Introduction
Are you a seasoned cloud expert with a passion for designing, optimizing, and maintaining highly available and scalable cloud infrastructures? Hexagon, a global leader in digital reality solutions, combining sensor, software, and autonomous technologies, is seeking Principal Cloud Ops Engineers for its robust operations in India, particularly at its large R&D center in Hyderabad and other locations like Gurugram.
Hexagon’s solutions are at the forefront of shaping various industries, including manufacturing, infrastructure, public safety, mining, and geospatial intelligence. As a Principal Cloud Ops Engineer at Hexagon, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the reliability, performance, and security of their critical cloud-based products and services. This is a senior leadership role for those who thrive on complex architectural challenges, embrace automation, and are committed to operational excellence in a global, fast-paced environment.
Roles and Responsibilities
A Principal Cloud Ops Engineer at Hexagon is a technical leader responsible for the overall health and efficiency of cloud operations. Key responsibilities typically include:
- Cloud Infrastructure Leadership: Overseeing the deployment, maintenance, and optimization of cloud infrastructure across major platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP). This involves ensuring high availability of production environments by monitoring performance metrics and implementing corrective actions.
- Architecture & Design: Collaborating with development and architecture teams to design scalable, resilient, and cost-effective cloud solutions. Providing architectural guidance and ensuring best practices are followed.
- Automation & IaC: Driving automation initiatives using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) and scripting languages (e.g., Python, PowerShell, Bash) to streamline deployment, configuration, and operational tasks.
- Monitoring & Observability: Implementing and enhancing comprehensive monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Splunk, Datadog) to ensure deep visibility into system performance and health. Hands-on experience in distributed software monitoring and Application Performance Monitoring (APM).
- Incident Management & Troubleshooting: Leading incident response efforts, diagnosing root causes of complex operational issues, and implementing long-term solutions to prevent recurrence. Ensuring effective communication during outages and maintaining a knowledge base.
- Security & Compliance: Ensuring that cloud infrastructure adheres to industry best practices for security, including encryption, identity and access management (IAM), vulnerability remediation, and compliance frameworks.
- Cost Optimization: Monitoring cloud usage, analyzing spending patterns, and implementing strategies to optimize resource allocation and control cloud costs.
- Mentorship & Guidance: Providing detailed guidance, mentorship, and technical support to cloud operations engineers and other teams, fostering a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.
- Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD): Contributing to and optimizing CI/CD pipelines to facilitate rapid and reliable software deployments.
- On-Call Support: Participating in on-call rotations and being available for critical incident response.
Salary and Benefits
Hexagon offers a highly competitive compensation package for Principal Cloud Ops Engineers in India, commensurate with the seniority and specialized expertise required for this role.
- Average Annual Total Compensation (CTC) in India (as of July 2025 data):
- For a Principal Cloud Engineer (a similar senior role), the average total annual compensation is around ₹20.9 lakhs, mostly ranging from ₹16.0 lakhs to ₹31.8 lakhs per annum, based on available data for similar senior cloud engineering profiles.
- For a Principal Cloud Ops Engineer specifically at Hexagon, given the strategic nature and leadership involved, the compensation could be in the ₹25 lakhs to ₹40 lakhs+ per annum range, potentially higher for candidates with exceptional experience and skills, as this is a very high-skill, leadership-oriented position.
- Note: Salaries are indicative and highly dependent on years of experience, specific cloud certifications, depth of expertise in particular cloud platforms, negotiation skills, and overall performance during the interview process.
- Key Benefits and Perks:
- Competitive Pay & Bonuses: Reflecting individual and company performance.
- Health & Well-being: Comprehensive medical insurance for employees and their families, wellness programs, and employee assistance programs.
- Work-Life Balance: Focus on flexible work arrangements where applicable, and generous leave policies.
- Learning & Development: Significant investment in employee growth through technical training, certifications (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP certifications), leadership development programs, and access to cutting-edge technologies.
- Global Exposure: Opportunity to work with international teams and on projects impacting global clients.
- Innovation Culture: An environment that encourages innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning, especially within their large R&D center in Hyderabad.
- Inclusion & Diversity: Commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Eligibility Criteria
Hexagon seeks highly experienced, technically deep, and leadership-oriented cloud professionals for this Principal role.
- Educational Qualification:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field.
