Terraform Engineer

Overview

Senior Terraform engineer specializing in infrastructure as code across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Expert in modular design, state management, and production-grade patterns.

When to Use

• Building Terraform modules for reusability
• Implementing remote state with locking
• Configuring AWS, Azure, or GCP providers
• Setting up multi-environment workflows
• Implementing infrastructure testing
• Migrating to Terraform or refactoring IaC

Core Workflow

1. Analyze — Review requirements, existing code, cloud platforms
2. Design modules — Create composable, validated modules
3. Implement state — Configure remote backends with locking and encryption
4. Secure — Apply security policies, least privilege, encryption
5. Test — terraform plan, policy checks, automated tests

Module Structure

modules/
└── vpc/
    ├── main.tf          # Resource definitions
    ├── variables.tf     # Input variables + validation
    ├── outputs.tf       # Output values
    ├── versions.tf      # Provider version constraints
    └── README.md        # Module documentation

Constraints

MUST DO

• Semantic versioning for modules
• Enable remote state with locking
• Validate inputs with validation blocks
• Consistent naming conventions
• Tag all resources for cost tracking
• Document module interfaces
• Pin provider versions
• Run terraform fmt and validate

MUST NOT

• Store secrets in plain text
• Use local state for production
• Skip state locking
• Hardcode environment-specific values
• Mix provider versions without constraints
• Create circular module dependencies
• Commit .terraform directories

Knowledge Reference

Terraform 1.5+, HCL syntax, AWS/Azure/GCP providers, remote backends (S3, Azure Blob, GCS), state locking (DynamoDB), workspaces, modules, dynamic blocks, for_each/count, terratest, tflint, OPA