud services should the candidate be able to handle? – Kubernetes/Containers (OpenShift, AKS, GKE) Many .Net apps are running on Azure VMs via AppService. Future plans aligned to application modernization are around converting .Net framework to .Net Core and then containerize into say AKS or GKE.

Are there any specific DevOps tools or practices required? (Azure DevOps, Terraform, GitHub Actions, etc.) – Currently not using Azure DevOps. We lack Terraform in house expertise, so if that skillset exists, that is a major plus. GitHUB Actions is expanding across CVS/Aetna, we are more Jenkins/Octopus currently.

Is there a live coding exercise during the interview process? – No, there is a softskill/technical combined interview approach with leadership followed by technical smes.

Is frontend development expected, or is the role primarily backend-focused? – both

Which versions of .NET are being used? (.NET 6, .NET 8, .NET Framework, etc.) – primarily .Net Framework

What level of expertise is required with Azure App Services & Kubernetes? – expert level, same as .Net. As Cloud CoE, we are looked as the experts in technology both from technical stack perspective, as well as, cloud capability enablement

Do you know what monitoring/alerting tools are in place? What level of experience is required? (Basic or advanced) – need to have a solid understanding of monitoring/alerting tools such as AppDynamics, Splunk. Some areas have Tivoli, Topaz and more.

Is there a preference for experience with specific SQL or NoSQL databases? (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Cassandra, etc.) – see above

Is it required microservices experience? – yes, while majority of Aetna applications are monolithic, the future goal is to modernize/containerize leveraging microservices and cloud capabilities

Is this role primarily backend-focused, with some experience in front-end development? Let’s say 80% Backend and 20% frontend. – both, see .Net above

Which Java version(s) are currently being used in the project? (Java 8, 11, 17, etc.) – that and then some…1.8, 11, 17, 21

Is Java a mandatory skill, while the others (JavaScript, React.js, Node.js, Python) are nice to have? Could you clarify must-have vs. preferred skills? – yes, mandatory. Current Java developers know Java, JavaScript, React.js, Node.js, Python

What experience is required for JavaScript, React.js, Node.js, and Python? (Basic understanding, hands-on experience, or expert) – expert

Is it required microservices experience? – yes, see .Net above