- Experience:
- Typically, 8-15+ years of progressive experience in IT operations, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or cloud engineering roles, with a significant portion of that experience focused on cloud operations and architecture.
- Demonstrated experience in a lead or principal role, guiding teams and owning critical production systems.
- Key Technical Skills:
- Cloud Platforms: Expert-level proficiency in at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP), with strong understanding of core services (Compute, Storage, Networking, Databases, Security, Monitoring, Serverless). Multi-cloud experience is highly advantageous.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Deep expertise with tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible, or Puppet for automated infrastructure provisioning and configuration management.
- Containerization & Orchestration: Strong experience with Docker and Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE) for deploying and managing containerized applications.
- Scripting & Programming: Proficient in scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or Go for automation and tool development.
- Operating Systems: In-depth knowledge of Linux/Unix and/or Windows Server environments.
- Networking: Strong understanding of cloud networking concepts (VPCs, VPNs, Load Balancers, DNS, Firewalls).
- Monitoring & Logging: Expertise with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, ELK Stack, Datadog, CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, or Google Cloud Monitoring.
- CI/CD: Experience with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, or CircleCI.
- Database Management: Familiarity with managing cloud-native databases (e.g., RDS, Azure SQL Database, Cloud SQL) and NoSQL databases.
- Security: Solid understanding of cloud security best practices, IAM, encryption, vulnerability management, and compliance standards.
- SRE Principles: Strong adherence to Site Reliability Engineering principles, focusing on reliability, scalability, and automation.
- Key Soft Skills:
- Leadership & Mentorship: Proven ability to lead, mentor, and influence engineering teams.
- Problem-Solving: Exceptional analytical, troubleshooting, and root cause analysis skills for complex distributed systems.
- Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences, including senior management.
- Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills for cross-functional collaboration.
- Proactive & Ownership: Self-driven, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability for critical systems.
Application Process
Hexagon’s interview process for a Principal Cloud Ops Engineer is comprehensive, designed to evaluate deep technical knowledge, leadership capabilities, and problem-solving skills.
- Online Application: Apply directly through the Hexagon careers portal (https://www.google.com/search?q=careers.hexagon.com). Ensure your resume is detailed, showcasing your extensive experience, key achievements, cloud certifications, and leadership roles.
- Initial Screening: A recruiter will conduct a phone or video call to discuss your background, experience, and alignment with the role and Hexagon’s culture.
- Technical Interview Rounds (2-4 rounds): These will be deep-dive technical discussions.
- Cloud Architecture & Design: Expect scenarios on designing highly available, scalable, and secure cloud infrastructures for Hexagon’s products. Discussions on trade-offs, disaster recovery, and cost optimization.
- Cloud Operations & SRE: Questions on incident management, monitoring strategies, on-call experience, capacity planning, and maintaining SLAs.
- Automation & DevOps: Discussions on your experience with IaC tools, CI/CD pipelines, and scripting for automation. You might be asked to write pseudocode or outline automation workflows.
- Containerization & Kubernetes: In-depth questions on managing Kubernetes clusters, deployments, scaling, and troubleshooting.
- Networking & Security: Questions on complex cloud networking setups, security best practices, and incident response.
- Troubleshooting Scenarios: You will likely be given complex production outage scenarios and asked to walk through your debugging and resolution process.
- System Design Round: Focus on designing a robust, scalable, and resilient cloud solution for a given Hexagon product or service, covering all aspects from infrastructure to monitoring and security.
- Managerial/Leadership Interview: Conducted by the hiring manager or a senior leader, focusing on your leadership experience, ability to mentor, influence, drive initiatives, handle conflict, and strategic thinking. Behavioral questions will assess your cultural fit.
- Senior Leadership/Director Interview: A final discussion with a senior leader to assess overall fit, strategic alignment, and potential impact.
- Offer & Background Check: Successful candidates receive an offer, contingent on a successful background verification.
Conclusion
A Principal Cloud Ops Engineer role at Hexagon in India is a significant opportunity for experienced cloud professionals to lead complex operations for a global technology leader. You’ll work on cutting-edge digital reality solutions, contribute to mission-critical systems, and drive operational excellence. If you possess deep cloud expertise, a passion for automation, and a strong leadership mindset, Hexagon provides an exceptional platform for you to make a profound impact and advance your career at the highest level of cloud operations.
